Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Albion 3 Preston 2
Saturday 20th March 2010, 5:05PM GMT.
Ben Watson, Chris Brunt and Graham Dorrans struck for Albion as they moved a step closer to promotion with victory over Preston at the Hawthorns.
But the win was marred by loud booing of Baggies substitute Luke Moore from the home fans, after joining the game in the second-half.
Albion scored three of the five goals in a breathless first-half, racing into a two-goal lead after nine minutes through Watson’s first Baggies goal and Brunt’s 11th of the season.
Preston struck through Sean St Ledger, before Dorrans’ superb 25-yard free-kick restored the sizeable advantage and took his tally for the season to 16 goals.
But the visitors fought back again before the break through Neil Mellor, to ensure a tense second-half.
The game then took an unsavoury turn off the field on 72 minutes when Moore, who has failed to establish a rapport with fans since his move from Villa two years ago, was booed by the Smethwick End after replacing Ishmael Miller.
Albion had made a dream start to the game, going ahead from the game’s first shot on target.
Robert Koren fed Miller and the striker poked the ball back to the midfielder, who hit a clever first-time pass towards the darting run of Watson.
St Ledger got a desperate foot to the pass but could not cut it out and Watson swept it home from 10 yards.
The Baggies doubled their lead two minutes later when Dorrans threaded a fine ball through to Brunt, who finished coolly with his left foot despite furious shouts from the visitors for an offside flag.
Miller then missed a great chance to make it 3-0, glancing a header off target from a Dorrans cross.
Preston duly reduced the arrears from a corner, after goalkeeper Scott Carson had turned a Chris Sedgwick header around the post.
Gabriel Tamas totally lost St Ledger, who was unmarked inside the six-yard box to head home Ross Wallace’s flag kick.
Brunt and Koren then missed decent chances before Dorrans struck to make it 3-1.
Miller was fouled by Callum Davidson 25 yards from goal and the Scotland international curled a fabulous free-kick over the visitors’ wall and into the top corner.
But Preston pegged the hosts back again two minutes before the interval, as a lofted ball from Wallace deep inside his own half found Mellor, who raced clear of the Baggies defence to round Carson and slot home.
Preston threatened early in the second-half from a long-distance free-kick from former Albion midfielder Richard Chaplow, but Carson was equal to it.
Just after the hour-mark a fine crossfield ball from Tamas and a lay-off from Koren teed up Watson, whose half-volley was saved brilliantly by goalkeeper Andy Lonergan.
From the resulting corner Tamas’s far-post header was cleared off the line by Mellor and hacked away by Sedgwick.
Lonergan then made a smart double-save to deny Miller, which was the striker’s last notable act before making way for Moore, who was subjected to loud booing from after entering the fray.
The Birmingham Road End reacted by singing Moore’s name loudly and the striker responded with several neat touches soon after his introduction.
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Great cameo role from Dorrans.
Appaling booing for Moore – at least give the guy a chance to make an impact on the game. What good does it do to boo anyone ?
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why the vendetta against moore and carson? everyone makes mistakes. it is pointless booing a player before he has even touched a ball? if at the final whistle you feel the need to boo thats a little more acceptable, although i still do not agree. remember that without moore in the early part of the season we wouldnt have had some of our victories. every Albion player has played a part this year.
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Good match edging closer to promotion. However marred by some imbocile “fans” who feel obliged to give moore a hard time,we are all as one and we should support each player irrespective of how good/bad their game was.
We will goe up as a team and stay up as a team. Bring on coventry
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morons,why boo moore he’s not my favourite player but he wears a blue and white shirt so back him,he did well when he came on,great dorrans performance again and what a goal,i fear he will go even if we go up,barnes looks like a steel if he can keep fit,morons stay away,come on you baggies
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The booing of Luke Moore was disgraceful, I was actually sat in the Smethwick with my brother and could hear it. How does it help a player to hear that from his own team’s fans. I think he has contributed a great deal to the Albion this season, he will never be a natural goalscorer but sets up chances, pulls defenders out of position and holds the ball up well, give the lad a break for goodness sake.
On a more postive note however, another decent performance even though we made things difficult for ourselves yet again with sloppy play for Preston’s 2 goals. Overall however we were the better side and deserved the victory. Dorrans outstanding yet again and what a stunning free kick. The lad just gets better and better! Just to reign ourselves in a bit though, there are 24 points to play for so we need to keep the 8 point gap for as long as possible and we’ll be home and hosed so to speak.
BOING BOING!!!!
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How completely spiteful some ‘supporters’ are. It was a minority to be sure and when the majority broke into ‘There’s only one Luke Moore’ I hoped he would see that we, the REAL supporters want him to succeed. His response was great and he played well. At 2-0 up and only a few minutes gone, we started ‘showboating’, backheels and flicks that lost us the ball and the initiative too. Did they really think Preston would stand for that? I’ll put it down to their young years but it would be well for them to realise that true professionals carry on slicing up their opponents without resorting to attempted humiliation. The sometimes uncertainty at the back and the visible ‘training ground match’ mentality might well have cost us dear. Anyone want a packet of finger nails?
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That referee was quite the best I have seen in many a long year. I can’t think of even one error he made during the whole match and he was always up with the play. Quite superb.
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Very unfair to say that the Smethwick End was responsible for all the booing. Simply not true, and the vast majority in that end spent the rest of the game singing Luke Moore’s name.
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before i get accused, no im not a boo boy. I sit in the halfords so im quite!!
but i hate carson, i really do. He still sticks to his line everytime, ye the defence didnt help for the corner but how many times have we said this season “The keeper should be coming for that!”
also prestons second goal, yes the defence again but the keeper has to make himself big, he just casually walked around him!
Thank god we have the quality we do in midfield anyway, i hope olsson and cech are ok for wednesday. Anyone but mattock!!
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Great first half, played some great football. Dorrans looks like Scotland’s answer to Steve Gerrard, his onto bigger and better things I think he will go in the summer if not before the January window 20 Million…Peace will have that! As for the boo boys for that hideus reception for one of our own players, guys keep away in future. Imagine if it was your lad coming on? We are suppose to be SUPPORTERS of our club….so support them!!!
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Well done today lads good win made hard work of it but got there in the end and booing luke more was a joke im not his biggest fan but i wouldnt boo him especially when he is just bout to come on get behind him and you never know he may surprise us. THERES ONLY ONE LUKE MOORE THERES ONLY ONE LUKE MOORE
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the treatment of Moore was a discrace and players and fans falling out seems to be a regular occurance with us at the moment.
I think we are up now. I am particularly concerned by how preston carved us open today just highlighted that it will be a very expensive summer for JP only Olsson is good enough but I think he will leave irrelevant of promotion. Morrison, dorrans can play in the prem the others wont quite make the grade.
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the smethwick and brummie road now falling out, so much negativety at the moment which is crazy. Dread to think what the club will be like next season when we get hammered most weeks. Carson looked shakey again, we need to address the goalkeepers position.
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Yesterday brought the REAL Midlands derby a HUGE step closer.
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Well done today lads good result made hard work of it but got job done in the end. Cant belive some people were booing luke more before he came on i admit im not his biggest fan but that was out of order lets try and get behind him you never know he might prove us all wrong . THERES ONLY ONE LUKE MOORE THERES ONLY ONE LUKE MORE
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Dorrans has just put another two million on his asking price.Brunt ran his heart out for the cause.Well played Watson and Carson,it’s a wonder
he has any hair left the way the defence gave away
those two silly goals.Another three points towards
promotion.Whats all the booing going to do for the team?,( boo one and you boo the lot,are you supporters or are you not not?.)Stand up when the team come out against Coventry and chant “we are sorry ALBION”.You insult the whole club with that
inexcusable action.I apologize to the team on your
behalf.–SORRY–SORRY.
We need a few loans as there were some players in
need of a rest.Noticeable during the second half.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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I have just perused the photogragh of Borja Valero
on this site and I can’t believe he is only in his early twenties.Has anyone ever seen his Birth
certificate?.I haven’t typed this as an insult.
Just out of curiosity.I can’t be the only one.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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Little to add about the booing except that it’s definitely a minority and in the BRE it caused a lot of anger from the vast majority. Like most I’m not a massive fan of Luke Moore, he makes it hard to be but the boo boys forced a show of great support for him from the rest of us and perhaps it will be the making of the lad.
Mixed bag of a performance but we won which is all that matters at this stage of the season. Hopefully a boot up the backside for some of the players without losing any ground.
I thought Mulumbu was magnificent again, not as eyecatching as Dorrans but always there in the engine room. Together with Watson if we buy him, these are pieces of the jigsaw that were missing last season.
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PS.
A very ‘mischievous’ report from the E&S regarding the booing. Made it sound like it was the whole crowd and no reference to the support shown from the great majority. RDM mentioned this fantastic support for Moore when interviewed after the game.
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I like Simon Cox, but who holds the ball up better – Moore, which is why RDM replaced Miller with him and not Cox. Couldn’t believe the ignorant booing that took place.
Good win, missed Olsson but Dorrans was outstanding at times. Big eight days ahead – come on you Baggies!
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thats it! dorrans played great, so jeremy peace will be off loading him, but we will buy no big names, because we got 2 balance the books, same old poo every time we get promoted, elation one minute, then dejection, just sometimes when you run a buisness (thats what we are) youve got to take a calculated risk and spend some dosh on a bit of quality, so come on albion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dont boo the players, give em a cheer and strange thgings happen to confidence
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Great to see our fans rounding on the boo morons media fans feel hes not produced but if
hes wearing the shirt dont boo him your helping the opposition ! Its true hes unpopular the same goes for Carson The club
paid serious money for these two no other club
will come in for them. Our position shows we
deserve to go up but our players will show nerves in the remaining matches they will
respond if everyone gets behind them starting
with Coventry usually we annihlate them lets
hope we do again beware our nemesis morrison.
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just imagine going in to work every day and your boss/colleagues boo you……what a great start to the day you’d have and wouldnt you feel good! I too am not Moores biggest fan but leave him alone – its not just the booing its the moaning and groaning all through most of the recent games whenever something doesnt come off for him – all I ask of him is that he puts his heart and soul into his game every week which he doesnt look like he does – god we have had some rubbish at The Hawthorns over the years but never get on anyones back if they look/play totally committed – over to you Luke, yesterday was a promising return to form but you gotta do it week in week out
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THE SO CALLED FANS BOOING LUKE MOORE SHOULD HANG THEIR HEADS IN SHAME,GET BEHIND THE PLAYERS!! Fair play to the fans chanting his name throughout the match when he came on, they are the real fans
on a positive note it was a good entertaining match,
one foot in the prem!!
boing boing!!!!
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I will start Smethwick JJ131 plus a few more in that row, boo’s both Carson and Moore, thinks they still wear claret and blue.
Get behind the lads or don’t bother coming and don’t give the old I ‘ve paid my money, save your money and buy an away shirt.
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Dear E&S,
On your “Have Your say on the Match action”.
You state “Debate with other fans”.I don’t see any
posts from other fans as the site is closed as soon as wolves fans have had their banter.This has happened on more than one occasion.Please define as to wether this site is for all fans or just wolves ones. We can’t return the banter if not given the chance.So are you being selective,
if so your advert gives the wrong impression.
Yours in sport, JACK the HAT.~~BOING~~BOING.
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I like the way that there was a LOT of boos from all parts of the ground, but when you get on here and post messages there is NO ONE that has the tarns to say that they were booing and why………… faceless cowards!
P.S. great win and another step closer, lets hope Newcastle stumble a bit and we do what we have to!
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Yes, it is inexusable that the paying public (who spend their hard earned every other week at the Hawthorns) should boo a millionaire who does nothing more than saunter around the pitch with a half-@r$ed couldn’t-care-less-attitude week in week out.
At the end of the day though we should all remember that despite his “better” “efforts” it isn’t Moore’s fault that he keeps getting picked. Neither is it his fault that his agent secured him a pay deal that will set him up for life just for kicking a ball about – a deal that a nurse, fireman or anyone else that actually contributes to society can only ever dream about.
By the way, I didn’t boo. But I will defend the right for anyone else to whenever and where-ever they should wish to. We live in a free country after all, don’t we?
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Just think by the time newcastle play forest we could be top of the league,that would be great them going into that game with us top of the pile,how good was Ben watson on saturday,superb,aye boing boing
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14 N1 Wolf.
Too right and hopefully a chance of getting 4 West Midlands clubs established in the greed league. It will make it much more difficult for Sky and BBC to keep ignoring us.
13 Big Dave alias Shadrag.
Strange that your own team has had a good result and you can’t wait to get on here. Could it be that you’re one of the Mick out boo boys? It would explain why you’re not happy with the way things are going at the Mol? As you’re such a regular visitor, I’ll see if we can have a whip round and get you a towel to wipe the egg off your face.
Perhaps it says it all about the boo boys when you hear that some Villa ‘fans’ booed their team for only drawing. They’ve been top 6 all season, LC Final, still in FA Cup semi. At the risk of being shouted down, perhaps their players are tired. Could it be the newly arrived ‘success’ fans doing the booing. The ones that don’t remember the bad times because they don’t go then?
28 Takk.
Yes it is a free country but we’re talking about football here not religious or racist comments. Too follow your line of reasoning, the people your defending would be helping the enemy if we were at war. Luke Moore doesn’t fix his wages but are you also one of the ones that has a go at the Chairman for not paying high enough wages? I’m not saying you are but there are plenty that do. I think if you are really so offended by young men getting ridiculous wages for playing a game you’re probably following the wrong sport.
PS Cyril. Where are you? After Saturdays result, I expected at least some mention of 1954.
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Unfortunately this booing mentality seems to be taking over in football these days – the villa fans were booing their team at half time despite recently playing in a cup final and with a semi final due soon – and they are still playing for a euro spot !!
Chelsea fans often boo – and who wouldn’t want their recent success ??
Post 28 on here sums it up – people believe that in a “free country” ANYTHING is acceptable.. this “you can’t tell me” attitude or “I know my rights”…. gets right up my nose.
I don’t think Luke Moore has done himself any favours and sometimes its hard not to groan or barrack when a player does something wrong – but booing a player ONTO the pitch or when his name is read out is just stupid.
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Just want to point out that me and TRBH are two different people… great minds just think alike !!!!
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Happy, boo-ing is one thing but over recent seasons our supporters have been awful to individual players and they have retaliated. Olsson (several times), Kiely, Moore, Robinson its a discrace you dont hear fans and players fighting at other clubs? Villa were booing as they would be expected to beat the Dingles but in the Premier league every opponent can be difficult to break down.
On another subject, how many players do you think we will need to have a chance of staying up next season? I think 4-5 players must be brought in and we will need to spend around 20mil.
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disgrace,disgrace,disgrace! who are these stupid no head supporters? how can you boo your own players? it’s not exactley going to
inject him with confidence to do better is it!
it can also affect the rest of the team because i don’t think any one of his team mates enjoyed hearing it either. players stick
together & so should supporters. hence the words.. west bromwich albion football CLUB.
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Why are we even bothering giving the booer`s air time,no matter what you say it wont get through to them,so lets talk about how well the team is doing,aye boing boing
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Quite right Terry – GD scored a 30 yarder and we are discussing some thicko in row z.
The team played really well in large parts on sat – GD was outstanding – never seen so many “megs”… watson was everywhere and Brunt is looking top class again.
We missed Ollson although Meite did ok – Tamas is class and a steal at £800k.
8 points is a nice cushion to have in mid march – but the boys need to keep getting the results cos Forest won’t drop many more…
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In response to: “…who does nothing more than saunter around the pitch with a half-@r$ed couldn’t-care-less-attitude week in week out.”
If this is a description of Luke Moore, then I’m watching a different player to you. He has had poor games, but I would argue he has done his shift for the Albion time and time again as witnessed on Saturday when he came on.
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Dorrans to arsenal is the most likely destination this summer as arsenal are the main team looking at him. We will struggle to keep him in the summer regardless of the division. however, the positive is that he has probably led us to promotion and that with the new tv deal could have gained us a vast amount of money. 3-1 victory wednesday.
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This booing our player when he comes on is completely out of order.Dont such fans think about the negative effect not just on him but the whole team.Nows the time to back the Albion 100%
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callum davenport is at Albion training ground.
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Just watched J.Ps interview on the bbc web site. to be broadcast tonight 1135pm,good questions asked by nick owen with fourthright answers by J.P..his critics should listen to what he has to say.
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RBH, I’ve emptied my thoughts all over this site on the subject of booing and the match. Some got on, others didn’t. I likened one dribble by Dorrans to Sir Stanley Matthews at his Georgie Best. The sheer gasp of wonderment that came from our supporters was worth the admission price. I know what you’ll all say, but believe me, the ballplayers of yesteryear did those sort of things without the cheating, diving, pulling and shoving that passes as normal today. The winger was either a dribbler like Johnnie Hancocks, or direct with speed like Georgie Lee or Jimmy Mullen. The inside forwards and wing-halfbacks fetched, carried and dribbled, some with Dorrans’ ability. I make NO apologies for namimg those Wulfies, they were bloody brilliant!
We can all see The Flying Scotsman in full flow, but how about a mention for Mulumbu who is dominating midfield in my opinion?
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The boo-ers are a disgrace and I couldn’t believe it when I heard it.
To boo one of our own players before he’s even kicked a ball is just ridiculous!!
Well done to the vast majority of the fans who drowned them out.
Absolutely disgraceful.
Re: the performance, brilliant in parts and terrible in others….but 3 more points in the bag and 1 step closer to the result we all want.
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40 – if thats true then he will just be training to stay fit.
I don’t think he is fit enough to play this season after his injuries and his court case is due in the summer when he could go down so can’t see us trying to sign him – although he is a free agent.
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42 Cyril.
I just asked about 1954 because it was the same score against the same team in the Cup Final that year. I was two at the time but I remember when I was a bit older my Dad had kept the Argus and a special green version that was published.
I also mentioned Mulumbu in an earlier post. I thought he had a magnificent game, as I said I think if we’d had him playing as he is now in Mowbray’s team we may have stayed up.
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Absolute claptrap – he is totally overated, heart has never been in the club and he deserves to know. If he can’t cope with the critiscism, do something about it! Long overdue i m o! And I reserve the absolute right to boo if I so wish, since I contribute to his overblown wage.
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