Everton 2 Albion 0 – verdict
Saturday 28th February 2009, 4:00PM GMT.
Albion manager Tony Mowbray continued to show a defiant face after another Premier League away day of bitter frustration for his team.
The Baggies remained stuck at the foot of the table after this defeat at Goodison Park following goals in each half from Tim Cahill and Louis Saha.
Yet again, Albion could leave the venue of one of the Premier League’s established powers able to claim they had been the better footballing side.
But yet again they were left empty handed, having been given another lesson in the brutal reality of the game at this level.
The defeat left Mowbray embracing the ‘R’ word – relegation – for the first time but the Hawthorns boss gave no quarter to his critics demanding a change of approach.
He said: “If this season ends in relegation, then we take it on the chin and come back even stronger.
“My job is to coach my players to play the game the way that will keep The Hawthorns an exciting place for our fans to come to.
“I don’t think we are that far away. I think we are maybe three or four players away from coming to a place like this and meeting them on an equal footing.
“Yes, we are naive but I have still enjoyed watching my team play again.’’
But Mowbray is not throwing the towel in, and rejected suggestions that his team must beat Arsenal on Tuesday in their next game to give them any hope of hanging on to their Premier League status.
He said: “I think I will have those questions to answer after our home games against Bolton, Stoke, Wigan and Sunderland. That is where our fate will be decided.’’
Albion enjoyed a man-of-the-match performance from James Morrison and were much improved on their showing at Fulham the previous week.
A lucky Phil Jagielka goalline clearance and a Luke Moore shot, which thundered against the bar, were typical of their luck on another disappointing afternoon.
But their performance drew praise from the opposition camp with Everton boss David Moyes declaring; “You have got to give credit to the way Albion played.
“They have done that to many teams this season and we were grateful that our defenders and goalkeeper were outstanding today.’’
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Great improvement on last 2 games apart from the 2 defensive errors which cost us the game! Luke Moore did very well when he came on and deserves a start with fortune. If we can keep the defence tight on tue. we can give arsenal a real game! Please TM, SORT OUT OUR BACK 4!!!
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Monotone Mowbray would that be the 3 to 4 correct players you should have got in the summer or January ?? , Hawthorns an exciting place to watch what poor defending / poor coaching / poor set piece’s / No leader, you keep dreaming Mowbray, no resign you do not deserve a sacking pay out, and take Venus with you. Hughes back for the Championship !!!!
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Haven’t seen or heard much from the game but was this another like the opening home game of the season?
back to frustration
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Don’t forget, to avoid some disappointment on Tuesday get to the Arsenal game early!
To avoid complete dissappointment don’t go and leave your radio turned off!!
I didn’t see the game today, as i was working, it was on the radio, but i couldn’t really hear it. I didn’t expect to get anything today, but rest assured boys….. i’m completely losing the will for this season.
Mowbray sounds like a stuck record. I’d rather he said nothing at all. It looked on paper, like another very lightwieght midfield today, but what else do we have at present. We really do seem to be missing Jonno (good god, is old ‘turn and play it square’ really the answer. If so, what is the hell is the question). Tex looks too fat and slow when i’ve seen him upon his return, Brunt has not been effective (he can’t tackle, isn’t scoring or creating goals) at this level at all, or Kim, or Moore, or Bednar. Carson???
When Megson was in charge, we played awful, but we got stuck in. Mowbray likes his passing game and most fans appreciate what he and his right hand dingle are trying to do, but we can’t keep starting games well with nice ineffective passing and then concede one or two sloppy goals and lose. Can’t he find a balance of a five man defensive platform to attack from with five men? like a 4-1-3-2
At the end of the season when we have been relegated, after one or maybe two wins and maybe a couple of draws, the phrase ‘IF ONLY’ will be going through every fans mind and it will start several sentences which will be followed, including such words and names as;Phillips, Gera, Albrectson, Cech, Luke Moore, Centre Back, Centre forwards, Sponsors and not forgetting Defensive Midfielder.
See you at the Arsenal
Bitterly Disappointed of Halesowen.
Boing – Boing
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what a great performance compared to the last 2 games,unlucky not to get anything from the game,i thought brunt had his best game in a albion shirt,morrison was outstanding,more the same on tuesday and we can turn arsenal over,keep the faith boing boing
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there must have bin a good crowd at the moll,we come past junction 10 on the coach just as the game finished and i heard them booing aye boing boing booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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Mobray has again shown that he is living in the land of dreams.If he think’s that the fan’s are happy to drop out so we will be stronger next time.We are the original yo yo team,we would like to stay this time, we would not like to ride the same road you seem happy with.If thats the approach of a so called prem manager,then it’s time to go.He keeps saying he is responsible it’s his team well,do the just thing and give it to someone who know’s what their doing because you sure don’t.any body else feel the same way, perhaps we should get a petition together.
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Same story. Entertaining losers again.
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TAXI for Mowbray, Venus & Grant !!! Get rid before you ruin all the hard work thats been done over the last 10 years !! Your out your depth, why is it 20,000 can see where our problems lie, but you lot cant !! Bye bye asap
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I was appalled to hera the managere commenst after the game. To continue this ” form over function football” and saying if we go down we will not change our style is sheer folly. If in any other walk of lyfe you continue to make mistakes and refuse to change there is only one result, the sack! I would also like to now what hey do in training as we are making the same defensive mistakes week after week. Zuiverloon and Meite must be the worst investment of over 5 million we have ver made. This si Mowryas team and he seem either incapable or unwilling to make the changes we all know we need, i.e acomplete replacement of the current back four who have proven themselves over the season to be not up to it and yes the fabled defensive midfielder that had we signed in the sumer I am sure would have helped us in our quest to stay up. We are doomed so do we stick with Mowbray or not?
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wolves have got a new dvd out,its called gone in 30 seconds,aye boing boing goallllllllllllllllll
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Much better perfomance then against Fulham. Still hope for the future.
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SHAME ABOUT THE RESULT but at least we improved our effort,drive and commitment.Yes we lost but we fought till the end you cant knock em for that.the cahill goal,yes the defenders and keeper should have done better,back in the day the goalie would have come out and cleaned out the shop defenders and all,but cahill has been scoring these types of goals all season its no fluke .the second was sheer class turning and shooting in one movement.we played some really good stuff but this is the prem you dont take your chances they come back to haunt you…
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like to see the size of the rocket mogga must used(in regards to the two games)to get such an improved performance,must have been from cape canavaral…THE CLUB IS IN SAFE HANDS WITH JP&MOGGA…YOUVE SEEN THE LIGHT NOW KEEP THE FAITH…
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TONY TONY TONY.FANS COME TO SEE AND CHEER WINNING TEAMS NOT LOSING TEAMS.
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So many chances…. so many misses… sums up our season…Josie (Jo) was offside for their first goal. Luke Warm looked good on MoTD. Valero waste of space AGAIN probably the worst buy we have ever had (apart from Sekou Berthe)
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Everyone makes a judgement on TM but what about the irman he has sat in the background and let him get on with it. He has not really back TM and has not speculated with finacial backing as we are just happy with fringe / unknown players who are cheap. JP where is our sponsor and where is your support. Finally why did you agree to sign VALERO waste of money!!!!!!!!!!
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TM. DE NILE IS NOT JUST A RIVER IN EGYPT. every one slagged of megson , god bless him , off loaded miete on us,. to be fair m8, defend the players much as u want on tv, they dont respond, make em , COME ON U BAGGIES
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If only all the team could show the effort and skill of Morrison. Thought he was fantastic once again. He’s gone at the end of the season i’m afraid. If Valero is worth 5m then Morro is for sure at least 50m!!!!
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Valero 5m Rubbish
Zuiverloon 3.2m rubbish (Can’t even defend goal side)
Meite 2m – What a shocking player. Pele is much better
Moore 3m – Never had a run in the side
Carson – 3.5m. Errmmmmm say no more. Great shot stopper, but makes too many clangers.
Bednar – 2.5m and was never going to be good enough for the Premiership
Cech – Last year playing in champions League, now can’t get in the Albion side. Worrying!!!
Money has been made available and where was the Premier League experience in that lot above…..nowhere. And why? Because we wouldn’t fork out the wages for the likes of Carsley, Boeteng etc. I can see where Mowbray wants to take us, but with defenders like we have bought. We are down!!
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Good morning gentlemen and you laffinwolf,hope everyone is fine and youv had a nice w/e,im really looking forward to tomorra nite cuz i got a feeling we gunna turn gunners over,aye boing boing 2-0
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Another totally inept defensive display at Goodison, when are we ever going to learn???
you can play all the nice passes you like but it’s goals (against) that seem to change our games. must be one of the worst defences we ever had. And that powder puff midfield!!
Whilst I agree with TM that the fans like to be entertained we also need to think we have a realistic chance of winning sometimes.
It’s worth remembering that the 70′s side played some of the best football we ever saw going forward but when necessary the midfield had no problem putting the foot in. Sometimes you have to do the ugly things as Big Ron used to say.
And do I need to mention the 2 centre backs Wile & Robertson? They must really weep watching this shower at the back.
So come on Tony take those rose coloured specs off and come into the real world.
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I cannot in all honesty defend that defence. However, there were TWO players offside when the ball was played in for the first goal. Explain how they were ‘Not interfering with play’ when their intention was to score a goal? The offside rule has always been a bone of contention but this latest interpretation is just plain barmy. Either do away with offside altogether or go back to ‘when the ball is played’. Moore looked terrific when he came on and could have had at least two on a lucky day. Only a miracle can save us now so,
GO FOR IT, ATTACK, ATTACK,ATTACK, for as sure as God made little apples, we can’t defend!
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at least the houmour of the albion faithful was back on saturday had to laff at the chant,
jay simpson he came from london town,to send the albion down,aye boing boing donk
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Yes I agree, our performance was much improved. However I for one do not not enjoy watching us lose. Come on TM stop churning out the same post match drivel. our nightmare defending goes on and on and on. The whole defence is not premier standard. Like most I wonder what Pele and Cech have done to upset TM.
The frustration at these and many other strange TM decisions is spreading with the ferosity of an Austrailian bush fire.
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Certainly an improved performance overall but our defence is not even Championship class.
Four unmarked Everton players queuing up to score the first goal. What exactly do our defenders practice during the week!!!
The worrying part now is that we are 4 points adrift at the bottom with a terrible goal difference. So in reality we are 5 points behind the pack.
I have to be honest, if we go down and keep the nucleus of this side as TM wants, then I do not think that we will bounce back straight away. The Championship opposition gets stronger every season and I think we will still struggle down there with this squad. Our predicament is very depressing.
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First of all, I was proud to sit there on saturday and watch my team. They played the game the way it is meant to be played. Yes, we lost, and essentially football is about results. That said, I would still rather watch the albion than hull, bolton, boro, villa, wigan etc etc.
Maybe I’m looking at it a bit neutral as I am a die hard baggies fan, but, talk of sacking mowbray is short sighted to say the least. He is young, hungry and i’m pretty sure able to learn from mistakes (obviously everyone on this board has never made a mistake)
so, all the moaners on here, why not just go down the road and watch that shower cause your starting to get on my nerves.
and No. 2 lee hughes back in an albion shirt? perhaps your name is a true representation of your personality (or at least part of it)
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23 cyril,i totaly agree with you mate that we need a miracle,but miracls do happen and untill we are relegated i will keep the faith results dident go for us the w/e either,but lets get behind the lads tomorra cuz one win can change everything,aye boing boing donk
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Much improved performance on Saturday, Luke Moore looked really up for it and could have had a hat trick with a bit of luck – shame he won’t play like that again for another 6 weeks! Only when he wants to……
I think it’s unfair to blame Carson game after game too, if you had to play with those idiots in front of you, wouldn’t you be shot of confidence as well?
I fail to see what sacking the management team will do, they, and the players are learning and will continue to do so, and if we have to go down again to come back up stronger, then I, for one, would rather watch us trying to play some constructive football (as we did on Saturday) than some kind of hoof ball yardage game that everyone seems to think we should be playing, if you want to watch that, Stoke’s not far away, pay them a visit.
Consolidating and building for the future is the only way, keeping hold of a good, young manager like TM for a decent length of time is the only way – would you rather have Joe Kinnear??
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i missed my first league game of the season on sat.It broke my heart doing that but i have lost total faith in T M and his methods,his insistence on playing valero is mind boggling and as for meite,don’t get me started on him and cech has done nothing wrong to be sitting on the bench.T M is too stubborn to listen to others and that is our downfall and it has cost us, 20 odd thousand fans can’t be wrong.
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Mowbray out. Im sick of all this ‘we play football the right way’ rubbish he comes out with after every defeat. We need to kind of resiliance and attitude Stoke have, forget about the style of football staying in the premier league is all that matters and Mowbray doesnt understand this. Sack him and get Pulis
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I havent posted for a weekdue to working away. In addition i wasted my money on the fulham game so was down in the dumps over that.
I want to throw this out their. It may upset cyril etc. jay simpson to me has been a dissapointment, 2 goals in how many games??? and he hasnt impressed me particularly either. For all the hype their has been little in the way of delivering a result.Bednar has a better goals ratio and has been treated a little unfairly. We are a poor team, and mowbray hasnt brought in players to replace the consistnet non performers. Hoefkins, pele, cech, mulumbu should all be given a run. They will have something to prove for starters.
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Last week many moaned that we played with no heart in our last 2 games, and went on to predict we would lose to Everton but what we wanted to see was the team play with heart, well lets be frank we got that without a doubt.
It does however come to a point that you’ve got to admit certain things, for as much effort and heart and will to win goes into these games if we have’nt got the quality to actually win then the chances are we won’t win.
I was proud of the lads on Saturday although disappointed we did’nt get anything but it was’nt down to lack of effort.
Unlucky Boys.
Now most on here reckon we are down, so why not just enjoy our last couple of months in the Premiership and get behind the team starting with Arsenal.
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When Megson was in charge the team sometimes got booed off the park when we WON. Albion fans want to see proper football, and that’s what they’re getting.
Why don’t you “victory first, football later” fans go down the road to the Vile?
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Umm….Evertons second goal..a long punt that Meite could have left for Carson to collect…but of course Carson cannot communicate to his defenders so Meite thinks he has to play the ball instead of simply ducking and letting Carson collect. End result a weak clearance and game over. How much longer are we going to put up with this clown in goal? I’m not the greatest Keily fan, but surely he has to be given his chance..what have we to lose ???
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look on the bright side,wba fans.you gud be a wolves fan.at least you get to go up.we keep trying to stay down.keep smileing.
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I always admired Megson`s philosophy that he would “do it his way” because he knew he would eventually get the sack and so he would have nobody else to blame, but along with him and Alan Buckley our current manager must be one of the most stubborn ever. Yes, do it your way but if it does not work be flexible enough to change it. The league table does not lie and I think TM is deluding himself if he thinks the majority of fans would rather watch fancy football than stay up. IT IS NOT ENJOYABLE seeing your team lose every week no matter HOW nicely they played. In most jobs/professions/walks of life it is necessary to have a variety of approaches to be successful.
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I LIKE THE SOUND OF VICTORY FIRST, FOOTBALL LATER, THATS RIGHT I WANT TO SEE THE BAGGIES WIN GAMES AND STAY IN THE PREMIER,I WANT TO SEE US IN THE PREMIER SEASON AFTER SEASON AND GET MORE ESTABLISHED, THEN AND ONLY THEN ARE WE GOING TO SEE SOME DESCEN’T FOOTBALLERS THAT OUR FANS DESERVE COME TO THIS CLUB,AND NOT THE MUPPETS THAT WE HAVE HERE NOW
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LOOK LETS NOT KID OURSELVES WE ARE GOING DOWN,ITS ALL TOO LATE,NEXT SEASON LETS JUST HAVE A CLEAR OUT. I WOULD LIKE IN GOAL BRIAN JENSEN BACK FROM BURNLEY AS OUR NEW NUMBER 1, BIG AND HE COMMANDS HIS AREA,DEFENDERS WOULD BE CONFIDENT WITH HIM BETWEEN THE STICKS, ANY OTHER NAMES FOLKS?
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hall green baggie, i would hardly say this season we have played pretty football.
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I don,t like Mowbray,s comment “you will never see a spitting fighting scrapping muscular side put out by me” surely its exactly what we need right now?.Get rid,he,s past his sell by date.
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TERRY ROMEO BAGGIE
How can you say Chris Brunt had his best game in
an Albion shirt? The bloke is to fat and slow so shouldn`t be in the team.
Its no wonder teams always score from our left
when you have Robinson half way up the pitch
supplying all the crosses.
QUESTIONS
1/HOW MANY CROSSES DID BRUNT PUT IN?
2/HOW MANY SHOTS DID HE HAVE?
3/IS HE BETTER THAN DORRANS OR TEIXEIRA?
4/DOES HE ALWAYS CUT INSIDE GIVING ROBINSON NO
OPTIONS?
ANSWERS
1/NONE!
2/NONE!
3/NO!
4/YES!
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