Albion blogger Jarrod Hill has faith in the Mowbray way and steps into Tony shoes for the pre-match rant ahead of the trip to Wigan.
As we head to Wigan and the JJB Stadium the message must be clear: Stop the rot.
A draw or preferably a win is an absolute must, for another loss would seriously dent any remaining hope the fans have of having a successful season.
Wigan are a tough team to break down and also have a number of flair players going forward, but in truth I still expect them to be in the
bottom half of the table come May, which means this game falls into the ‘we must get something out of’ category.
The players desperately need a shot in the arm in terms of confidence and I am sure Baggies boss Tony Mowbray is hoping he can convince the team that beat Middlesbrough, Fulham and West Ham is still within them and they have not become bad players over night.
It is time for many of them to prove they are Premier League players, pump your chest out, play with confidence and not hide away from playing their game.
I was asked a very interesting question this week that I would like to share with you, the question was: ‘If Albion get relegated this season would you still want to keep Mowbray as manager?’
Instinctively the answer was yes, but on further reflection I suppose it would depend on other aspects of the season. For example, had we moved
forward as a team and club? Were we still playing the type of football I like to watch?
I still believe in Mowbray, although ‘last weeks game at Stoke dented my strength of belief, I still feel we are moving forward. It wasn’t the result that hurt so much, it was the way we played and the feeling of inevitability about the game.
Mowbray has brought so much to our club and it is important to remember he is still a relatively young and inexperienced manager.
This season is undoubtedly his biggest challenge yet and his Arsene Wenger-like philosophy on football must be given time to bear fruit, even if that means having to take a step backwards (relegation) to take larger steps forward in the future.
Too often we witness a manager’s downfall due to success, they gain promotion and when all does not go to plan their p45 is duly placed in the post.
How often have we looked at other clubs and thought why are they getting rid of him as their manager, he was hero not six months ago.
Anyway onto the Wigan game. If I was doing the pre0match talk (Tony please feel free to use this if you like) it would go along these lines:
“Go out there and trust in each other as well as yourselves, you fought so hard to get into the Premier League and prove that you’re good enough
to play in the best league in the world.
“This is your chance. We are good enough, we have already beaten established top flight teams this season and today I want us to do it again. I want each and every one of you to go out and win your personal battles all over the pitch, relax and play our own game.
“I want to see a determination in each and every player’s eye that not only tells me your committed, but also shows the opposition we mean business.
“Now get switched on, get out there and win this game. I want every player at the end of the game to be able to say they are proud of their performance. If we can do that then the three points will be ours.”
Come on you Baggie Boys!
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19 Comments
Add a bit more to that pre-match talk bomber, (after final line)..
Yours is the earth and everything thats in it,
And -which is more- you`ll be a man, my son!
Ok that a bit Rudyard Kipling but it seems to go well.
UP THE BAGGIES
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Hi Bomber - I don’t think you can blame TM for us not playing free flowing footy against Stoke. You could buy a Ferrari - but it can only go as fast as the traffic around it… even top 4 clubs struggle to play an open expansive game against Stoke.
Would I want TM in charge if we got relegated ?? Abosolutely. We have no god given right to prem football and if we do go down I would still keep faith with the man who got us there in the first place, just like we did with Megson. Watford had to sack Boothroyd cos they were going no where in the CCC, but he got the chance.
Derby sacked Billy Davies during their prem season and every football fan knew that was stupid - I just hope we don’t make the same mistake.
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I hope you stop up, a premiership derby would be fantastic if we go up. However, at this stage, you have the worst attack and the worst defence and Mowbray has got to make you more effective otherwise you are down. Trying to outplay teams with passing and moving and leaving yourselves wide open to counter attack against mainly world class opposition is why you are where you are. Mowbray should have replaced Phillips and he needs to rethink his tactics. Wouldn’t you rather stay up playing abit uglier and being more effective like Stoke or Hull rather than getting relegated playing easy on the eye football? I know what i’d rather have.
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Great speech by the way - I was standing by the end - very stirring !!
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A hugely important game on Saturday which will go a long way towards how most fans view our prospects for the remainder of the season. Coming away from Stoke last week, I heard a growing number of fans getting on the backs of one or two players (Greening in particular) as well as some querying Mowbray. A couple of good results and all will be well again but if we don’t pick up soon then this disgruntlement will feed its way onto the pitch, and a confidence side like Albion can’t afford that. I’m hopeful that we will get a result but if we don’t then I think it will be time to make some changes and bring in some of the fringe players who haven’t had much of an opportunity so far this season - they may not be as good as some of the present first team on paper but their inclusion might just give the necessary kick up the backside to some of them who are currently in their comfort zone.
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Is anyone else a bit worried that with Beattie and Bart out on loan we only have three strikers at the club with first team experience ??
Just hope we don’t get an injury…..
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your right jarrod we need a confidence booster,the players dont seem confident enough too have a shot at goal on several occasions certain players have been in good shooting positions the crowd baying for them too shoot only for them too stop dead in there tracks and pass the ball sideways or backwards by which time the chance as gone,we must start having a pop at goal,my message too the players would be,shoot on site,lets try and get a goal in front then play keepball,aye boing boing
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Jarrod,
I still have faith in TM but the troubles we currently find ourselves in is due in part to theclubs failure to sign some warriors. Our midfielders are all the same too tippy tappy and not one of them can tackle. It is not a crime to hit a long ball now and again and I fear that we are a little too predictable. Up front, well we all know the problem here but why spend 3M on a forward (Still big money for us) and then steadfastly refuse to play him. Maybe we did not do good enough research on Mr Moore? Finally at the back, both fullbackls have been poor over a number of games and still they keep their place. We all know how poor we are at defending crosses, yet our fullbacks are incapable of stopping them at source. Zuvi continues to bomb forward loose the ball and then jog back leaving us exposed and Robbo has been so poor this season I wonder what has to happen for Marek Chec to get a chance. I am Albion through and through but I suspect that if things do not change pretty quickley we will need International Rescue.
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6 happy, im more worried about beattie might come back aye boing boing
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I think at the moment we have no cutting edge up front, Miller god bless him tries but I do think we need a player who is quick, to play off him. I was quite impressed with Mr Mifsud at Coventry the other week, he was fast, tracked back well, and tackled hard for a little ‘un’, I think he could do a good job for us and also play well off Miller.
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I’ve said before, we must have players coming into the box from deep positions. The midfield players must not just think defensively …we must be positive … we absolutely must score goals … every time I hear the report on the Blues & Kevin P getting more goals I get even more upset that we didn’t keep him … not only to score goals but he has the ’score goals’ philosophy that rubs off … he’s a winner! Huge mistake! Anyway we have to move on ,,, as Jarrod says we need ‘STOP THE ROT!’
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NOW! LETS HAVE A LOOK ……………………….
NO EX DINGLES ON THE WIGAN TEAM SHEET THIS WEEK SO YOU MAY GET AWAY WITH A POINT ( OR NONE)
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“…And I want you midfielders to get in the ruddy box for a change.”
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I’m really concerned when T.M.comes out and says theirs very little wrong with the team we may need to bring in a striker…Also when he says hes enjoying watching them ,I’m not and its at times like this i wish we were in the championship.If we do get relegated wont we loose our best players?
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Why oh why are we so quick to moan about our lot. A bit of faith please people. I have confidence that both Miller and Bednar can score goals in this league but they need to play together from now until January. Not alot of choice so give them the opportunity and get behind them.
The thing that worries me is that we do not seem to have a midfielder who wants to get in the opposition penalty area. Koren did this last season but seems to be holding back this year. I wish they would believe in themselves a little more. I know we want a defensive midfielder but because we have no midfielder breaking forward, the oppostions defensive midfielder has an easy ride of it.
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Hi Bomber
Would a loss against Wigan really spell the end of the season?
You already have a respectable number of points and the Premiership is that tight that a couple of wins could propel you towards mid-table.
I still hope and believe you can stay up this season. Whether we join you next season only time will tell, but I have seen enough in the Albion this season to believe that Mowbray is still the right man to lead the club.
Easy to say looking in.
Keep smiling and have a good weekend.
Cheers, Nath.
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Of course we have to give Mogga more time. If we don´t, just who exactly do we think we can replace him with. Lets hear you moaners answer that.
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On a personal note please do not let Camara score. I have been watching the Wolves for over 50 years and by a distance he is my least favourite player. Good luck tomorrow.
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Also although I know it’s a big game for us tomorrow it is not the same without you guys. Please stay up, I want to play you again.
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