One month to go
LET me tell you a true story.
A few years ago a footballer was about to discuss personal terms with a club that he was about to join.
He was briefed by his agent beforehand and advised that they would ask for a minimum of £16,000-a-week.
Footballer walked into the boardroom with his representative, the club's chairman arrived and, before anyone else had a chance to speak, said: "Right this is our only offer - you can have £32,000-a-week. Take it or leave it."
Contract signed, the significantly wealthier player joined and duly went onto become of the most spectacular flops of all time.
His club, which I best not name, were (and maybe still are) paying him off, long after he'd gone.
Which is why Albion fans should be relieved that Jeremy Peace runs their club and not this particular chairman. Or indeed many others who have ruined clubs through such ham-fisted methods.
That illustrates the extreme.
I've been working on a piece for Tuesday's Birmingham Mail asking where Albion's rightful position is. Is it the Championship? Is it the Premier League?
Because try as they like, Albion just cannot get to grips with the top flight. They are being out-performed by rookies Stoke and Hull.
And while it's easy to blame the manager, point the finger at blundering players or claim that the Premier League is tailored towards the big clubs and, actually, not as exciting as Sky would have you believe, the fact is that Peace has been chairman now for each one of Albion's top flight campaigns during this decade.
While his name is above the door then there is some accountability on his part.
The club has made great strides. The training facilities have improved, the West Stand boasts some of the best facilities you'll see in the Premier League and the club remains on a sound monetary footing. Cosmetically, and financially, all is well.
But Albion struggle to compete in the Premier League.
And history shows that the salaries of clubs tend to correspond with the Premier League table come May, which is where Albion have a problem. They are bottom of both.
Albion might have spent a net sum in the region of £11million during the summer (taking the Davies money into account) but they are still keeping rigid to their wage structure - endorsed by Mowbray - and their insistence that every player takes a pay cut in the event of relegation. They've missed out on good players and lost others due to this.
The flex-down policy encourages sound book-keeping and financial viability, but is also shaping Albion's future as a perennial yo-yo club or worse.
Albion have bounced back twice from relegation. Next time they might struggle to. It's no doubt one of the reasons why Peace sought fresh investment during the summer.
This transfer window will be crucial in so many ways. Yes, affordable and available players are harder to find in January. Sure, it's not an easy market place to operate in given that few clubs want to release players. But some will be available.
As I speak, Albion are a two game swing away from 17th spot. Other clubs have problems too. West Ham will need to sell to fund Sheffield United's compensation demands, Blackburn are on the wane and Sunderland's form may force Roy Keane to spend more time walking his dog. Or at least grant him half an hour to have a shave.
And then there's Bolton, Stoke, Wigan, Boro and even Hull, all of whom could get dragged into bother before May has elapsed.
The Baggies aren't far away from survival. The money was there in summer as seen by the late bid for Thomson, the interest in Trejo and the loan moves for Frazier Campbell and Voronin. We're told the money won't be available in January, which is unfortunate. And what of the Credit Crunch. We're told that won't help either, across football.
This season has a long way to run and what happens in January will go a long way to deciding what happens next May.
But, right now, I can't decide whether Albion are an under-achieving Premier League club, an over-achieving Championship club or simply caught in the middle while they try to decide.
*ONE last thing - and on another note - there is absolutely no truth whatsoever in the speculation linking Albion with Brian Stock.
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Chris Lepkowski - Mail man Chris Lepkowski’s view of what’s going on at West Bromwich Albion FC.
Was the player Seth Johnson at Leeds!?
If the baggies go down this year it will be 3 relegations under 3 different managers, but one thing has remained the same...the chairman.
"We're told the money won't be available in January, which is unfortunate."
It is very much so. Because i truly believe we are one or even two players away from a very decent team. I know Peace is unwilling to go that extra mile. Why? Because rightly so he doenst want to put our finances at risk. Rightly or wrongly..you cant argue with that. But what i would like is whether through the Birmingham Mail or WBA website..he could explain himself as to why money isnt being made available to our best manager for a long time. A manager who has produced a brand of football i thought i would never see. It would be refreshing for him to let us know what we have to spent rather then Mr Mowbray everytime. Bottom line is Mr Peace controls the football club but im sure he isnt oblivious to the fact that we are one or two players short of being a good team in this division. Imagine the rewards next season. Do i have a point Chris? Or am i rambling on? Great blog again. In Mowbray We Trust
"We're told the money won't be available in January, which is unfortunate."
It is very much so. Because i truly believe we are one or even two players away from a very decent team. I know Peace is unwilling to go that extra mile. Why? Because rightly so he doenst want to put our finances at risk. Rightly or wrongly..you cant argue with that. But what i would like is whether through the Birmingham Mail or WBA website..he could explain himself as to why money isnt being made available to our best manager for a long time. A manager who has produced a brand of football i thought i would never see. It would be refreshing for him to let us know what we have to spent rather then Mr Mowbray everytime. Bottom line is Mr Peace controls the football club but im sure he isnt oblivious to the fact that we are one or two players short of being a good team in this division. Imagine the rewards next season. Do i have a point Chris? Or am i rambling on? Great blog again. IMWT
Another great blog young Chris.
Excellent reply too by Mr Anonymous, i aree with
much of what you say. I reckon circumstances
could change should the Baggies results improve
dramatically before January & we were to haul
ourselves away from relegation, but yes, other
than that we're gonna be looking at Arsenal's
younger lads (Arsene permitting) to help us out
on loan.
id be happy with hammann and a striker like lita
A really good blog again Chris and it certainly does raise interesting questions. I feel that at the moment we are in a no-mans land to good for the championship but not good enough for the premiership.
With regard to the wage structure at the club, I am sure that no-one wants Jeremy Peace to do a Leeds and throw endless amounts of money away. However, surely it would not be asking too much to break our wage structure a little even if we just match the bottom 3 or 4 teams in the premiership in terms of wages we would stand a much better chance of attracting players of the desired quality. We desperately need a ball winning midfielder and a striker, however with loans being the only option I would imagine we will most likely end up with Plessis from Liverpool, Manucho from Man Utd and someone like Ben Sahar from Chelsea or Jay Simpson from Arsenal.
Now that Peace has won his battle with the shareholders do you think he may sell the club soon Chris?
Although I'm a Blues fan I do not want WBA to make the same mistake that Blues made in the January window last year. A lack of transfer activity meant that Blues were always fighting a losing battle against relegation for the sack of a couple of players who would have made all the difference. If Peace is serious about wanting to be in the Premier league he will have to sanction some transfers. Given the right players I am suer that Mowbray can keep the Baggies up. Good luck we need all the West Midlands teams in the Premier league.
Signor Maresca; Chris Blogski is never going to confirm that the player in question was indeed Seth .
You are being Ridsdaleiculous!
Ah! ah! ah! ah!
Was it Sean Gregan?
He would fit in now perfectly: sideways, backwards; sideways, backwards . . .
Ha ha, it's our mate Pulis football Dog.
Did you go yesterday pal? Great penalty by our
ole mate The Duke wasn't it? Hmmm, such a pity
you lardies got knocked out.
On a serious note Chris..... Great news about
The Horse!
Wardy, Indeed it's great news about the Horse.
Chris
Evening Chris, firstly I'll admit to not being your biggest fan. Then again there aren't too many journalists who I'd be willing to send Christmas Cards too unfortunately. Whilst I'd love to believe everything that you journalists say, similarly to Politicians... in both instances I remain sceptical.
However, with regards to this blog entry. It's both very interesting and refreshing. Most interestingly was that Tony Mowbray endorses the clubs wage policy. Some fans believe that there may be tension behind the scene with regards to Peace's inability to throw money at the squad in similar fashion to Hull City (Geovanni and Boateng) in terms of wages perhaps or like that of Stoke City in terms of spending money on the likes of Soares, Kitson and Olifijana, known quantities.
If Mowbray is happy with the wage budget then us fans have no reason not to be whatsoever. If the Thomson story is true and that the £4m transfer was there to be done, then that may have silenced critics in terms of how much we spend.
I posed the following question on an Albion messageboard just a few days ago:
*If we do go down it won't be through a lack of effort on our managers part. That can be said. The Chairman and players though can be questioned.
Can the same be said of Hull City and Stoke City?*
I can now retract the part about the Chairman, if the Manager's happy with him, I am. The players on the otherhand can be questioned.
All in all, I'm in agreement. I prefer us to be a tight ship capable of floating as opposed to end up being something of a Titanic. A ship with money thrown at it; Bradford, Leeds, Sheff Weds to name just three, only for it to sink.
Taff,
Thanks for your comments.
It's a balancing act. There are horror stories throughout all four Leagues about mismanagement at the highest level. Those clubs are now being punished or, at the very least, facing uncertain times. It's safe to say that Albion will never find themselves in such a scenario under the current regime.
However, perhaps one sometimes needs to be just a little bit bolder to reap greater rewards.
As for tensions between manager and chairman, if there are any then both men are doing a very good act of disguising it. I don't think there are any fears on that score. Every manager would like to have that extra player in their squad - but Tony Mowbray appreciates the boundaries he has to work within.
The irony is that for a spot of better finishing or more composed defending, this may not even be a topic for discussion...