As Marvin Gaye once said, “Lets get it on”, writes Albion blogger Jarrod Hill.
The build up has been lengthy, and all sorts of things have been said by various people on both sides of the divide.
So what do we expect to see on Sunday?
To see Jarrod discussing the derby with Wolves blogger Nathan Lloyd click Bloggers on the derby
Well to be frank, I have no idea, it is a derby and everything including form goes out of the window.
I am struggling to not only suggest our starting eleven, but to even guess what the formation will be.
There are a number of things and players I want to see, I want to see a good game, I want to see the Hawthorns rocking, and I want to see Gera, Tex, Koren, and Greening all play, and I want to see the Baggies win and start to cement an automatic promotion spot. Yes I want Christmas to come early.
So what do I make of Wolves?
I think their danger man is Kightly, but will he fancy it against mad dog Robinson?
Their strikers must be hurting too, the on going melodrama, (which to be honest I am bored to death of), regarding who should play up front for them, means they have the perfect opportunity to stake a claim for a run in the side by becoming a hero on Sunday.
They will also test our Achilles heel, set pieces. Craddock and Collins will need to be closely guarded, and discipline will be a key factor, not only defending set pieces, but also ensuring we do not concede too many of them (note to Robinson).
So what are their weaknesses?
Their left hand side has two players (Collins and Ward) who are viewed as being played out of position.
Mowbray will be looking closely at who he feels will give Collins the toughest time, personally if he goes with the 4-4-1-1 formation I would play Tex out there.
His trickery and ability to pick a pass would cause any left back problems.
So, who is our most important player come Sunday?
Greening, he is our most influential player by far, he determines our tempo, and links the defence to midfield and the midfield to attack.
We witnessed how influential he is in our last game away at Coventry, he had probably his worst 45 mins in the first half and we looked all at sea. Second half he clicked into gear, and we ran riot.
Miller will carry our attack, and the Wolves defence must be wondering how you stop a player who has pace, strength, and confidence backed by goals and a recent call up to the England under 21s.
Predictions?
Well this is Albion at home so there will be goals, it is a derby so there will be bookings and possibly a sending off, and I am going with 2-1 to the baggies.
My head keeps telling me that there is only three points up for grabs, but my heart keeps telling me to ignore my head, it means so much more……sing it Marvin, “Let’s get it on”.
Albion fans, what do you think? Have your say below
15 Comments
Come on you Baggies lets have a good game and Baggies to win 3-1.BOING BOING.
Good bloggin’ - balanced and sensible as always
If the unthinkable happens and we lose we will possibly only drop 1 place in the table and lose ground on Watford not exactly the end of the world. If Wolves lose they could potentially drop to 10th, back to mid table. We are playing well at home and give very little away, so I see a 2-0 win in a very close game, and hopefully a good game.
Top bloggin Jarrod,
Hope to see a 3-0 to the baggies come full time and the hawthorns will be rockin !!!!
Come an av a go you dogheads….BOING BOING BOING BOING BOING BOING BOING BOING !!!
I feel a cliche coming on……..
here goes.
It is just another game where 3 points are at stake,
the difference ?
If we lose!
i will have to recharge my mobile
phone on the way back from the game,
i will walk into a certain pub in Wednesfield to hoots of derision
and much hilarity.
If we win!
i will have to recharge my mobile
phone on the way back from the game,
i will walk into a certain pub in Wednesfield and be pelted with beermats and peanuts.
If we draw!
it`ll probably be a combination of both scenarios.
OH and i will be here on Monday to give or recieve some stick.
Jarrod
i have a feeling that Bednar will
start up top with Miller,
and Tex on the bench.
We certainly can’t afford to play the way we did in the first half against Coventry.
Tempo is the key.
We need our midfield to be right up for it.
Jarrod I hope you are right because I would not change the team after the second half display V coventry. Tex has to play but TM usually rests the travelling internationals although this time there is an additional day to recover so stick to the formation. Personally I think and hope it will be 3-0 if we play as well as we did in ourlast 45 mins.
Ah complacency! Go on carry on underestimating us, we love it! Suits us fine thanks.
I think you’ll understand if I don’t wish you luck for the game on Sunday.
But, what I do wish for is a great game, no controversial decisions, and no trouble before , during and after the match.
Birchland wolf at last someone from the other side with a sensible comment i totaly agree with you but different to you i wish your team a good game BUT i hope we beat you.Boing Boing.
See the other top story - Vote for £50m lottery money for the Black Country. How about Mowbray and McCarthy mek a joint call for us all to win summat?
8
Wolves did complacency very well for a number of seasons and we still beat ya so some things dont change. We are better than you to a man and we should go into the game thinking we will win. If you do manage to pull off a victory it will be well deserved
Yes we were overcomplacent in the past. Albion were a lot of the time overconfident last year and majority of the games came out on top. Fair enough the play off games you came out on top. However Derby were taken for granted and we know what happened there…
On paper technically i would say Albion are the better side. Question is Wolves arguably have hungrier, youthful side with ability and pride. What will happen if Wolves start Clicking;Eastwood and Bothroyd play to their potential, Kightly has a good game…
I personally think you should win, BUT you never know!
i think it will be a close game but hopefully our class will tell in the end and that the dingles dont cause any trouble
Crackin’ blog, Jaz. If the game was played on paper, or if the neutral fan got to phone in and vote for a winner based on entertainment value and the team that they would most like to see in the P’ship next season, then I wouldn’t be concerned.
In reality, the game will probably be tight. Robinson needs to play better than he has in any game this season to handle Kightly, and we need to avoid those far too frequent losses of concentration at set pieces. Wolves will be glad that Super Kev’s name isn’t on the teamsheet, but given that “We’ve got the best midfield in the world…..”, there’s plenty of goals elsewhere.
I’m taking my 5 year old to his first black country derby, so let’s hope for quality game, the fair result (Albion to win by atleast two clear goals), and no bad language from the crowd throughout the game. Or I’ll have to explain to his mother why Stevie Bull’s a tatter…..and what we always do to the old gold and black!!
By the way, if we beat ‘em again, do we get to keep ‘em?