Saturday was simply superb, having been entertained at the Hawthorns before the game, we had no idea it would pale into insignificance at the entertainment awaiting us at the Ricoh, writes Albion blogger Jarrod Hill.
Our results are so good at the Ricoh I think we should start playing our home games there, 0-5 did not flatter us and it was nice to see us get such a good result when missing a number of key players.
Koren, Greening, and Phillips were all missing from the starting eleven, and the players who came in all had excellent games. Pele sat in front of the back four and looked very assured, Texeira was a constant menace, and bang bang Bednar did what he does best, score goals.
My choice for man of the match was Hoefkens, but it would be difficult to single out one player from a collective performance that sparkled with magic.
It was good to hear Mowbray bringing everybody back to earth by insisting his players now start focusing on Saturday’s game against Hull, and with a number of players getting a rest this weekend, lets hope we get back to winning ways in the league.
Stoke, Watford, and Bristol City are all going well and have taken advantage of our recent blip in form, and we need to put a run of results together to get back into those two automatic spots.
Having won on Saturday we were still overshadowed by one of our own, Luke Steele’s performance for Barnsley against Liverpool was unbelievable. He pulled off at least half a dozen outstanding saves to help Barnsley pull off the shock of the round.
Bristol Rovers now stand between us and a trip to Wembley; (although I do not agree with the semi-finals being played at Wembley) it represents a great chance to progress to within one game of the FA Cup final.
If we do it will end up costing me money, and I am not talking about going to Wembley, we are due to play Blackpool away on the 5th April in the league, and if we do beat Rovers we will be at Wembley that weekend.
With it coinciding with my birthday a group of us have booked a hotel in anticipation of a great weekend away in Blackpool, watching the Baggies and then sampling the cultural delights of the city of illumination.
You could call it a win, win, situation, lose and it is off to Blackpool as organised, win and it is off to Wembley for a semi-final in the FA Cup.
Although I would obviously prefer the trip to Wembley, the trip to Blackpool can soften the blow if we struggle at the Memorial peat bog. Their pitch is definitely what you could call a leveller, and will not suit our slick passing game, you can argue it is the same for both sides but they play on it every other week.
It now means we could go to Wembley without ever being drawn at home, and to be honest, it has been such a fantastic adventure going away in the cup this season I do not care. My only regret is for the fans that are going to struggle to get a ticket, with Rovers ground holding 21,000 we should be allocated just over 3000 tickets, (half of what we took to the Ricoh).
So dust down your tents and sleeping blankets, and get ready for a nights camping with several thousand Baggie fans, at least there will be burgers and fries on tap!!!!
I know Mowbray is trying to dampen down the excitement but I am like a big kid, just sooooooooooooooo excited.
16 Comments
I thought the ground capacity at bristol was 12,000. Therefore ticket allocation 1800?
Spot on Jarrod except I am really glad that the semi’s will be at Wembley cause at least I can hopefully get a ticket. Have we signed Luke Moore? Aren’t our loanees playing well—Steele was unbelievable and MaccieD is scoring for fun. One gripe I wish we would get a big centre half who commands the area in on loan.
I will point out my own error, the Memorial grounds capacity is actually 11,900, which means we may get 1800 tickets, sorry. Blog written in a bit of a hurry and mistook City for Rovers capacity.
I said to my lad after the game on saturday, that we would get Rovers away in the next round. Followed by ‘Boro at Wembley and sweet revenge for last year….don’t care about who we get in the final. Semi will be my birthday w/end too …..Hre’s hoping my mystic meg prediction holds up.
Sooooooooooo excited Boing Boing!!
Did anyone else hear Luke Steele interviewed on the radio last night??
When asked about his future he was basically saying Mowbray has made it clear he does not rate him and he assumes he will move on in the near future.
He was quite matter of fact about it and when then asked if he would like to go back to WBA a nd fight for his shirt he reiterated that Mowbray does not rate him!!
Wonder if Saturdays MOTD has changed tonys mind!!
Oh and are we signing Luke Moore or not????
Re Luke Steele…. he played a blinder on sat - but lets face it, he aint done that before has he ??
We all know that sometimes keepers have these purple days when nowt gets passed them - but TM sees him every day and I think he can spot talent - so there must be flaws in Lukes game. We shouldn’t go overboard about him based on one game - although his performance did add to the “perfect day”.
Also - how come we aint playing midweek ?? I’m worried about the fixtures piling up later in the season and we could have got one out the way tonight… ??
@ # 5
>>Wonder if Saturdays MOTD has changed tonys mind!!<<
one swallow does not make a summer.
although young Luke played a blinder, it’s doubtful he will play that way again.
anyway, if his future lies elsewhere then good luck to him.
wbabomber
I see where your coming from here and in no disrespect to LS one game does not make a career, he made some fantastic saves but was it Preston earlier in the season who stopped us from winning because of a string of great saves?
Where is he now??
Regarding Luke Steele, what a fantastic performance on Saturday, no questions about it.
Has he produced that sort of form in front of Tony Mowbray???? No!!!!
Will that performance of added a touch more onto his valuation when he is sold?
IMO Oh Yeah!!!!!
All good for the Baggies.
Excellent blog again, my Uncle has got the same predicament with Blackpool, hotel all booked up since Oct/Nov 07, now he may not have to go, still the compensation of a trip to Wembley is 2nd to none.
Do the knockers of the FA Cup now still want us out, because for me I feel like a little kid again, full of excitement, i doing the other half’s head in walking round the house singing Que sara sara (forgive the spelling)
Just on the Luke Steele thing again… Have we ever known TM to refuse to play a good player ??
He must be the fairest manager around cos EVERYONE gets a chance - he played Pele on saturday after leaving him out for a while. I’m sure if steele was consistantly good enough then we would not have got Danek in.
Unlike some managers TM has NEVER named favorites, and his team selection is always based on fitness, performance, and occassionally the opposition - name one player we all think should be getting a game who TM refuses to pick.
If LS has spoken out then perhaps he aint the type TM wants in the dressing room where everyone else, including internationals etc, keep their gobs shut.
Hopefully if TM does decide to sell him (and its not certain) the game at barnsley will have put a few quid on lukes price.
Although i do not know how good Luke Steele is, you can only judge him on his performances, he played a blinder for us against Leicester away. I think a goalkeeper is as specialist a position as they come and not always easy to judge them on training sessions alone. Lets face it if it was Birmingham would never have let David Seaman leave, i was simply suggesting the idea that this boy maybe worth hanging onto, aged 23 and still at least 5 years away from being near his peak.
Also Dean Kiely rates him very highly indeed, and he trains with him daily!!
I was pleased to see Nigel Pearson get appointed manager at southampton.
I know alot of fans thought he did well for us, and his 2 games in charge after Robbo went were fantastic. I was initially disappointed when he left - but things have turned out great for us.
He is well respected in the game and could become a good manager given some time..
Anyway - I hope he does well - he was treated badly at the Keegan circus for no obvious reason.
Good luck to him.
p.s - If any people want luke steele to replace Deanno - do you also want MacDonald to replace phillips ??
Yes your’e havin a good season but you’ll end up with nothing to show for it,losing in the semi’s and the play-off final again.See you all next season
13 - “see you all next season”… have you got SKY telly then or will you just watch the highlights on MOTD ??
HB
I havent heard anybody suggest steele should replace Deano??
What i am suggesting is that a goalkeeper who is 23 and with bags of potential should nt be heading for the exit door just because he isnt ready right now.
Mowbray has done the right thing so far by letting him out on loan, but with his contract running out next summer a decision has to be made.
Bomber - that wasn’t directed at you… i agree that steele shows great promise and i hope he stays - although if he has come out & said TM don’t want him then he may have nailed his own coffin.
I have read other posters saying Steele should get a go after the barnsley game and I just think its a bit too soon.