November 2008 Archives

You will read in today's Birmingham Mail (and www.birminghammail.net) about a conflict brewing between Jeremy Peace and a group of minority shareholders.

It's going to get ugly, costly and probably end up in High Court.

It relates to the share consolidation which the Albion chairman is trying to push through, where effectively 10 shares become one new share. It means that any stakeholders who, for instance, bought one share as a token gesture of their support for the club now need to ensure they have 10 shares (at £80 per share) to ensure they retain their stake.

Described as a housekeeping exercise by Peace, it has not gone down well - to the extent that an injunction is being considered by a shareholders' group to stop the resolution from being passed.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the share consolidation there's no doubt that a dispute is not what the club needs right row.

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On a different note, those wondering what the state-of-play with the shirt sponsorship is, might be interested to know that an agreement was very close to being reached with a multinational company looking to establish itself in the UK market.

The deal was set to be rubberstamped only for the company to pull the plug following the recent 'meltdown' period when the worldwide financial markets collapsed. That potential partnership is now dead and, although the club are still in talks with various other companies, it'll be blank shirts for the forseeable future.

FANCY being Borja Valero for a few minutes? It'll cost you.

Albion have put the shirts from Saturday's game up for auction and prices are rising.

The unique shirts were embroidered with poppies, to mark the Poppy Appeal.

Fans can now purchase a shirt, with all proceeds going to the 2008 Poppy Appeal.

The shirts on offer include those worn by the 14 players who made it onto the field plus the four unused subs (Dean Kiely, Marek Cech, Do-heon Kim and Pele).

Borja Valero's No28 shirt is leading the bidding at the moment at £310, followed by goalscorer Ishmael Miller's shirt at £215.

For prices click here.

Back after a few days off but couldn't help notice a case of same-old, same-old about Albion.

- Still not winning games they should be. They need to wise up.

- Good to see Ishmael Miller carry on where he left off at Newcastle. He has the talent and application - he's now getting some reward.

- Ryan Donk is clearly a talented player but suffering from a loss in confidence. Now would be a convenient time for Abdoulaye Meite to recover from injury,

- Robert Koren had his best game for a long while yesterday. Industrious, energetic and back to his best.

- Jason Roberts didn't think it was a penalty. Speaking to Jason yesterday it was clear how much affection he still has for Albion. Shame things turned out the way they did - how Albion could do with a player of his experience.

- The penalty was harsh. It was a foul, no question, but how many of those do you see given?

- Likewise, Michael Jones' decision to dismiss Benni McCarthy was also a little harsh. Albion were lucky enough to appeal when Jones sent-off McShane in a game against Burnley a few years ago. Rovers have no such appeal - only straight reds can be overturned.