Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Albion blog: Moving on up
Tuesday 16th September 2008, 9:15AM BST.
Albion blogger Jarrod Hill revels in the glory of the Baggies first Premier League win, takes his hat off to all the West Midlands sides and looks ahead to the big derby against Villa on Sunday.
Saturday turned out to be a day of firsts, our first goals from open play and our first win. As far as I am aware, the first ever Premier League game involving two sides playing in sponsor less shirts.
It was simply a wonderful game. Mowbray stuck to his principles of playing football, at a time when many would have panicked at finding themselves bottom of the league and struggling to score.
The West Ham encompassed all that Tony Mowbray stands for, technically gifted players playing fluid football with, patience, desire and a will to win.
Even the new boys slotted into ‘the Mowbray way,’ Olsson and Valero were handed their home debuts and looked instantly comfortable within the 4-5-1 system.
In fact, I could only name one player on Saturday who I thought had a poor game and he was only in the starting eleven due to injury.
I won’t name him as I do not feel the team performance against West Ham deserves any criticism attached to it, even on an individual level (and if you were there you know to whom I refer).
Olsson was big, strong and commanding in the air but what surprised me was how good his distribution was.
He also provides balance to the central defensive partnership by being left footed. Valero tired in the second half but on the pitch he demonstrated an ability to pass and receive the ball, in areas that will hurt opposing teams.
It was his excellent cross that provided Morrison the perfect ball to plant a header past Green. In fact, it was a thankless task in deciding who was ‘Man of the Match.’
Bednar was a constant threat and worked his socks off up front on his own, Barnett continued to become the surprise package of the team in putting in yet another towering performance and Robinson was his usual mad dog best. I will let you pick.
The game also served to prove that 4-5-1 can produce goal scoring opportunities and consequently goals.
Talking of goals it seemed like an eternity for Chris Brunt’s shot to hit the back of the net.
As I sit at the back of the Smethwick, I could not tell whether it was going in or not. When it did the scenes were a little crazy, but it was just sheer relief that a game we had largely dominated was going to yield three points instead of one.
The atmosphere was brilliant yet again, and both West Ham goals were followed by the Hawthorns faithful roaring the boys back on.
This Sunday sees our only home derby game of the season. Villa will represent a big challenge, as I see them finishing in the top six this season and have added some excellent players this summer. They have started well and will be looking to consolidate that good start.
In fact a quick mention must go out to all West Midland sides, Wolves and Blues have had fantastic starts and, with Walsall finding their feet with a new manager, it is great to see all of our clubs on the up.
Now if we could only sort out the global economy we would all be happy!!!
Up the Baggies!
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I have no idea who you mean had a rubbish game but a clue may be in my name….
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In italy during weekend but their live game on Saturday was Albion v West Ham ,(presumably the Zola interest)so that I didn’t miss it after all.
4 Points,4Goals,4played and our room number was 444. This weekend going to book hotel with room number 55 .5 played 5 goals against Villa,(Wishful thinking ?)
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Good blog Jarrod.
Some thoughts on the Villa this Sunday. John Carew hobbled off last night with what looked to be a serious injury and they have another game Thursday and if there’s one criticism of Villa at the moment it could maybe be the depth of their squad.
I wouldn’t wish ill health on any player but if Carew is out, I’d suggest that could be one hell of a blessing for us given our weaknesses on set-pieces.
Also, most teams who play in the UEFA Cup have comparatively poor records in the game that immediately follows.
Whilst Villa are still rightly favourites, and it will be a difficult game, this could be our best chance of beating them for a while!!
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I found myself feeling somewhat pleased for the Dingles this weekend too – a bizarre sensation that I hope if repeated none-too-often!
Good luck to them and lets hope we get more than 1 home derby next year!
Right, now I need a shower – I feel dirty!
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HI JARROD MATE,,some good points there,atmosphere was fantastic again will be even better against the vile sunday.i thought olsson had a great debut game plus carson was awesome..i hope the loon is fit for sunday cos hoef wont cope with viles young and agibore cos cole gave him a tough time saturday..but its a derby game and form goes out the window a little bit so i think we have every chance of winning sunday…..come on me babbies….MOWBRAYS DUTCHIE BOYS ARE STARTING TO GEL,,LOOK OUT THE VILLA…OOOOOOOOOOH YES.
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Jarrod.
I sit in behind the goal in the BRE and I couldn’t tell whether Brunt’s shot was going in. It seemed to take about 10 minutes to go in, each yard changing from ‘it is’ ‘to it isn’t.’ I was convinced it would hit the post and dribble back out, in line with our luck so far this season (perhaps this is the turning point.)
Slightly disjointed performance but this can be put down to so many team changes and players unable to train together due to international duty.
If Olsen continues like that, he’ll take some shifting. Agree about Barnett, he’s already attained a standard that last year I doubted he was capable of reaching (take bow the coaching staff as well as the lad himself and I hope the Knockers don’t write off Sherjil too soon.) Valero will be a revelation when he reaches full fitness. Honourable mentions for Robbo, Bednar and Morrison.
Finally a word about Robert Koren. One of his poorer games for us. However, he never stopped running and trying. A good example was early in the game, he sprinted back the length of the pitch on a West Ham breakaway, not to make a tackle but to cover a player who would toherwise have been left unmarked in an easy position to score. Not the glorious side of the game but part of the muck and bullets side that so many fans choose not to notice. Despite his miss, he’d still be one of the first names on my team sheet.
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I know I have not seen many games compared to most that post on here but what I have seen live & on telly, is the class oozing out of the squad. It is there for all to see. There are players deemed “not good enough” that would have been first on the teamsheet the last two visits we made to the Greed league. This shows the progress the club have made.It is exciting times. Now for a reality check —– having followed the Albion for more than 40 years when is the bubble going to burst? It alwas does. So I am making the most of it while it lasts. Boing Boing
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the atmosfere was fantastic cuz of me n worcesters singing,we sucked brunts goal into the back of the net,aye boing boing donk
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A handy 3 points but you’ve ‘peaked’ too early.This is as good as it gets,a home win against another relegation candidate.A good hiding in the brummie derby should bring you back down to earth.
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thought the west ham game was great as always i enjoy reading your blog i think the villa will be very tough but with robbo barnett donk and zuiverloon at the back i think we will scrape a win up the baggies
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Right Jarrod, you are such a hypocrite before the West Ham game you were saying that you didn’t see us scoring enough goals and that we should play 2 upfront, but now we win you suddenly think 4-5-1 is the answer.
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Zuiverloon is a major doubt for Sunday.I fear for Hoefkens against Ashley Young.
If Carew is out I reckon they may play Milner in a 5 man midfield.
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You win one game against a weak West Ham side and everything in the garden is suddenly rosy? Think you have alot more to prove….
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Hoefkens is going to be up against it this season because , from the evidence so fa, he will always compare unfavourably against Zuiverloon. He will need the full support of the fans to help him cope with the step up.Can The Donk play right back?
It will be interesting to compare Olsson with bighead davis at the weekend, if they are both picked. The swede found his team mates with some great passes on saturday which is more than I remember Davis doing. He also looks good in the air in both boxes. He may not be quite as fast but if Davis is worth £10mill.
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wolves fan here, you looked good going forward but have no natural goalscorer.
Defensively you looked very shaky and in the end were lucky to hang on.
If you can sort out the defence you should be ok.
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Whats all this not being able to see the ball going in the net – none of you would have had someone in front obscuring your view
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I’m not one that is banging on that we must play 4 4 2 at home. I think with the way we play we’ll cut sides open with our movement from midfiled and score plenty of goals as we did last season. I’ve been impressed with Kim and pleasantly surprised how well Morrison is playing. Brunt has a great touch and keeps the ball well. Valero is always looking for the ball and pulls the strings. The only down side from Sat was a few sloppy passes that could have cost is dear, and unfortunately, Hoff seems to have lost a bit of confidence. If he plays against Villa, we all need to get behind him. Finally, the atmosphere was brill but I guess we’ll top it on Sunday. Can’t wait.
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oh no down they go BONK AYE YOYO DOWN
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Shut up Jasper… lets hope you get more attend your next home game than you did on Saturday… i believe it was a pathetic 18000 that had to witness you scrape a 1-0 win over the mighty Doncaster!!
why dont you go and talk to the dingles about the championship and let us and the Villa fans talk about the up and coming PREMIERSHIP derby!!
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Jarrod what character the team displayed with our `poor start just 1 point it would have been easy for heads to drop at 2-1.Our great team spirit is another one of our strengths.As someone who questioned whether Barnett was ready to make the step up hes certainly proving to be more than competent.
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With regards to the “oh so repetative idiot number 9″ this is as good as it gets of course it is we got 3 points and the last I heard 3 points is the maximum a team can get for winning. West ham where 6th at the time we played them but I have to admit you get some really poor teams at the top and towards the top of the leagues this early dont you!
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Yes West Ham had had their best start for some years. I thought you played some good football from the highlights and am sure that if you stick together behind Mark Venus and Mowbray you will be fine. They probably will need to add one or two in January but keep the faith, Baggies; It can only motivate us even more.
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well done baggies.Bring on the villa.
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Can’t you guys call terryobsessedwithwolvesbaggie in. It’s past his bedtime and he makes the good folks of Sandwell look very silly.Most of you talk good sense and are capable of real banter. Mind you, I was a preteen once myself.
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13. Suddenly?!
No mate, the garden was more or less rosy BEFORE the west ham result! We just needed a win to go with 4 very good performances, if you had guaged opinion correctly, you’d have known we were all pretty pleased with our start to the season despite no win before saturday!
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Four games into the new season now and yet another match report that does not even mention Greening. I have only seen his name in one report this season – for giving away a dangerous free-kick I think. I expected him to be out of his depth in the Premiership, and the fact that in 6 hours on the field he has done nothing worth mentioning by unbiased reporters suggests that is probably the case. Mowbray has a lot of talented midfielders at his disposal now – I am not convinced that Greening should continue to be an automatic selection ahead of Valero, Kim, Koren, Brunt, and Morrison.
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16 Bluenose.
People that live in half empty glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, especially at people with packed to the rafters stadiums.
22 Debenham.
Sorry to see you’re still mixing with the knuckle draggers over there, you deserve better. Always good to hear your views.
24 KC.
You’re probably in the best place if you think you can judge a player from a commentary. For your information Greening has changed his hairstyle, so most of the ‘unbiased’ (couldn’t care less about the Albion) reporters don’t recognise him. I’ve tried to stay polite about your post but it’s not easy. Greening has been a magnificent player for us for a number of years and continues to be so.
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haha you win against a week west ham side and you think you won the league my god you lot a idiots well it is sandwell town we are talking about
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Your going to get turned over by the Villa… Come on you Villa!!! Well done the Mighty Wolves for last night… Thanks super Maths no need for a shower mate you need to look for a sponsor!!! Perhaps Matey Bubble Bath???
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26.KC.All l can say is 2 things,1 never belive whats ln the papers and no news is good news…….28.remember the last time you lot were top of the pile and you all bought your early bird tickets?.the words history repeatingit self must ring a bell so l would not flog the family silver just yet…
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15. So we don’t have a natural goalscorer? We scored 3, seems you don’t need one if your midfield is good enough. BOING BOING!!
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27) Packed to the rafters…? Does your ground only hold 26,000 these days?
4-5-1 at home is a terrible tactic and you had to rely on a penalty that never was!
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32 BRW.
Unusual to agree with you twice.
Yes that’s more or less all it does hold allowing for segregation. Just another of the problems that being a successful club brings with it.
Yes it’s such a terrible tactic it’s causing problems for some good prem teams. Again it’s what comes of having so many world class attacking midfield players. Thanks for your concern but we’ll try to cope.
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28. cannuckwulf. Yes we are idiots but we know the difference between a “weak” side and a “week” side. Well it is someone from Cannock that we are talking about. Back to pre school for you my lad!.
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33) You won’t stay up playing 4-5-1 mate. It’s simple many other sides have done it and failed. The problem is you needed another centre forward before the transfer window closed. I have said before Luke Moore is a waste of space and I will stand by it. Bednar? Miller is a handful but wasteful in front of goal!
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35 BRW.
You make a good point but surely it is not the system that is most important but the personnel that are playing in it. Doesn’t matter how good your centre forward is if he doesn’t get good service. Likewise are you saying that a midfield five of Ronaldo, Lampard, Kaka, Gerrard, Cole wouldn’t get enough goals?
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36) I just hate this formation. England did it a few games ago and it failed. Look at the difference when they played Heskey with Rooney.
A lot of sides do this in the Premier and some when they come to the Molineux, to stifle the opposition. My point is there are a lot of sides in the Premiership – as you found out last week – that are suspect at the back. Therefore, attack ‘em!
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