Why the Net has the advantage in the ‘Undies world’
- Shopping blogger Emma Iannarilli
Reinforcement needed for Albion
Thursday 22nd October 2009, 9:10AM BST.
Albion’s Sporting Star columnist Neil Whitehouse believes action is needed to make the current Baggies squad a little less thin on the ground.
After witnessing three successful promotion campaigns since 2002, all Albion fans really should be old hands at knowing what it takes to cope with the trials and tribulations of a 46 game season and be able to take them in our stride.
After all, are there any better placed supporters that have more experience than us of knowing what it takes to get out of what everyone says is the toughest league in the world? But, because of the seemingly 24 hour media coverage that football gets these days, we all get carried along on the waves of highs and lows that comes with winning and losing.
When we suffer a defeat like the one against Swansea on Tuesday evening, I wonder how many of us can’t help but reflect on our experience of the past few years and start to draw comparisons with points totals and players that have gone before.
It’s our way of re-assuring ourselves that we are on the right track or in need of remedial action to ensure we match up to what we have achieved previously. Now that we are approaching the completion of a third of our league fixtures, it perhaps provides the opportunity to make some of those comparisons.
One of the biggest debates so far this season surrounds our striker options and the fact that we are a bit thin on the ground at the moment in terms of both quality and experience.
Everyone appears to be running out of patience with striker Luke Moore, as we get tired of saying he has all the attributes to be a success but cannot understand why continues to make only a limited contribution.
Whilst we wait for Ishmael Miller to return and for Roman Bednar to get his season going, our lack of strength in depth has propelled young Chris Wood to the forefront. Whilst we know he needs to be given time to develop, is the 17-year-old being put under more pressure than is good for him at such a tender age?
No one yet knows whether Simon Cox can make an impact at Championship level, but his chance will surely arrive soon and the £1.5million signing to will be under pressure to adapt quickly.
Most fans I have had conversations with believe head coach Roberto Di Matteo should be looking to bring a more experienced striker in on loan and it is something that has stood us in good stead before.
The 2001/02 season started in very similar circumstances, with seven wins and five defeats. When we lost Jason Roberts to injury, it left us with only Bob Taylor and a rookie Scott Dobie as recognised strikers, so manager Gary Megson moved swiftly to get Uwe Rosler and Danny Dichio on loan to maintain the early season momentum.
Similarly in 2003/04, the signing of Geoff Horsfield in early winter provided ideal experience to complement Lee Hughes and Rob Hulse after another good start to the season.
More recently, we will always remember what Kevin Phillips brought to the team when he joined us during the play-off season. We know loan signings don’t always pay off, but the weight of evidence suggests that such a move now could be provide a real boost to our striking options as we look to maintain our bright start in the run up to Christmas.
Has anyone got any suggested targets that might fit the bill?
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How Henri Camara i know he was a wolves player but hey he could do a job at Albion plus he is a free agent, maybe Lee Hughes back lets face it he knows where the net is
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Experienced striker…Craig Beattie perhaps??
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I’ve been saying for weeks that we should approach Blues about bringing King Kev back. He is proven and would do wonders in bringing on Wood and Cox. Who better for our young forwards to learn their trade from?
Carlos Vela from the Gunners would also be a great loan signing as he is not playing at all for them. Although i cant see him coming to us.
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a few possible shouts form premiership teams, we mention alot about phillips and id love him back at the hawthorns, others Daniel Sturridge (chelsea), Ngog (Liverpool), Vela (arsenal) would we get any of them on loan though ?
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Agree with Bubble, i think Henri Camara would do a good job for us as he has the experience and still has that bit of pace that is needed at this level. Would be better tho if we could bring back our old boy Kamara, altho after scoring for Fulham last week he might not want to leave!
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Swap deal – Moore for Beattie
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Dean Windass, if anything to get him off Sky!
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I still can’t understand why Moore is still playing in the first team. I haven’t liked him since he first started and was beginning to change my mind this season, but he appears to have gone back to his old ways. I would like to see Cox starting with Bednar, but with him out how about trying Reid up front with Woods in reserve. Just an idea, but it may give Cox a chance to settle down and prove himself.
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My fellow baggies lets live in the real world. Firstly we have a 20 man squad limit which Jeremy Peace has said we will not increase. Secondly, Vela, Kamara, Ngog, Phillips will not come to to us, they are premier league players on Premier League wages, if there were available for loan they would go to other premier league clubs. Number 1, Lee Hughes? We already have one player in Bednar that have discraced the club we dont need another back. Lets look forward not backwards. The first things we need to do is get Deano back in goal and give Cox a chance as we dont have anybody else.
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Yes.
Get someone in to put some pressure on our existing strikers. Yes to King Kev.
An area which is also giving me concern is Goalkeeper.
If Carson is injured, then Kiely is the current replacement but surely we need to be looking for a younger player. After the Arsenal game, I am no longer conviced about Kiely as our second keeper.
On another post, I was saying that we need a strong leader/captain on the pitch. Someone with experience and who can drive the players on. Lift them during a game. Against Swansea, I saw no one doing that job.
A goalkeeper as captain is wrong. How can he influence outfield players from 40 or 50 yards away?
What do you guys think?
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Kevin Phillips would be my 1st choice, or Frazier Campbell from Sunderland, Benjani from Man City, or maybe that Macheda kid from Man United??
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We shouldnt be looking any further afield than the blues for a loan striker, Bent, Jerome, Phillips, Mcshefferey none are playing regularly so would jump at the chance of 1st team football.
But on the other hand why buy Cox, Reid and the likes and then leave them to rot in the reserves. Albion never give youth a chance.
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we are starting to sound like wolves supporters – deluded.
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8. As Lee Hughes is a proven goalscorer who knows how to run channels would thought he would be better than what we got now,was just a thought mate.The forwards we got now are some of the worst we have had at the club nothing exciting there at all,i would love to see super kev back cant see it happening though.I also think a new goalkeeper is needed i have no confidence in Carson,fans may disagree with me, also the Full Backs dont fill me with any joy especially Mattock very poor!Oh well not to get down about it Sky Blues next just hope a defender can come up with a goal for us, cuz the forwards ent gonna do it.
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i cant remember a bigger mistake from the club than letting phillips go fact he never wanted to leave just a half decent deal would have secured his services
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Jeremy Peace should ask Bolton if Albion could
take Ricardo Vaz Te on a 3 month loan deal,
I think he`s just coming back from injury so
could do with some game time.
If we managed to get him for the 3 months then
that would see us through until Ishmael Miller
comes back.
I know Jeremy Peace and Gary Megson dont really
get on but Iam sure he`d do a bit of buisness
for the Albion fans who still love him and will
never forget what he did for our club.
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The strikers i would consider are Healy from sunderland, vaz te from Bolton, marlon king from wigan, henri camara, anichabe from everton (might be injured) surely aswell newton and Di matteo have links at chelsea and Zola at west ham, whose di matteo’s old team mate,
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13 – Bubble. I wouldn’t worry what Bluenwhitestripes says as he’s never posted a positive thought on here EVER and is blatantly writing ‘Shadrag’s Shenanigans’.
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These players your wanting back at the Albion! They didnt alter your fortunes too much when they were with you, Hughes apart of course, but I dont think he is good enough for the Braggies now, so why would you want them back
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A club with a great past and great tradition.
A club with no debt,good facilities and fantastic supporters.
A current squad of players limited to 20 !!!!
Sir Gary,Bryan Robson,Tony Mowbray,ask any of them what they think of Jeremy Peace and his serious ambitions of making Albion a Premiership team !!!!
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18 – Oldbury, are you really trying to say that Kevin Phillips did nothing, and aided us not?!
Come on bud, wake up!!
Very best of luck to your boys on Saturday morning by the way!!
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Hughes was just a thought, at the end of it all they need a couple of forwards at least 1 anyway,cuz what we have got just ent good enough.Also full backs and a goalkeeper i would say others may disagree with me.Just at the moment its not looking very promising i know we are top of the league but in my eyes and what i have seen so far i cant see it lasting with a few of the players we have.
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I think that was a good suggestion by Nedball on Benjani from Man City!! He’s not getting many games with the amount of strikers they have there! Plus he knows where to position himself to bang them in the net!! Thought for a young Goalkeeper – Kasper Schmeichel??? Agile and strong shot stopper like his old man!!
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benjani!?!? the lads an embarrasment to himself!
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If any of the players in our team are reading some of this stuff, then PLEASE don’t! Most Baggies live in the real world, where players are human beings and aren’t quite perfect. Our average age for the team is 23 I’ve read. How good were you moaners at your job at that age? We are TOP OF THE LEAGUE, which either means we are good or the others are total rubbish. That is clearly not the case as Newcastle, with all their expensive players, are discovering. The Wulfies won the Championship well last season, yet they had a wobbly spell and their moaners wanted to shoot MicMac and the Chief Exec. Just wait another year or so when Sir Alex leaves Man.U. and watch them wobble a bit too. For Heaven’s sake let’s have CONSTRUCTIVE criticism instead of ‘Mom, look at him’ all the time.
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18 Oldburyite.
There are some who call for the return of Dean Kiely as he’s better than Scott Carson. They are entitled to their point of view and we all have different judgement of players, yet mostly they were the same ones saying Dean Kiely wasn’t good enough in our CCC winning season. I don’t know whether it’s absence makes the heart grow fonder but players that the manager doesn’t pick become the answer to all our problems.
In the circumstances that he left, Lee Hughes is hardly likely to be invited back. Camara and Phillips wanted to leave us. There are plenty of strikers out there, I think King is a good call if we could get him on loan. He’s done it in this division and needs to get himself noticed at Wigan.
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We need to work out a game plan to suit our strikers. We need to have the flexibility of approach to seek routes to goal that work. Tactics is a big issue and playing to fit our strikers’ strengths.
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I dont know who we should get in but its obvious we desperatley need a striker! Is it really nearly a third of the way through the season?? And how many goals have the strikers scored between them?? About 4 or 5! U cant rely on the rest of the team to get the goals. Im impressed we are still such high scorers. It just shows we still have one of the best midfields u can get. To carry the team top of the league by contributing most of the goals is astounding! But u cant expect them to do it all season long. Its gettin to the stage now where every game I dont even expect a striker to score & even forget we have strikers!
My list of targets:
Chopra – Ive said it several times, but make a move for this guy in January!
Phillips – Why not, he is a ledge! How can anyone say no 2 Super Kev! So what if he left us, the only reason he left was for some ridiculous reason, he was not offered a 2 year contract. Smart move that, NOT!
Kamara – Another flash back to the good times! Not a fan of his attitude, but u cant deny his skill, pace & he gets the goals…simples :)
Fraizer Campbell – I dont know why we didnt get him last year in the prem and why he went to Hull. Would be a good signing.
Others: Marlon King, Beckford & whats happened to Nugent these days??
Oh & what about Jay Simpson… only kiddin :)
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Our captain should be Olson, Carson is deffo my No 1 at the club, we could not attract a better keeper. Striker hughsie would do a good job but to much baggage.Bednar works hard but is overated, beatie will bag more goals than him now he will be given a run of games at Swansea. cant understand why we did not follow up j simpson again, scoring for qpr and easily better than cox. vassell on loan ??? rooneys brother???
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27 Danno.
Chopra. I take a little hubris in the fact that I suggested he might be worth a punt when we won the CCC and KP left. He was not getting a game at Newcastle at the time and no one was very interested. I think we are being guilty of what we accuse the Wulfies of in thinking that we can step in and take him off Cardiff. Cardiff are potentially a big club, besides which I should imagine a few PL clubs are looking at him.
Phillips.
Blues are in a struggle at the bottom of the Prem and KP is a player that can be used as a sub to turn a game. Don’t think they’d consider letting him go.
Kamara.
He’s getting games for Fulham and scoring goals, again if he became available I think PL clubs would be interested.
Fraizer Campbell.
He’s third choice striker at Sunderland who are flying at the moment. They paid a lot of money for him fairly recently. Can’t see them letting him go.
Nugent first choice at Burnley. Beckford, like Cox not proven at this level and would cost a lot. As I said before, King might be a good shout, especially for his experience.
Sorry Danno, didn’t mean to rain on your parade. A lot of good shouts but a bit Fantasy Football.
28.
Vassell is now with a Turkish club. Rooney’s brother? Obviously your intensive research didn’t go as far as finding out his first name and yes I saw him score that goal the other night as well but one swallow and all that.
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st cross kev. Simpson thought he’d gone back to 1930 and couldn’t wait to get away. Now he’s back in Landan he’s ‘appy agin innee? I’ve packed my bags and victuals ready for the long journey tomorrow to Coventry. I remember the red glow in the sky back in 1940 around my 10th birthday. Your knees CAN actually knock together with fear. There wasn’t any football at all then so be happy. It really is better now.
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29 – Bully Hoo, fair points but Im sure we could get one of those mentioned. It may seem a bit optimistic but there are always barriers. Im sure at least one of them would come.
As much as I dislike them, I know Cardiff have a lot to offer and are now only a point off ourselves but modern footballers dont think like that, they are selfish & dont care if a club is on the up, that they are building a future like Cardiff are. They just care about themselves and the quickest fix to constantly improve their career. They are always willing to jump ship & climb the ladder. I agree cardiff are on the up, and will probably gain promotion within the next couple of years but as I say, players dont care!
If they have the opprortunity to get their quicker they will take it.
Im not saying we are a guranteed ticket 2 the prem for any player but we are top, and our experience and history of getting promoted, our squad and the fact we are favourites amongst Newcastle & Middlesboro above all the other teams puts us in a position where most players would jump ship to us. In recent years and still, West Brom is always one of the biggest catches in the championship. I think if the price was right we could pry away Chopra.
And yes… in a couple of years, if he did a job, like I say he would probably ditch us for a slightly better bet. Some established prem team or something.
I only said Kamara cuz he has been rumoured to be coming back on loan, but maybe ur right. His recent goalscoring form might mean he’s going nowhere!
But I think we need a quality proven striker. And I think we shouldn’t be settling for anything less.
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Dano.
Marlon King ticks all the boxes and I think he’d jump at the chance.
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