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Mowbray: Stick with us to end
Thursday 19th June 2008, 12:30PM BST.
Albion manager Tony Mowbray has called on Baggies fans to play their part in Premier League success by staying at The Hawthorns until the bitter end.
Mowbray wants fans to stay in their seats until the final whistle next season, as his side try to survive in the top flight.
He wants them to take their inspiration from supporters of one of American football’s most successful teams.
He said: “We all have a common goal, we all want to win. In tight games it does help.
“The match which sticks in the mind is the Colchester game, when I looked around and saw an empty stadium.
“I can understand it to an extent but the supporters need to stay with the team. The example that sticks in my mind is the Green Bay Packers.
“I read a lot about American football because I am inspired by their coaches.
“Nobody leaves their stadium, even if they’re 50-0 down. Everyone waits until the final whistle. If we can get to that then it would be a footballing utopia.
“Can you imagine that in England, with the whole stadium showing solidarity until the final whistle? That’s what I would like to get to.”
Mowbray’s side went on to win their match with Colchester 4-3, having been 2-0 and 3-2 down, sending a half-full Hawthorns into raptures.
The manager wants Baggies fans to stick with his team, like Ipswich’s supporters did when the Tractor Boys beat Albion on New Year’s Day.
Mowbray said: “I noticed it against Ipswich how the home supporters helped them.
“It started with a refereeing decision and football supporters can help their team right to the death.
“I try to talk in my programme notes about the fans backing the team. We want the passion on the terraces to help the team win football matches.”
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It’s the same at both our grounds, we seem keener to sing anti Baggie/Wolves songs than cheer our own team. Come on you Packers!!!
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i always do tony,come rain,sleet or snow,winning or loseing,im there till the final whistle duz,aye boing boing
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Tony, im with you all the way. I pay my money, and under you im getting value for it too. Last season i couldnt wait for the next game, so to leave early irrelevant of the score is just a crime, and yes i was there against colchester, right to the end, and funnily enough i never doubted we could win. Thanks tony , ill be there to the very end.
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Tony. If only it were possible. How many others like me are fed up with the ones who start to leave 15 minutes from the end. This is regardless of the score at the time. As if that’s not bad enough, when a goalmouth incident occurs they stop and stand in front of you. Get JP to lock the gates until the game has finished.
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Here’s a thought Tony. Go and knock on the chairmans door and ask him to write you a few checks to actually back you. I know it’s early days in the summer but why come out with the old “We need the support to the bitter end” line. I think you will find the Albion fans are some of the most loyal in the land. The only way we can guarentee Premiership survival is to invest in the playing squad which currently not good enough. We need to stop masking the fact that we have a chairman who refuses to release proper funds and expecting working class people to pay hard earned cash to watch their beloved team. With all the money saved and recouped in transfers last summer and TV money etc there is plenty of money available. Albion could quite easily spend 25M on plyers and with the right ones we may actually stay up. Now before anyone jumps on the it’s not what you spend it’s what you spend it on band wagon I agree but this manager has proved he can pick a player so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE JP BACK HIM OR RISK LOOSING HIM!!!
These fruitless stories really get on my nerves, can you tell?
Boing Boing
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Looks lile MORBID MOWBRAY knows what’s coming this season to all you Saggies fans.
‘Stick with us to the end’ – think he’s resigned to the fact that he’ll have no big money to spend on quality players.
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Personally i never leave early (unless evicted), but i do not hold any grudge towards those that do, i always simply say to them as they go by “you will miss the goal”. Against Colchester i said it to a rather portly fellow who was almost knocking me over trying get past, he looked at me and said “you reckon?”, he went anyway.
If you are reading this then sorry i was wrong…..you missed two goals!!!!
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Nah he’s just looked at all the McCarthy Out banners down the road and glad he’s at a real football club.
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6. stevecorica
I once played against Steve Corica, i think he was the only Australian i have ever met (and i lived in Australia) who had no bottle. I told him that as i removed my size 10 from out of his right thigh, thought it only deserved a yellow, the red card was a bit harsh but the ref said it was the fourth time i had taken the same player out, “its almost as if you are targeting him”.
Really, as if!!!!
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Tone – mate. You couldn’t get some of them in for the start of the match last season. So there’s no chance of getting them all to stay til the end.
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Lock ‘em in and make ‘em stay till the end.The fans wanted Premier League now make ‘em sit and suffer. Be caereful what you wish for.it may just come true. Mowbray says however many you are losing by stay till the end,no booing and back your (stingy) chairman. DOING A DERBY THE JP WAY IN STYLE OF COURSE OH YEAHHHH.
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Sounds like the white flag is out already!
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no 5 on may 9th regarding ebenezer peace romsley baggie critisised my statements about the chairman i now see you agree
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Just realised optimistic wolf is an anagram of
Limp Loo Twits FC
strange but true, i think i prefer to refer to him by this in the future, it is a bit nicer than what i really think.
Everyone please feel free to use it!!
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I remember the Colchester game, the fact they had about 23 away fans didnt help but its true, most people left and missed us winning it. A couple sat next to me managed to miss all the Albion goals by having no patience. I wont leave until Robbo leaves the pitch, whats the point…unless your in a rush for a pint, but even then wait for the final whistle
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Its not about the fans im afraid. We have some of the best fans around. Spot on 5.Romsley Baggie. Couldnt Agree more. Get the useless JP out. He has never backed us thats why we didnt stay up before. Mowbray knows what hes doing and can buy the right players. JP needs to back mowbray!! And i agree with 1.Malvern Wolf. We need to get behind the team instead of singing about those dingles. Theyve got enough to do as it is. And all u boring people in the smethwick STAND UP AND GET BEHIND THE TEAM OR GO AND SIT IN THE BRUMMIE !!!
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The Colchester match was fantastic. I can still see Roman Bednar just going mental after he scored the winner. I would not have missed that for the sake of missing a little of the traffic. I never leave till the end. I always stay to applaud the lads off the pitch.
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6. stevecorica.legend
you must have an amazing talent pal, you get to see things that others cant, did you audition for the 6th sense???
I didnt see one incling of relegation in that story, all i saw was a battle cry from our general before commencing battle with the best teams in Britain, bring on the premiership season!!!
BOING BOING
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16) re: JP. Robson spent £30 and doubled the wage bill in less than 2 years. The reason we didn’t stay up last time was nothing to do with expenditure on players/wages, it was to do with the fool we hired as manager.
Why all the negativity? It’s mid-June!!! Were you the same people being negative about transfers at this time last year? Have some faith!!!
I remember idiots at Wembley walking out after 85 minutes when we were pressing for an equaliser that would’ve taken it to extra-time. Not proper fans in my opinion, but every club has them.
Wolves fans…..I can’t believe you’d even bother joining this debate. Official ‘Biggest whingers’ as per a national survey, Reputation for getting on own team’s back, ‘You’ve let us down again’!!!
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JP OUT ! WE NEED INVESTORS !
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Ha ha, that was meant to read £30m!!
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In robbos 2nd season we did not spend anything to try and stay there again. He was a useless manager i agree. and Yes i could not beleive people walking out at wembley. And True Fans would sing so lets make some noise this season. We need to buy some quality not championship players who are not up to it. Been linked with jermaine beckford? what a joke. hes not even proven in teh championsihp… albion trying to do it on the cheap again.
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21.Warren. wat are you onabout ? 30million? we didnt spend no where near that amount !!And perhaps fans had seen enough as there was no effort at all in that game. JP OUT ! When are albion actually going to spend some money? i wonder who will be our biggest buy this season? 1million? 2 million? oooo maybe 2.5. JP your a joke.
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21 warren sure you dont mean sold 30m over past seasons
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It’s easy to get them to stay in thier seats
If fans are being entertained by good football they wont leave early.
It’s up to the players and the staff to make it so the fans wont want to go home.
The fans should set this challenge to TM & Co not the other way round!
Looks suspiciously like a slow news day to me
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5Romsley. 13 Phil. 16 Tipton. 20 Baggieboy. 23 Steve.
Can’t agree with you. The reason we’re in such a strong position is Mr Peace’s sound financial management. Look around and tell me how many other teams have been busy in the transfer market? I’ll save you the trouble, it’s none. Would you like a chairman who comes out saying ‘my manager’s got £60 mill to spend’ so that prices go up? We’ve spent £2.5 and £3 million already on two players and players costing more than this are unlikely to come to us or their wage demands would bankrupt the club let alone destroy the wage structure. JP didn’t back Megson financially for the simple reason that we didn’t have the funds. He backed Robson in the first season but not the second because of his inability to buy decent players.
Very few players have changed hands. The transfer window has a couple of months to run. We’re nowhere near a ball being kicked in a friendly, let alone in anger and these people are on the chairman’s back. I suppose they will be the ones leading the booing if we go a goal down in the first game. I really despair at times. Just shows, the Wolves haven’t got a monopoly on the moaners.
14 Bomber.
You’re a genius, or very nearly. I know Optimistic Wolf and this is in fact an anagram of her name which is actually Loo FC (Freda Caroline) Limptwits. Please don’t tell anyone else
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23 and 24…..I haven’t got players/figures in front of me but here are some Robson signings:
Carter
Chaplow
Inamoto
Kamara
Ellington
Davies
Quashie
Phillips
Zuberbuhler
Watson
Hartson
McShane
I’m sure there are more. The first seven in that list come to £15m. Perhaps it’s a little less than £30m in straight transfer fees over his reign, but it’s certainly £20m in around 18 months, then consider the wages of people like Hartson, £25k a week allegedly, that’s £1.25m a year.
The reason we came down last time is not a shortage of transfer funds and not Jeremy Peace.
I’m by no means his biggest fan, but it’s mid-June. There’s cynicism and there’s downright irrational dislike of something and in my view, these anti-Peace comments are the latter. Completely irrational.
Last season we had bought hardly anybody by mid-June and ended up spending a fortune.
In a recent independent study by Deloitte, we were given as an example of a well-run football club who have spent what we have earnt. Would you lot prefer Peter Ridsdale or Trevor Summers?
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25 Cashman.
Can’t help but agree with you. Let’s set a minimum target of 200 goals this season. The fact is that some go whether we’re five up, one goal behind or drawing. Perhaps I’m turning into Victor Meldrew but I can’t be as forgiving as Bomber, unless they fit ejector seats so that these plonkers don’t block my view and ruin the most exciting part of the game.
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26 the real bully isthis the same jeremy peace who was undervaluing the club last season to try to get the shares
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cant wait until jp is gone we may actually spend a few bob!!!
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“The match which sticks in the mind is the Colchester game, when I looked around and saw an empty stadium.” I can’t think why anyone would want to leave a boggies game. wbabomber, you live in a dream world son.
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29 Phil.
While it would be nice to think of JP as a philanthropist who’s going to donate all of his money to the Baggies, he’s not. He’s a businessman that supports the Albion. After all did you collect your bargain priced season ticket and say ‘I’d like to pay double for this, for the good of the club.’
30 Dan.
Who would you replace him with, Peter Ridsdale?
31.
Bomber was exagerating slightly, probably about 20% had gone. I’m not excusing this, it’s pathetic, especially when the team is only one goal down. The problem starts with the regular early leavers that go come what may. This sets off something in the tiny minds of the faint hearts. I must admit to overdosing on Schadenfreude on that particular day, the euphoric feeling almost rivalled pipping our dear neighbours to promotion. Don’t get all holier than thou over this, the same thing would have happened at your ground as it would at most other clubs in the country.
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Why do some Albion fans bury their heads in the sand when theres obviously something wrong? I expect these people defending P£ac£ are the same mob that defended Robson for months and months.
Theres nothing wrong with constructive criticism. Let people have their say.
Now, if I remember correctly, we spent between £10m-£15m in the summer after the Great Escape. Decent budget to be fair. It wasnt P£ac£’s fault that our gaffer was totally inept and wasted the majority of that money.
Fast forward to the next summer, following our relegation. We made a profit in terms of transfer fees, bringing in the likes of Chris Perry, John Hartson and Zubi on free transfers, and Phillips for £750k. Added to the parachute money for that year, why didnt we spend more?
Robson was sacked in October (too late if anything, P£ac£ should have got rid a lot earlier) and in came Mowbray. Another January passed with no money to spend (as is the case EVERY January window!), Koren was signed on a free. ToMo worked his magic and we finished 4th.
The following summer, big money came in. We made a total of around £25m on outgoing players (inc. Davies). Out of this money, we spent about half. What happened to the rest? The West Stand is only costing around £2m. Any suggestions?
A wonderful season followed, with a league championship and an FA Cup Semi Final appearance. We will be receiving around £25m for TV etc for this season, and added to the Wembley money etc etc, we should have a hefty budget to play with.
This is not the case. P£ac£ has given Mowbray a budget of around £12m. Half of that has already gone on Kim, Moore and Bednar. Half of our budget has gone on keeping the squad we had!
Not good enough I’m afraid. We need about 5 quality players if we’re going to make a fist of it this time around, and you wont get that with the money P£ac£ has sanctioned.
All we can do is hope that Mowbray “sprinkles his magic dust” again this season.
If we fail this season, there is only one man responsible. Its not the manager, and it wont be the players. Ill give you 3 guesses…
Time is running out Mr P£ac£. Running out fast.
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real bully 32 your right he came to albion with bareley no money in football terms but he as certainly got some now funny when he wanted the shares was it 6m he said the club was worth davies was worth that while on loan dont say a lot about the rest of the assets then short arms deep pockets peace
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Wednesbury is obviously an articulate and thinking person, yet in my view and Real Bully’s view thank heaven because it saves me from TOTAL despair having to reply, a complete bigot where Jeremy Peace is concerned. If Wednesbury won £7Million on the lottery, he’d probably invest in a box, NOT IN THE CLUB, because as someone said on here, “How to make a small fortune is invest a large one in a football club”. JP has disposed of a Manager who caused a fine Chairman to leave, (Meggo and Thompson), dropped a brick with Robson as manager but soon corrected it, then brought in a football genius in ToMo. Give Peace a Chance! For God’s sake leave him alone in case he goes too! There’s only ONE thing I’d criticise him for and most of you don’t care about this one…..I’d sack the bloke who overloads the PA system every week with deafening distortion and mangled music.
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33- Wednesbury
Firstly, I can assure you I was not defending Robson for months and months. His sacking was one of my happiest days in recent years.
Secondly, I accept your points up until last summer.
We sold Kamara, Koumas, Davies and McShane for around £24m, however we didn’t receive the £10m for Davies until this year for tax purposes. That leaves £14m.
Over the course of the season, we bought:
Hoefkens
Barnett
Teixeira
Morrison
Beattie
Brunt
Miller
Pele
at a combined cost of approximately £13.5m. The second parachute is not as vast as the first. I think it’s sensible to assume that can be used to cover overheads such as salaries, which undoubtedly would be in excess of what Championship money would’ve bought in this season. I can’t see a problem with that.
I agree with you, that we should now be spending that £10m Davies money, and the initial windfalls from our promotion (it’s not a one-off £30m payment) in strengthening the squad like you say. But it’s mid-June.
Where do you get these figures from? £12m? I’m sorry if I’m wrong, but I’ve heard no quotes of £12m.
All I’m saying is lets wait until the season begins. It was all doom and gloom this time 12 months ago and look what happened. It’s only fair to judge after the event i.e. at the close of the transfer window because none of know the facts.
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33. Wednesbury albion… i totally agree with you. the only thing you said was it wasnt peaces fault that robbo spent a lot of money on players not worth it. I disagree it was JP’s fault because he employed him !! and Warren(Albion) i agree with a lot of your points but the point is yes JP has done a fantastic job in keeping the club well run and healthy and making good money on players. But its come to a time now when we have a good basis of quality in our team and we need to invest and compete in this league not try and do it on the chap again. Someone said 12million has been given to mowbray? thats a disgrace. we made 10 million off davies . we will need 20+ to survive. JP shud deffinately go. hes done great in keeping the club healthy but its time we need to compete now and spend money. And to be honest The fans deserve better.
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Oh dear, oh dear….the Tescos are worried. You’ll get some players but anyone with a brain will be looking at the European Championships for a good bargain. Doing deals now would be daft.
Mowbray is a quantum leap better than Robson who was the most overated manager of recent times. How did he keep on getting work????
It’s a shame your baggies fans are becoming as miserable as us at Molineux. You should be enjoying this time. It’s a time of plenty and potential and future dreams….
Give your directors a chance before ‘having a go’. With your attack you won’t go down.
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Wednesbury.
First. I have never defended Robson, I’ve hated the bloke since he s–t on us as a player but would have accepted him as a manager if it was right for the club. I was a Peace critic for A. getting rid of Megson and B. for appointing Robson.
My opinion of Peace has taken an about turn for where he’s taken this club in the last couple of years. Your synopsis has made things very simple for me. A little too simple. Hartson, Perry and Zubi free. Great in theory but what you mean is that the money for bringing them here doesn’t go to their club in a transfer fee but to the player and his agent as a signing on fee, no such thing as a free meal (unless you’re Big Fat John that is) The clubs accounts are there for all to see, except perhaps those that don’t want to see.
‘TM has been given £12 mill.’ Do you have a hotline to the boardroom or have you read this in a newspaper? I think I’ve read all of JP and TM’s press releases and nowhere have they mentioned a figure.
No one has signed many players yet, so please don’t try to lay this at the chairman’s door. You along with a number of others seem to be pursuing a vendetta against him. We won the championship last season and reached the FA cup semi final, as you pointed out, although you used this as another stick to attack him with rather than something to praise him for. How much better could we have done? If we sign no players and end up doing a Derby this season I may come around to your way of thinking but let’s give the bloke a chance. Perhaps some of our ‘supporters’ might be happier at the Mol, this sort of attitude is normal there.
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RB. No.39 HEAR HEAR, mate, you’ve said it all. I’ll add a little bit though. The word ‘Invest’ used by posters on here, “An asset is usually purchased, or equivalently a deposit is made in a bank, in hopes of getting a future return or interest from it”. JP did all that with Davies, Kamara, McShane, Koumas.
Paid money out, got more money in. Not one of those players was interested in our club, so that was a ‘Peace of Good Business’ by JP. Spending money on players is GAMBLING, not investment. Some you win, some you lose. The little money I have stays in WBBS. No way would I risk one penny helping to buy a footballer. Billy Davies took a very average Derby up to the Prem. Money alone could not keep them there. The gap was too wide too quickly. Now most managers get the sack and a fat pay off for failure. Davies got the sack for doing his job TOO WELL, TOO SOON!
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39. your right there although i dont like peace. the season after the great escape we didnt spend and alternatively (some of this was robsons fault yes) we got relegated. I shall give peace a chance like u say untill the first game of the season. and if we havent improved the squad or spent money then i will not change my mind about him.
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I think JP is doing a good job. I didnt like him much for his treatment of Megson but I think he heas redeemed himself and I think He has backed Tony Mowbray.
He said last week that TM had just given him a list of targets and alternatives.This tells me two things; One that he has only just received the list so he could hardly have spent any cash up until now. Two the press have no idea who is on the list and neither do we. This seems the best way to proceed. There is obviously a lot of work going on but the club have no intention of telling the world what we are doing. I would sooner we make signings than press releases.
If last summer was anything to go on we will do just fine in the transfer market!
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