Fourteen games to go and the Championship race for the Premiership could not be any tighter, writes Albion blogger Jarrod Hill
We have slid from first to fourth but still remain within one win of top spot, with no win and only one goal in the last two games we have handed our rivals the chance to move above us.
However fourteen league fixtures is still a huge amount of football to be played and there will be many more twists and turns yet, Watford and Bristol will now feel the pressure of trying to hold onto those two automatic spots.
Tuesday night was a bit frustrating and for the first time this season I sensed we were not going to score, but the golden rule is, if you cannot win a match make sure you do not lose it.
The defence played well and in particular Leon Barnett. We had lots of possession but with Sheff Utd defending from their 18 yard box we found it hard to break them down.
With a number of key players suffering from niggling injuries it is important that all of our squad players perform well when called upon, you often only come to value a player when they are not available, and in the last few games Robert Koren has been a big loss.
His pure box to box energy benefits both our attack and defence, and the boy scores goals!
This weekend the boys get a break from the pressure of gaining three league points and we head off to Coventry in the FA Cup.
As a treat for my father’s birthday we are going on the club’s executive away day deal, a meal, comedian, and a few beers will warm us up nicely ready for the game.
It will be interesting to see if Coventry has their new manager installed before Saturday; it is amazing how a new broom always seems to sweep clean.
Having already played them twice this season I rate a number of their players and it will be a tough game.
Having sold out our 6,000 ticket allocation in a matter of hours it is obvious that the FA Cup is still a competition loved by many of our fans.
The loan market is now open and I see we are being linked to players on a daily basis, predominantly the Moore boys (Luke and Darren).
They may have the same surname but that is where the similarity ends!
We all know what “Big Dave” offers a team; he is a very uncompromising defender who is very good in the air.
I am not convinced this deal will happen as he is not the archetypal Mowbray player, but Mowbray may see him as more instrumental off the field as on it, he is an inspirational leader within the dressing room and in the run in to the end of season when nerves become frayed could prove valuable.
Two previous promotions were won on the back off having individuals who didn’t crack under pressure in big games, and lets face it if he told you to jump, you would ask, “how high Mr Moore”.
The link to Luke Moore surprises me, not the fact that we are linked to a good young player, but the fact that Aston Villa would be prepared to let him leave.
As a player aged 21 he already has a fair bit of Premiership experience, and has scored goals since breaking into the side.
He has struggled to get games this season and a loan deal to another local club would suit both us and him, but we keep hearing that Aston Villa are short of squad players, so we wait to see what happens. Personally I think he would be a very useful addition to our team.
Anyway I had better go and iron a shirt for my posh day out supporting the Baggies tomorrow, prawn sandwich anyone?
Albion fans have your say below
27 Comments
Jarrod, good blog as usual,
but iron a shirt for the big day..How many Baggies shirts have you got ??
IN MOWBRAY WE TRUST, Boing Boing
Hi Jarrod,
I have said on many previous occassions that I cannot see Big Dave coming back to us - yes he is good in the air (cos he’s big) - but lets be honest… he aint too good on the ground is he.
I have seen oil tankers turn quicker than Big Dave, and by coming back he may destroy the great memories we have of him - i hope it doesn’t happen.
I would also be amazed if ToMo and mark Venus felt they needed a leader in the dressing room - you get the feeling TM has that one covered.
I have also thought (hoped) for a long time that Luke Moore would eventually become part of the Davies deal - and a loan now would seem a good option, for us AND him.
Finally - enjoy hob-nobbing with the upercrust - and dont slurp ya soup.
What is worrying is that all of the top five (apart from us) all play games before we play our next game at home to Hull,
Stoke v Scunthorpe
Charlton v Watford
Bristol City v Palace
By the time we play our next league game the table will look very different, either way, the pressure will be on to either take advantage of a slip up or the pressure of playing catch up.
So exciting, but it is doing nothing for my nerves.
I hear Mowbray is saying Kim will be involved tomorrow, something else to look forward to.
Jarrod, I had the executive treatment last season at Coventry, but unbeknown to me (and my partner who i’d taken along)I was told we only had to wear smart casual, which to me means smart top & smart jeans, nothing to formal but not looking like i was dressed for a brawl in Burberry. Anyway as we got nearer the Ricoh Arena stood somewhere between the ground and the shopping complex opposite I received a call off the guy we were meeting saying that he had just had to run over the road to Tesco or whatever the superstore is called there because he’d been refused entry in his formals, so I then do my U-turn and dart across to Tesco’s to purchase some nice new un-ironed shirt & trousers, and a nice new pair of shoes, which by the end of the day had rubbed every bit of skin off my feet. Well we finally got through the bouncer guys then had a mountain of steps to go up and a number of doors you could choose from, We were guarenteed to get lost, we eventually found a member of staff who pointed us the right direction, (I warn you it is like a maze).
Too quicken it up the exec boxes are fantastic, plus you can have a beer whilst watching the match (but you can’t take them onto the balcony area) and there turned out to be more Albion in the boxes than Coventry, so when we scored after a slight pause realising where i was the rest jumped up with me.
Sorry for the rambling story but i may well have given you an idea of what you’ll get tomorrow, enjoy your day.
Tonywba,
Our deal is different, we are entertained at the Hawthorns and then get an executive coach to the Ricoh but then sit in the normal seats with everyone else.
My experience of executive boxes means they allow me to consume alcohol and i then have to sit there and put a lid on my normal footballing behaviour which involves, singing very loudly, berating the officials for any decision that goes against my beloved Baggies, and celebrating goals like a mad man just let out of his cage.
The deal being offered suited me down to the ground, beer, food, and entertainment but then sitting in the cheap seats as usual for the game.
Oh and Moray, i have got that programme you wanted, ring me Saturday and i will get it too you!!
I even more so apologise for my ramblings then lol (needless to say the least).
Enjoy your day anyway !!!!!
If Luke Moore does sign on loan it will my raise my suspicions about happy baggies true identity. When nobody had ever mentioned Moores name hb was stating he would be in a baggie shirt before the end of the season.
I have a few ideas about who hb really is:
Jeremy Peace
Mystic Meg
Derren Brown
Justin Pegg
Russell Grant
Baggie Bird
Luke Moore
Luke Moores agent!!!!
Just a bit of fun on a friday!!!
guys, profuse apologies, but i think
our cup campaign ends tomorrow.
My guess for the last eight are…..
Liverpool
Chelsea
Portsmouth
Arsenal
Sheff Utd
Bristol Rovers
Wolves (replay)
Coventry.
we need to get big dave in asap.
wba bomber 8..
Or happy could just be going through the bins from JP’S office lol
sorry Happy!!
10 - no offence taken…. it was once rumoured on the Wolves pages that i was MM so being JP’s bin man seems a step up.
I don’t know whether anyone spotted the other day, that Brereton Wolf or sommat like that accused me of using different alias’s on this website, obviously this pee’d me off a tad, I just want to assure you guys that I am a 1 and only, and that my name will tag every post i put on here, whether critical or positive.
It would be interesting to know how many fans could not get a ticket for tomorrow, two of my mates are sitting in the home end.
Happy_baggie is definatley not MM, he has never told me to put a shift in (on the blog) and has never blamed all the bloggers for his own poor performance or decision making. I have now decided he his a retired international spy who is now using all his training to gain information about the team he supports.
His code name was probably Dick Humpalot, and he lives in an underground lair called The Happy Hawthorns. His use of a secret Satellite means he gains intelligence about all prospective transfers, and his masterplan is to use his secret laser to reflect the suns rays onto the Molinpoo as a makeshift lazzzzzzzzzzeeeeeerrrr!! No ransom for a milliiiion pound, (i beleive it is worth a lot less, apparantly a tenner gets you the lot) just total destruction, hoooo haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
Carlsberg do not send blogs, but if they did they would probably be the best blogs in the world.
Just a bit of fun on a friday.
I’ve a slightly different last 8 prediction:
Bristol Rovers
Cardiff
Chelsea
WBA
Barnsley
Man U
Preston
Sheff Utd
All we need then is Chelski and Man U to draw each other in the 1/4’s and it’s anyone’s game!
I wonder what the odds are on that line up?!!
I see Mark Lawrenson has been at it again, could well be a good luck omen for us tomorrow.
Coventry v West Brom
A Midlands derby - and I’m going to tip Coventry to win.
This will probably please most West Brom fans because I tipped Peterborough to beat them in the last round and the Baggies won 3-0.
Both teams will be hoping to get through and land a big tie in the next round.
But the Coventry players will have the added incentive of trying to impress any prospective new managers following the dismissal of Iain Dowie.
West Brom are pushing for promotion to the Premier League, while the Cup represents Coventry’s only chance of glory this season.
Match preview
Verdict: 2-1
Nice one bomber lol
Now just who do you think could possibly be “Mini B”
Your name is supermaths shouldnt you know??
I will give you 165-1, and 164 of that is on Liverpool not to beat Barnsley??
After the Irish business gentleman stumped up the cash to get Trapatoni in, I am personally willing to pay my own bus fair to Derby, so that I can carry our hero ‘Big Dave’ on my back, all the way to the Hawthorns. He may not be the world class, lightening quick, turn on a sixpence defender some fans crave, but he SHOULD come back home to play for us and be a part of our coaching staff, for when he gets a bit more senior.
On the subject of alias’, I feel I can now tell you all the truth about my hidden identity……..
I’m Spartacus!!!
TonyWBA
I think i was also targeted by
Brereton Wolf, as being your equally
thick twin…although the name he
used was sswba4ever.
If you are reading Brereton,
and i am the subject in question,
would you mind explaining why this is the case,
because you have me at a disadvantage, as i am unsure what
i have said to warrant a “thick”
tag.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Bomber - all very plausible (I have a lair under Rolfe st station…. unfortunately even I can’t make the sun shine on the custard bowl.
If i was really planning to cause untold damage to Wolverhampton Wanderers I would just talk Steve Morgan into extending MM’s contract… and i would burn the pie stand thereby causing mass panic.
Hmmmm… it just might work…
Maybe HB to add further confusion for our friends down the road we could open a burberry baseball cap stand, selling them at £1 a go, however we may get killed in the stampede. Or even sell t-shirts that are reversible, on one side we could have Get mick out, and on the other side You have let us down again!!!
Oh and boingboingbaggiebill, surley you are waiting for someone to say “No i am Sparticus”. Very good.
Just another point on the blogg - ypur reference to Big Dave having an influence in the dressing room brought back memories of Robson and Kevin “one up” campbell - shudder.
Bryan robson may have needed to “spokesman” in the dressing room but I think TM is made of sterner stuff.
BBBB 18 - the one thing we surely don’t need is an ex-centre half coming back to work with our defenders…. I for one can remember Mowbray as a defender I feel he probably has the experience to do that himself. Plus even mark Venus was no slouch at the back for the dingles.
I just can’t see where the “Big Dave” hysteria is coming from… Wile and robertson are the best defenders at the club in my time but no-one calls for them to step in… We may need extra cover at the back - but trust me, it aint Big Dave,
Good job we are scoring plenty or someone would be bringing bob taylor back too.
p.s - this aint an anti-Big Dave rant - I respect him as much as anyone… but I remember him at the end of his time with us getting turned inside out every week, and finally getting subbed - we have moved on now.
Bomber - I found a reversable t.shirt outside the custard bowl the other day - on one side it said MM OUT - and on the other it said MM OUT !!!
I hear they are building the worlds biggest banner - it just says boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo - and goes round the ground 3 times.
All this talk about big Dave when Mowbray has the answer under his (Massive ) nose,Put John Wile in defence!
24 - even though john wile is still younger than Gary Breen, he is still too old for our team of hungry young players.
Good joke about TM’s nose though - I bet that gets a laugh in the playground !
john wile is still younger than Gary Breen:
Better player too!
id like to thank happy baggie for all is help, in all things wolves.its nice to know.the tesco lads,care about us dingles.all together now..all you need is love love love……..