March 2009 Archives

International weeks are strange times at football clubs.

There's hardly anyone around and those players who do come in give the impression of kids who are hauled in for extra lessons during the holidays.

It's something they've got to do while the others get to travel the world in the name of their country.

Abdoulaye Meite is one of those away. He played for Ivory Coast in the desperately tragic game against Malawi where 22 people were crushed by a wall and a stampede. Goodness knows what frame of mind he will be in. Chris Brunt, Robert Koren, James Morrison are among those also absent, although Brunt won't play this week having picked up a one-game ban.

Elsewhere, Tony Mowbray had plenty to say.

There were interesting comments about the futures of Fortune and Simpson, not to mention his observations about a certain other player who has been keeping Albion's scouting network busy - all of which you can read about in Tuesday's Birmingham Mail.

And a lot more.

He hasn't given up on this season.

But I hazard a guess that this Saturday's game against Stoke City is surely the biggest Albion have played at this level since Portsmouth on the last day of the 2004/05 season?

Like everyone else, I suspect Mowbray will just be glad to have proper football back on the agenda.

Let's get tenuous.

A decade ago I worked for a motor racing publication covering Formula Renault and Formula Three.

It was a bit like covering football in Leagues One and Two - a select few competitors eventually made it big but most others disappeared from view.

It was during this time that I spent an evening out with media colleagues, drivers and their advisors following the opening night of the annual Autosport Show, held at the NEC.

One such up-and-coming driver went in search of more entertainment. Where he and his entourage ended up I honestly don't remember.

But I do recall that while en-route, the driver's advisors, apparently big Baggies fans, instructed the taxi driver to detour and pull up outside The Hawthorns.

The two men, solicitors specialising in sport during their working hours, got out of their black cab and started bowing down in front of the glass doors of the Halfords Lane stand, while the racing driver sat in the taxi and laughed.

That same driver ended up in Formula One by 2000, while I had ventured over into football and started to lose touch with that particular circle of contacts.

Still, I often wondered whether the driver - Jenson Button - stuck by the same advisors and became some kind of honorary Albion fan following his fleeting visit to B71. I suspect not.

But, in any case, I would like to thank him for getting this morning off to a good start by taking the chequered flag in Australia and, more importantly, winning me some money in the process.

I've got to say there hasn't really been a boring season at The Hawthorns during this decade. Until now.

Because in all honestly can you see a way out for Tony Mowbray's men? Is this season as good as over and petering out into the biggest anti-climax?

Let's face it, if Albion don't beat Stoke then it's as good as finished. A win gives them hope but the fixtures coming up after that aren't kind. Spurs and Manchester City in their own manor will be different propositions to those who visited The Hawthorns in December. We all know what happens to Albion when Liverpool come to town and you would hope there is nothing significant for Blackburn to play for by the time the Baggies visit Ewood Park at the very end of the season. Portsmouth, Sunderland and Wigan? Perhaps that's where the wins will come from. Even then you're talking about three wins and maybe one against Stoke. Assuming that happens, I can't see 36 points being enough, unless Albion remain unbeaten in a few more games along the way.

Robert Koren and Scott Carson spoke after the Bolton game about still needing to win five games, how it wasn't over yet and how there is still hope. Mowbray likewise.

But Albion don't seem to have it in them to win another two or three games, let alone five. And even if they hit that kind of form then where are the Norwich, Crystal Palace and Southampton to bail them out?

I was asked this week by another journalist, from another newspaper to give Albion's strengths, weaknesses, the key game over the coming weeks and what I felt the bottom three would be. I struggled for 'strengths', needed more space to list all the 'weaknesses', was tempted to put the recent Newcastle at home as the 'key game' (but went for Stoke as it wasn't retrospective) and couldn't see beyond Albion, Middlesbrough and Hull for the bottom. Opinion may be split on Hull.

Albion wise, the pointing of fingers doesn't start yet. That day will come if the R appears and Albion's name is highlighted in a slightly different hue to the other Premier League teams.

I thought Bryan Robson's second season was poor but, in many ways, Albion suffered from a result of Portsmouth's stunning comeback from the dead. Robson made mistakes and you somehow felt that if he had done things a little bit differently tactically, such as playing two up front in games Albion needed to win, then results might have followed because there were enough spirited performers in that side. Yet no matter how much Tony Mowbray tinkers around with this current side, can you see where the fight will come from, with one or two notable exceptions?

This time I can only see one outcome.

Maybe I'm being overly pessimistic. Or merely jumping on board with the growing surge of opinion at the moment. Does anyone disagree?

And, fighting through all the hyperbole and spin, I can't help wondering whether some at the club share my view.

1. Okay. Own up. Shelton Martis in defence? What thought came to your mind when the team was announced? Mine was one of surprise. But then Meite and Barnett were injured (is it me or is Meite injury prone more than most?) with Donk left out. A little harsh perhaps. He was poor vs Arsenal, but streets ahead of Meite.
Martis was excellent. He kept his nerve, he got riled at the right times - that would have got the thumbs up from Robbo no doubt - and he actually used the ball very well. It was his 40-yard diagonal long ball which picked out Brunt in the move that led to that corner where his header almost sneaked in. Dorrans too. Excellent. Any more of the same and we may have to ask why they weren't given a chance earlier?

2. Rob Green. It's one thing trying to point the finger at individuals in post-match interviews but his comments about Jonas Olsson were a bit like telling tales to the FA. Olsson is uncompromising, hard and the best captain Albion haven't got - but he's not dirty.

3. When does a good match become a bad match? When West Ham don't win perhaps. I still recall the horror among the assembled press when Albion won 4-3 back in 2003. Some of the national hacks were skirting the borders of hooliganism after the match. Poor Alan Pardew got some stick that day. Gianfranco Zola, one of football's gentleman, didn't get a raw deal but Albion's passing, movement and three clear cut chances weren't enough to convince Canary Wharf's Bubble Blowers that, actually, Monday night's game wasn't that bad after all.

4. So what does supporting Albion do to your health? I have no idea - although I've had to change a few intros in my time thanks to late goals. One colleague got so confused and stressed during the Battle of Bramall Lane that his newspaper had to ditch his report and opt for Press Association copy. But I know a man who might know more about the matters of the heart. Tony Vass, chairman of the Albion Supporters London branch, has been asked to wear a heart monitor for recent Albion games as part of a survey being conducted by Wrigley's Gum. That'll take some analysing. And, no, I have no idea what Wrigley's has to do with cardiac matters....

All of this excitement meant that I forgot to say I was going to be off for a few days. Normal service will be resumed next week.

Saturday afternoon. It's a time for football, is it not?

Unless you're in the Premier League, in which case anything goes. Monday nights, Sunday tea-time, Saturday lunchtimes, Tuesday, Wednesday nights. Covering Albion, as opposed to Man City for instance, means that Thursday nights are at least still sacred and free from travelling and more football. Villa fans will know what I mean now they are out of the Uefa Cup.

All of this got me thinking...will Albion fans miss the Premier League if relegated? Sure, the lure of the top flight makes it the place to be for players and managers, not least because of the exposure and kudos. But it means inconvenience - you may recall the Albion fans stitched up by Sky's decision to move the Newcastle game several times before settling on a date after supporters had made travel arrangements and hotel bookings. Or the fact that the Baggies have no game next weekend but must travel to east London for a game against West Ham on Monday night.

Throw in the fact that a club of Albion's stature can probably expect to win far fewer games, score a fraction of the goals and concede so many more compared to a promotion season.

This was further stirred by a radio phone-in on Saturday. A Wolves fan contacted the station to say he actually wanted his team to stay DOWN because he didn't want to see one win per month, didn't wish to pay extortionate prices at matches or be inconvenienced by constant changes to the fixture schedule. He felt happier in the environment he was familiar with. After all, if you've been there once - or four times in Albion's case - the novelty of a trip to Old Trafford soon wears off.

That's the conundrum.

Is it the Premier League - fewer wins, fewer Saturday games, but more TV exposure, massive financial rewards just for being there, better players, quality football, Premier League kudos, nicer stadia and all the spin offs that come with it?

Or

The Championship - more victories (potentially), more games at 3pm, less financial reward, less chance of keeping your best players, little interest from the national broadcasters, 'meat and potatoes' football, and missing out on the global circus of the Premier League?

So which do you prefer? Where is it more fun to be a fan? And, if it's the Championship, does that fun come at the expense of credibility and progress to the club you support?

TO be honest there's not much more that I can add to my match report.

But one thing does rile me. Footballers with attitude.

The local media is there for the fans. Not the official website - they can spin things into whatever they want to. That's not a criticism of my colleagues in the Albion press room. It's their job to put a positive slant when things are as grim as they are. You won't for example see comments where a player or manager is critical of the chairman, for instance, or another club.

The local press is there to give relatively unbiased comment on Albion. Whether you agree with it or not is your choice. However when we ask players for a comment then we are doing so because (A) it's our job to ask and because (B) we, as a medium between club and readers, feel fans are owed an explanation come win, lose or draw, without spin or waffle. Especially if the team keeps losing in the same manner.

Footballers earn four or five figure sums per week, they train for two hours a day, then they take to the pitch for two hours on match days. They are treated like Gods when things are going well. Yet some are unaccountable when things aren't going as well. The manager speaks to the press afterwards whether he wants to or not. And rightly so.

Some players would rather skip the two minutes of slightly awkward questions, presumably in case it eats into their busy post-match social schedule. Or, to put it another way, they cannot be bothered to speak to you. The people who pay to watch defeats. The people who pay to be ridiculed at work every morning after the previous Saturday or Tuesday evening. Surely they should be duty-bound to speak? Right or wrong? The local press aren't there to court headlines or back page headlines. Our readers are predominantly fans who want to know why this is happening or why that isn't happening. They deserve more respect. We're not asking for War and Peace (no pun intended Mr Chairman) but just a couple of minutes.

One player, a young yet very high-profile international who should know better, brushed a colleague and myself away with a look of disdain I would normally reserve for a trek through a path of horse muck.

He couldn't be bothered. Apparently he was upset at the result. Really? So were 23,000 others.

Supporters are getting sick of watching week after week of poor results and mistakes. If a person made errors in their place of work they get disciplined.

Yet some footballers - not all, I should add - puff their chest out, curl their lips and stink the place out with their 'nothing to do with me Guv' arrogance. Like I say, not all are like this.

You won't find a better ambassador than Jonathan Greening for instance. A true statesman as any captain should be. Jonas Olsson also has time for people. As does Roman Bednar generally, Paul Robinson nearly always has time for you (even when he's had a blazing row with his own fans), James Morrison, Robert Koren (a true gent with an amazing grasp of English and 'Footballese') and one or two others. The rest? Forget it. Sure, some don't speak English well enough and are uncomfortable speaking out. That's fair enough. Yet some are beneath such chores.

There have been others in the past who can't wait to speak and believe they owe it to the punters. Derek McInnes would bark or snarl at you if you phrased a question incorrectly. But it was his duty to explain himself. Sean Gregan pulled me up for giving him 'sixes' every week. Yet he spoke when asked. Bob Taylor, Andy Johnson and The Horse were all willing. Even Lee Hughes was brave enough - at a time when keeping a low profile was definitely in his best interests. I could name a few who had no guts or desire to do so.

In any case, I'm doing one of those live chats on Thursday lunchtime. Click here if you fancy it.

See you tomorrow perhaps.