April 2008 Archives

Did you know:

1. This will be the first Black Country derby to be played at Molineux on a 'school night' since March 1990.

2. I was a guest on WM's football show tonight, along with radio presenter Mark Regan and Chasetown boss (and Wolves fan) Charlie Blakemore. We all predicted a draw! That fence will need a fresh lick of Creosote.

3. First goal is vital tomorrow. If Wolves get it, Albion will struggle to get back into the game. If Albion get it, then they could win handsomely.

4. Will Kev play? I'm not so sure. But I wouldn't be surprised to see Miller and, maybe even, Moore get a run out against a fairly one-paced, if experienced, Wolves backline.

5. Enjoy the match.

Yeah, right.

Ps. Received an email from an angry Stoke fan claiming I'd called ex-player Eustace a 'hooligan', yet I simply can't find any reference to it anywhere. I won't argue with the sentiment, naturally.

Albion v Watford will be tough. Remain patient. They won't capitulate as easily as they did against Barnsley.

Personally, I'm still shocked at Tony Mowbray's car impressions.

It must be of some comfort to Tony Mowbray that should his managerial career ever falter then at least he'll have his repertoire of Austin Maestro impressions to fall back on.

Check out the link below, forward it by about 90 seconds, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Literally.

http://www.goaltube.org/modules.php?name=news&file=article&sid=542&mode=&order=0&thold=0

46 goals in 76 games for Albion.

22 goals in 24 starts this season.

235 goals in 477 career games.

Try as I might I'm struggling to find a reason why Albion have not yet locked Kevin Phillips in a cell and pinned him down to a new contract.

Kev is settled in the Midlands, enjoys it at The Hawthorns and his kids attend local schools.

All he wants is a two year deal. Albion want to give him a one year deal with a 12 month option in the club's favour, provided he plays a certain amount of games.

There lies the sticking point.

Kev will score goals in the top flight. What he lacks in pace and power, he makes up for in reading of the game, intelligence and vast experience. I reckon he'd score a minimum of 10 goals in the Premier League if Albion went up. Kanu, Sheringham, Shearer, Viduka and many others have coped without pace, while getting by with know-how, making the most of their finishing and the ability to create goalscoring opportunities for themselves. Phillips can too.

How much do goalscorers cost at any level? How much will Kev's contract cost over two years if he takes Albion up and keeps them in the Premier League?

Incidentally, although Kev isn't eligible to talk to clubs until the end of May, his representatives will almost certainly be putting the feelers out as we speak. That's how it works.

Albion are wasting time and putting great strain on Phillips at what is a crucial time of the season. He should be enjoying his football, not worrying about his future.

All of which makes you wonder why Jeremy Peace is playing this game?

Over to you now Mr Chairman.

There will be more on this in Thursday's Birmingham Mail.

Some things I learned

1. Bloomfield Road is the most bizarre stadium in the Football League. If Sven Goran Eriksson was describing it, he would probably say: 'Two stands good, two stands not so good'. Two sides of the ground would grace any Championship side. But opposite the main stand is a temporary structure (I bet the Health and Safety officers looked on in horror when Albion fans started 'boinging'), while behind one of the goals was nothing, just a car park, built on rubble. It meant that Mark 'Bamber' Gascoigne, Albion's assistant kit man, was despatched to fetch the balls which had flown over during the pre-match warm-up. And a very good job he did too.

2. Blackpool are one of the most hospitable clubs in the country. The media were welcomed individually by possibly the world's friendliest steward, who greeted each press member with a handshake and, "welcome to Blackpool, I am a war veteran and served in the Falklands. Enjoy your visit and enjoy the game". If that wasn't surreal enough he then went onto claim, without a hint of irony, that the Bloomfield Road surface was "better than Wembley's."

3. The one-time home of Sir Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortensen and Micky Mellon must by the only stadium where the officials' dressing room is sponsored. Last night's match officials were brought to you by Punch And Truncheon - whatever, or whoever, they are. There's got to be a joke in there somewhere.

4. Albion photographer Laurie Rampling must have thought he was in a parallel universe when he discovered the Baggies had won 3-1. The club's official snapper got hit on the head by a wayward Carl Hoefkens ball as he snapped away when the scores were level after 81 minutes, spending the remainder of the game in a groggy daze. The stadium's first aiders soon brought him around - by threatening to send him to Blackpool hospital. Not ideal for Laurie who lives in deepest Essex. The good news is that no permanent damage was caused. The ball was fine.*

5. A certain commentator got so excited after Albion's third goal that he announced, "I'm having an embolism." Apparently it means 'clot'. Quite.

6. Which fool decided it would be a good idea to shut off two lanes of the southbound M6 for roadworks, near Nantwich, on the night there was a Champions League semi-final involving Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield, Albion played Blackpool and Swansea travelled back from Carlisle?

7. Speaking of motorway madness, Albion's team bus was parked on the hard shoulder after the game. Early rumours suggested it was because of a faulty fan belt. Given that the luxury coach was soon back on the road it makes you wonder who provided the pair of tights needed to fix the problem...

* Only kidding mate. You had us all worried...

Kiely

Miller Phillips

While West Brom still have a game before the trip to Blackpool, they are likely to be welcoming back Sam Sodje, but most will be throwing everything at the cup semi-final, so expect possible twinges and injusries in that starting eleven, so it may not be the same as the one who visit Bloomfield Road.

Now, in truth it's not necessarily the Baggies team I'd select for tomorrow's game at Bloomfield Road, but one picked out as Albion's likely line-up by a Blackpool website earlier today.

Robinson at right-back, Hoefkens at centre-half alongside Moore (Luke, presumably) and Sodje (on loan at Charlton since August) at left-back.

Captain Jon Greening won't be happy either.

So who's going to tell them?

*ON A different note, a Welsh contact tells me that there were reports of Cardiff fans spitting at the statue of Bobby Moore, before and after, their FA Cup semi-final yesterday.

If true - and I have no reason to doubt my source given that he's from Cardiff himself - then it merely underlines that the Welsh club should not be allowed to enter the Uefa Cup next season if they go onto win the FA Cup.

I've said it before and will say it again, their membership of the English FA needs to be seriously looked at.

Don't be fooled into thinking Albion were defeated by Kanu's goal as a result of Milan Baros' inspirational use of the arm.

Far from it.

Let me explain.

We know the drill - a major game, the final whistle blows, one team celebrates, the other doesn't, they all swap shirts, everyone leaves the pitch...

This wouldn't normally be a problem except that kit manufacturers Canterbury banned Portsmouth players from swapping shirts with Albion players at the end of Saturday's semi-final.

Whether or not this happened I don't know as I was occupied by more pressing matters - perhaps someone can shed more light - although I'm sure I saw at least one Baggies player, Robert Koren, carrying a Pompey shirt.

Canterbury's reasons, released before the semi-final, are precious to say the least.

"It is true the players are not permitted to swap shirts after a game. Canterbury have invested significant amounts of money into the development and manufacturing of the kit, which is worn exclusively by Portsmouth.

"The secret ingredients and chemical process that makes IonX has - as of last year - been patented by Canterbury for 25 years."

So there you have it. Portsmouth's success has nothing to do with an oligarch's millions, a chirpy Cockney's managerial abilities or a collection of decent players.

It's all in the shirts.

So, just as most drivers are scraping the ice from their windscreens while Mondeo drivers make the most of Ford's exclusive rights to heated front windscreens, the rest of the footballing world will have to go on without knowing more about Portsmouth's biggest weapon.

Some thoughts:

1. Wasn't surprised to see so many biased reports towards Harry Redknapp in today's national newspapers from some of the industry's heavy-weights (in more ways than one I should add). Having fought my way past their egos into the press conference room I overheard two of the better known journalists saying: "Thank god the most quote-worthy manager got through."
Funnily enough, I've never seen either of them at an Albion match or press conference before. Perhaps they'd just assumed Mowbray wasn't 'quote-worthy' because he has never managed darling team West Ham? Or maybe it was just a lazy assumption. What do you reckon?

2. Lengthy periods of dominance, a shot hitting the bar before going over and a sloppy goal conceded. The Play Off Final and Saturday's FA Cup semi-final - one of a kind.

3. Albion play in Black And White stripes, according to the matchday programme. What? Even so it was good to see Albion and Portsmouth wearing their home shirts - if only to prevent a repeat of last year's Play Off Final post-match press conference when a bemused Tony Mowbray was asked by one experienced hack, just moments after his side have missed out on promotion and a £40million prize, why his team had been wearing black when there was no obvious clash with Derby.

4. A somewhat drunk and disorderly lone Portsmouth fan marching up and down the aisles of a Birmingham-bound train, goading disappointed Albion fans and generally making a nuisance of himself. Luckily some of the more sensible passengers defused the situation and stopped a couple of angry Baggies fans from lynching him. The half-wit was duly 'escorted' from the train at Beaconsfield (By 'escorted', I mean the train doors opened and he flew onto the platform) and, for all I know, may still be there.

5. A question for John Motson - who is Robert Core-ren?

6. If Albion play for the remainder of the season as they did on Saturday then they will take some stopping. Agree or not?

7. Was alerted to a great tale on Albion messageboard http://fansonline.net/westbromwichalbion/mb/index about Texas-based Albion fan John Hubbard, who was so determined to see Saturday's semi-final that he basically pestered the hell out of a TV network until they gave in. John said: "After much complaining, haggling, presuading and generally being a complete nuisance to anyone related to TimeWarner Cable TV here in Austin, I'm happy to report that the game is now available for purchase in Austin." Priceless

8. From the Wembley Arch and national exposure on Saturday to the shadows of Blackpool Tower and relative obscurity this Tuesday. If a week is a long time in politics then what are 72 hours in football?

So, are you nervous yet? Or just looking forward to the big day?

I interviewed Jeremy Peace yesterday - which you can read exclusively in today's Birmingham Mail - and I asked if there were any superstitions.

He wouldn't say.

But one director wasn't shy in explaining his.

The Albion Board member, and his car load, feast on Cadbury's Creme Eggs as they journey to away grounds. Sounds like an excuse to eat lots of chocolate if you ask me.

Speaking of such triviality it would be remiss of me not to remind you of the following sequence:

1931: Win,

1935: Lose,

1954: Win,

1967: Lose,

1968: Win,

1970: Lose,

1993: Win,

2007: Lose,

2008: ?

While I'm at it, don't forget to buy your souvenir copy of Saturday's Birmingham Mail - just look out for our sellers at The Hawthorns' East Stand car park, Moor Street or Snow Hill stations.

Something I noticed when looking back on Albion's record in FA Cup semi-finals:

1982: vs QPR. Albion were favourites. Second Division side QPR win

1978: vs Ipswich. Albion favourites, but only just. Ipswich win

1969: vs Leicester. Albion overwhelming favourites. Leicester win

1968: vs Birmingham City. Albion favourites. Albion win

1957: vs Villa. Albion slight favourites. Villa win

1954: vs Port Vale. Albion favourites. Albion win

1935: vs Bolton. Albion favourites. Albion win

1931: vs Everton. Everton favourites. Albion win.

So that's seven semi-finals Albion have been expected to win. There is no pressure on Albion this Saturday - just as there wasn't when they played runaway second division leaders Everton, inspired by Dixie Dean, in 1931.

And we all know what Albion went onto achieve in 1931 don't we...?