Morrison reveals angry Albion scenes
Thursday 25th February 2010, 11:30AM GMT.
Albion midfielder James Morrison revealed angry scenes in the dressing room after his long-awaited comeback was ruined by their FA Cup exit.
The 23-year-old made his comeback from a 10-month injury lay-off at the Hawthorns last night, but the Baggies squandered a 2-1 lead to crash out of the Cup 3-2 to Reading.
Morrison said: “The dressing room was very down. There were some hard words said and rightly so. With one minute to go we were winning and then there was one long ball and it was in the back of the net.
“It was schoolboy stuff. But we’ve got to learn from that and concentrate on the league now, because that is our main aim. There were hard words from the coaches. The players know what was wrong but it was right that there were hard words.
“We can’t just ease off because we are fighting to get promotion and, if we don’t get promoted automatically, it will be a let-down because of our squad and the players we’ve got.”
Morrison’s comeback was the one bright spot from a miserable night at the Hawthorns, and the former Middlesbrough man thanked the home crowd for giving him a rousing welcome.
He said: “I had a practice on Monday and we decided it would be good for the team to get me back in and try to lift everyone. I was thankful to the crowd for their reception and I am just glad to be back.
“In those hard days in the gym that’s what I was striving for, thinking of that kind of reception when I came back.
“I kept getting a date for my comeback but then there were always setbacks, but it has made me stronger and just realise how lucky I am to be back and playing again.
“I felt fine out there. In the past it has been hard to get into the game and I have had that pain in my chest. But I was just trying to feel my way back into it and once I did that I showed flashes of the old me.
“I am just striving to get back to somewhere near where I was last season. I played longer than I expected, but it might be a blessing in disguise really because I felt okay.
“I got an hour under my belt after an hour on Monday, so it was good and hopefully I can get on the pitch on Saturday as well.
“It felt good to be back but we had a win there in our sights. It wasn’t the best performance but sometimes you’ve got to dig deep and get through it but we let ourselves down last night.
“Obviously there were individuals who know that they made mistakes but they’ve got to put that to bed quickly and move on.”
Morrison was disappointed to have missed out on the chance to play in a mouth-watering local derby against Villa in the last eight.
He said: “It would have been nice and all the lads wanted to test themselves against some of the best players in the Premier League. We played them last year and gave them a couple of good games, so we wanted to play them again.
“It’s shocking that we let our lead slip.”
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how big headed can a player get?
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Why is he big headed because he said it would lift the team if he came back. If one of your work mates had bben off for 10 months would you not be be happy to have them back…. its called team building
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Oh dear, is that the best you can come up with. Mad Mick would love a player like Morrison, mind you he would just like some players.ha ha. Enjoy the prem whilst you can.
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We have no room in our team for crocks like morrison… Our midfield is star studded :D
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….with defenders
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Warren.
Classic.
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God forbid you should have any sick notes down there…. how is Kightly doing these days ?? Oh and don’t forget Murray….
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oh dear it looks like the famous 10/12 game losing streak has started its normally earlier in the season
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Yes James there were individuals that let themselves and the team down last night and not for the first time,so I say to the coaches you know who they are and do the honourable thing and drop them.Put Brunt at right back,Cech at left back and just push Meite out the door. Zuvvi can be utilised in the middle of the park somewhere..Mattock !!! well I think he has pr- booked a holiday with plenty of bars.Right that leads us to Saturday we all need to pull together and cheer what we have left ON.Its my B`Day on Sat and I will be in the OAK if anyone fancies a pint with me. Boing Boing.
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I agree with your comments but blimmey it’s your B’day and you have to ask for people to have a drink with you? hmmmm
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Never refused a pint in my life aye boing boing hic hic
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Welcome back James. Some of my Forest fan friends think your return could make a big difference – I hope so.
Glad to hear some hard hitting words were said last night. That’s twice in a week we have conceded leads and silly goals against mediocre opposition. If we are to achieve the goal of promotion this season the concentration must be there and we must play the percentage football. The manager should be angry because he knows that you can’t really practice this in training – it’s mistakes we are making at the start and end of games when our minds are drifting off the game. What we should be looking at is creating and converting chances from corners. We had a fair few last night and it is dissapointing we didn’t score from one.
Let’s hope we can put this behind us and start another unbeaten run going on Saturday against Derby.
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What does anyone see in Meite?
He has no heart and little skill, but we have known that from the first few games he played for us so why does RDM play him??
Wigan in hysterics as they walked away with 2 million for him! A Tony Mowbray impulse purchase!
Very sorry to lose last night!
Saturday is going to be an extremely important game for us and every player selected needs to be right at the top of their game otherwise improving Derby will stuff us.
To all the players – show us how good you really are!
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We signed Meite from Bolton.
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OOPS!
Egg on face.
Of course it was Meggo who did JP on that sale.
Only excuse is i am ill and my mind is going.
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They have and they aren’t!!!
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Let’s get on with winning the Championship now and come the end of the season last night will be long forgotten.
PS Cov.
Are you sure? Brunt at right back. He’s a very left footed winger not blessed with great pace.
A personal opinion but I think your little joke about Mattock is shameful.
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[POST 6]
trbh,I get Cov’s gist.Anythings better than Zuiverloon.Is Jarrod about?, No not that one,
Hodgkiss.
[post 5]
Jeff, You realy don’t want me to tell you,Do you?.
All it needed was a boot through the ball and we’d have won 2-1. Basic football, that is why I’m seething.Grrrrrrr.JtH.
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No 4 -
I agree that we should make more of corners, however we always seem to either blaze the ball over everyone in the box and we never have anyone running in to the far post to clean up, or we never beat the first man and the chance comes to nothing.
I cant understand how we rarely get a decent corner placed in the right areas ?
HOW HARD CAN IT BE !!!!
Dreading Derby on saturday – prediction – Savage will get someone(albion)sent off.
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I think last nights defeat will be a blessing in disguise. RDM was already saying the players were jaded because of the amount of games we have played, I really wished we hadn’t equalised against Reading and then the lads would have had a week off before the Derby game.
Resting a few players may have be a good ideal last night. Dorrans needed a break, he may have a game next week with Scotland while the majority of the lads have a fully deserved break from games.
Bednar played and is now injured again. Why didn’t he get a rest, Cox, Woods or Moore could have done with a full 90 mins up front. We have a good few youngsters who could have played last night.
Hopefully now we are out of the cup, we can concerntrate on what is really important and that is promotion.
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It’s only now i feel calm enough to read forum and websites. RARELY in recent times have I been so LIVID at the final whistle. This GARBAGE about players being tired, playing 3 games in 6 days vexes me no end. We’re constantly being told about the diets, training regimes et al being far superior to in the past this is quite clearly a pathetic excuse. Whilst in this instance individual mistakes can be pointed out the time has come to look LONG & HARD at our “esteemed”head coach and his “tactics” or lack of them. Resting our best centre half, fine why is he on the bench then? Luke Moore as a winger? Many,MANY other mistakes/errors by him throughout the season. I’m GUTTED we’re out of the cup, wanted to go as far as possible even if we would have to play the Vile next. And yes, I’m only too aware of the REAL problem at the Albion(who isn’t) but we’ve got no chance of him going have we?
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Crowd under 14k last night. I thought it looked a bit sparse but not that bad.
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LETS GET ONE THINK STRAIGHT I BLAME RDM HE HAS BEEN GOING ON ABOUT THE CUP WE WERE NEVER GOING TO WIN, ALL HES DONE IS KEEP PLAYING PLAYERS THAT ARE KNACKERD PEOPLE SENT OFF PLAYERS OUT FOR THE SEASON NOW AFTER THE LAST 2 GAMES CONFIDENCE IS SO LOW WE HAVE ALMOST TRYING TO GIVE NOTTS F A LIFT THERE LAUGHING AT US THERE ARE ARGUMENTS IN THE DRESSING ROOM .
NOW LETS KICK OUT THOSE TOSSERS WHO DONT WANT TO PLAY GET YOUR HEADS UP THE LOT OF YOU BEFORE ITS TO LATE STARTING ON SAT WITH DERBY THATS NOT GOING TO BE EASY.
COME OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON FIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!
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it’s going to get even harder for the albion
because these lower teams are watching & they’re seeing that we can’t finish games off & once we are bullied we go to piecies. so they will go into games against us saying “we can turn this lot over”
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Let’s put this behind us now and concentrate on the next 14 or so ‘cup finals’.We have sufficient quality in the squad to achieve automatic promotion, and Forest have a small young squad and have been lucky with injuries. Over the course of the remaining matches let’s hope thing’s even themselves out.From now until the end of the season we will see what Di Matteo and Co. are made of..
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I was another one fuming last night at going out of the cup(The cup which has alot to do with making our club famous).
Where do you start,how about corners again!!Have we not got a player who can drive a corner across and not just float them or not get past the first man,this has been happening for some time even in the days of Greening.
The defence is a shambles,Meite,Mattock not good enough and what the hell has happened to the 3 million Zuvi,the guy is a complete shadow of the player we signed when he first played.
Luke Moore??????? enough said.
In a perverse way to lose last night to a poor team saves the embarrasement of seeing Villa get to wembley at our expense because imagine what they would do to our defence!!!
For everyone who is claiming that promotion is more important just remember our recent efforts in the premier and convince me how things will be different?
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This was the worst display from a pair of Albion full-backs since Gary Megson took charge ten years ago. But it has been an accident waiting to happen. Zuiverloon regularly loses concentration during games. Poor Joe Mattock is not up to the job. His humiliation against a journeyman footballer at Bristol was bad enough. But last night? He did not put a foot right throughout the game.
Our manager obviously realises this. His changes after the Nottingham Forest debacle, in which he dropped them both, said it all. But Cech pulled a hamstring and Jara was victim to a late and nasty tackle at Reading which puts him out for the season.
I still can not understand why we have not drafted in a full-back on loan. If we were to go up at the end of this season, neither of these young players are up to facing Prem’ opposition. Mistakes in signing? Who really knows, since Zuiverloon looked a first class player for a handful of games before, inexplicably, shutting down. Mattock was a young England defender, looked at by several top clubs. But he’s hit a brick wall when it comes to developing his game. Few of us really know what goes on in their heads or lives, unless it makes headlines, as in Mattock’s court case.
Apologies to those who sit in the Birmingham Road and Smethwick Ends, but I only see our defence from behind the goal on away matches. You really do have a grandstand view of our gaping flaws on both left and right. They look young, scared, inexperienced and foolish. Their sense of positioning is awful, with one bright and occasional spot being Zuiverloon going forward during certain matches. I can see no long-term future for either of them at a successful WBA, which is an awful waste of more than £4 million. If we were to ever sink back to the bad, bleak days of the 1990′s, they would fit in perfectly.
Highlights last night were Morrison’s return, Koren’s goals – he deserved the second, simply by taking a chance and shooting hard and low on target – and the way that young Wood kept up a thankless task as target man, running himself in to the ground. Luke Moore, who disgracefully short-changed us – and himself – yet again, could learn a lot by watching him in action.
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Whilst I thought that Mattock was awful on Sunday, as a midfield player I was always taught that if your full back was struggling then you should get back and double up. Poor Joe had first Nouble and then Slory in front of him and neither of them came back to help out. They and RDM must take their share of the blame for allowing Mattock to be exposed in such a way. Even at half time down at Ashton Gate you could see this was Bristol City’s only real threat.
On the Striking front – I wonder if Super Bob is available for half an hour late Saturday afternoon – since you mentioned the 90s.
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Oh my goodness. Even Roberto is getting stick now. Just one question: Had the ref blown his whistle at 2-1, would it have been a ‘hard-fought battle with our tired players just scraping it and EVERYBODY deliriously happy’?
My nephew was home from USA, first game live for 5 years. With 5 minutes left the Smerrick End were singing chants about the Villa. Some by us were leaving with a confident look on their faces. He commented, “This lot couldn’t have been supporting us for very long” Reading would not lie down and die, (even after the final whistle). The game was won and lost with THREE howlers. Sadly it was two by us and one by them. The rest was a good cup-tie. Now get over it and move on.
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PS: It was bad move to charge £20 for non-season-ticket-holders last night. How much better to have filled the ground with cheaper seats for everyone.
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IT WILL BE THE SAME PLAYERS THAT GOT THE TELLING OFF IN THE DRESSING ROOM TIME FOR RDM TO SHIP EM OUT,IM GLAD WE ARE OUT OF THE CUP NOW AND GET BACK TO THE INPORTANT ISSUE OF GOING UP AND STAYING UP THERE AND CONSLODATE A PLACE LETS GET BEHIND THE BOYS N CLUB AND SEE EM OVER THE LAST PUSH TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE
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Honestly! Some of the over the top reaction on hear is laughable! How on earth is it the managers fault a full-back mis-kicks 2 mins into stoppage time? Had he just cleared his lines, we’d all be on these pages now talking about the forthcoming Villa game, please try to put things into perspective and see the realities of the situation – such drama queens!
People just need scapegoats i suppose, but no-ones mentioned that Korens simple routine pass up front to Cox that he somehow managed to balls-up (Koren not Cox) lead to the Reading breakaway that in turn lead to Zuvvys error, at a time when we just needed to retain posession and kill the game!
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BFTRBC.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. As long as football’s played with a bouncy bag of air on a grass pitch that is open to the elements by human beings not robots, cock-ups will happen. I’m sure all the players mistakes will have been pointed out to them.
We are in third place with a game in hand on second and have just lost narrowly in the fifth round, an achievement in itself before the last couple of years. All this despite a horrendous injury list and suspensions (self inflicted I know.)
If we lose to Derby then maybe a few alarm bells but even then we’re in better shape at this stage of the season than other times when we’ve gone up.
Totally agree with you, some of the reaction is OTT.
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stop moaning , all of ya!!
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TRBH.
I thought it interesting that you liked the “usual crowd” comment so much. You even went on to name them. I’m guessing you’d like some sort of breakaway forum of your own with your named friends.
With the exeption of some of your friends, most of your posts may as well be written by the same person. Never critical, everything wonderful blah blah…
I thought the whole point of these things is to speak your mind and share your passion with your fellow baggie.
I think you see yourself as some sort of unofficial leader.
I’ve also noted some very good posts from people in the past not get a mention from you, but you’ll pipe up with a “excellent comment Warren / Bomber / Cyril etc…
If you think things are great, tell us, but when it’s clear every other Albion fan can see that Zuiverloon and Mattock simply aren’t good enough, tell us that as well.
Also, Cov’s joke was funny and lighthearted, not shameful.
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79.
The ‘usual crowd’ comment was aimed as a dig at the people on here that dare to defend any player that the mob choose to bait. I apologise if it upsets you when I try to support players that are having a bad time, apparently I’m not allowed a point of view but should just join in with finding a scapegoat every time we lose a game.
I certainly don’t see myself as a leader but when someone makes a good/funny remark I felt it was acceptable to comment, I sometimes do this on the Wolves pages as well as to anyone on here. If you think a post is worthy of praise why don’t you do it, or if not tell me which ones you like and I’ll do it for you but I can only use my own judgement.
I really don’t want a breakaway forum, I enjoy arguing my corner against people with a different point of view. Perhaps I ought to shut up on here and join in with the booing at the end of each defeat.
As for Cov’s joke. I gave an honest opinion. Last year I was in court at the risk of losing my driving licence and had a few sleepless nights about it. This young lad is facing a possible prison sentence, sorry for not thinking it funny. If it was Graham Dorrans would the same joke have been made?
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79 and trbh, I was saying something similar about a type of snobbery on here and people who seem to have blind faith but there aint nothing wrong with debate and opinions if someone makes a ”bad” post people are all over it so why not praise a ”good’ one if you think it is. as for the joke no joke is appropriate for everyone otherwise it wuldnt be a joke and if you laugh at something you have to laugh at everything i reckon just cos something has affected you dont mean it cant be funny i think thats maybe beein over sensative. but lets get back to footy Morrison is a good player but will he be the same? is it to late in the season for him to get back to 100% and really have an effect and i think midfield aint our prob most of our middle players would prob do a job in Prem its the rest of them and Di Matteo’s lack of experience that could be our problem as well as the fact we look shot certainly in the last few games anyways. am i the only one that enjoys seeing my team at the right end of the div rather than being everyones favourite tryers at the bottom of another?
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Baggieboy.
Thanks for taking the time to write this.
I’ve said before that I love the CCC. We win a lot of games but apart from that I think it’s a more honest league and every game is winnable or loseable.
I know that towards the end of every season we’ve spent in the PL I get very depressed at going to games knowing that if we play badly we’ll lose and if we play well we’ll probably still lose because the opposition have better quality strikers than us.
Having said that I think we have to keep trying to get it right as being in the Prem is the only chance we have of hanging on to our best players. I remember when we were in the old Div 3, it was great going to grounds with terraces and winning loads of games but it never seemed quite right did it?
I appreciate your thoughts on the joke. Perhaps I am being too touchy, I just hate to see somebody being kicked when they’re down. I promise I’ll try to toughen up a bit.
I really don’t want to fall out with 79 or anybody else for that matter, even DLB or Shadrag, the site wouldn’t be the same without them.
Having saod that, I’ll still reserve a right to stick up for the underdog, even when it’s not popular.
Up the Baggies.
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TRBH spot on, i loved the old days tho footy on the hole dont seem right anymore grounds are like shopping centres not the churches of the working man anymore….guess i should get with the times on this tho. dont get me wrong id love to see us doing well in the prem and playing the likes of wolves, blues, vile, cov and forest reg in that div too but until the unbalance with the cash is sorted out i worry it might be too late for me.
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TRBH
I agree about not kicking a player when he is down,and like you feel for him BUT I have to question the manager as to his reasons for playing a player who is well below his best and under scrutiny for his alleged off field behaviour.
With these pressures, he should be looked after and left out of the team.
Certainly, resting defensive players when he says he wants to progress in the FA cup has been a major cock up.
Or were they just words?
For him to say that he is DEVASTATED at the result is ridiculous.
If you want to make progress, you take each game as it comes and play your best 11!
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Baggieboy.
Nice memories. I remember as a youngster going to Villa, Blues with my Dad and being amazed that their grounds were different to ours and to each other. The big steps that went up to the back of the Brummie Road, the Health and Safety would have kittens these days. They really were the good old days for football weren’t they.
On the distribution of wealth thing in the PL. Perhaps todays goings on at Portsmouth will force the PL to have a look at what’s going on and actually do something instead of burying their heads in the sand.
Jeff.
I agree with you totally. The only question is, did he have anyone else to play LB? Without the other injuries I suppose he could have played Brunt there although I’m not sure even that would be a great idea.
As you say he might have said we want to progress in the cup but I think he knows the League is the most important. But perhaps he thought the team he put out was good enough to beat Reading. They very nearly did.
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79 and also Baggiebob. It’s a shot below the belt to have a dig at posters because they use good grammar and spelling, just as it would be if we, the usual crowd, nit-picked other posters for their spelling. I have spent my life working with words and facts so I have no intention of mis-using them just to please your senses. I would not expect you to solder leaky joints if you were a plumber or wire the plugs in the wrong order on a car. I do reserve the right to have a little dig if E&S make a grammatical error because they, by trade, are wordsmiths. I also have a dig at WM on occasion for bad pronunciation. There is a ‘t’ in MARTIN and two of them in ‘better’. They have something of a duty to set standards, not copy Esatenders. I hope when you chose your NHS doctor you didn’t get one who passed his exams with 41%.
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I aint havin a dig im just pointing out what looks to me like snobbery sometimes i never named names so dont take it personally. i agree with you that havin a pop at someone for speaking good or bad is as bad as eachother. im semi literate didnt really get to school cos i was helping me dad with work but i work hard ive done allright for meself and i love my footy and i have my opinion and where i can i like to show use that opinion and debate with others but im also honest and wont call a rubbish performance a good one or make excuses for it or trot out the pointless insults at our poor relations down the road cos they are where we wanna be right now and they might find themselves still there next year cos there are so many poor sides down there and we are far from certain to go up yet. focus on us yeah and with a bit of fortune we’ll be alright.
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Absolutely right Cyril. Rock on.
Power to the teachers!!
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Whoops! I meant ‘Eastenders’. Damn. And I thought I was perfect as well as modest.
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Never mind the football, that was merely pre show entertainment, the real action started after the final whistle with our stewards and the Reading players. I’ve never laughed so much at a football match ( well the boinging southbank springs to mind. Just who do our stewards think they are? To top it off their pathetic attempt to stop the Reading players getting to the corner to celebrate with their fans completely failed and I think every single Reading player threw his shirt in the crowd. This was followed by little drummer boy and the Smethwick young charging towards the segregation fence to hurl abuse and empty threats at the Reading fans, priceless!!!
Did anyone hear me playing the drum throughout this, I was like Keith Moon by comparision.
Can’t wait for Saturday, I aiming to get there for about 4.30pm, watch the end of the game and see what calamities happen after.
Keep the faith, keep boinging!!!!
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With Ashley Cole out and Wayne Bridge retiring from international duty i bet Paul Robinson is looking at his phone waiting for the call from Fabio…….
All it needs is for Me and Cyril to turn it down and he’s in !!!
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He`s got a better chance than mattock,talking of Robbo is a coincidence that kightley as flew out to spain when the dingles are playing bolton aye boing boing ouch
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Quality that comment Sir T.
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Happy,
Remember Robinson’s comments at the end of last season about not being able to face another season in the championship?
Might just be coming back to bite him!!!
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is he still alive?
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[post 26]
CG,
Yes and kicking.Ask Kitely.He’s playing for
Bolton saturday.I hear Woolfs formation is
BUS + one up front.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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Baggieboy. There’s no snobbery here I can assure you. You’re obviously happy and successful without schooling. Good on yer! It was my only hope to get away from foundries, mining and glass blowing in those ‘wonderful’ days back in the 30s and 40s. Great Bridge and Stone Cross Whisty Estate didn’t allow for snobbery, well not if you liked ‘avin’ a yed on yer shoulders. My grammar at the Grammar School had to be spot on, but when I jumped off the bus at ‘Suicide Corner’, bottom of Jervoise Lane, it was ‘yow’, ‘wow’ ‘cor’ and ‘bay’ by the time my feet hit the ground running.
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Ha ha I bet and ive no problem with that and hope i dont sound like a reverse snob i think its grand people widen there horizons and wish if i had my time again i could do much more schooling and would swap the school library for the work site but that wasnt the hand i was dealt and ive done what i can, and watched as much football as i can turned out for stafford and tamworth in my younger days and even for my sins twice for wolves reserves and i still feel dirty! i reckon a good win agains derby will reignite our form and that will see us over but if we arestill tired and trot out another poor show teams around us might smell blood and then were in for a right scrap.
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