The non-Albion team of the season
Friday 26th March 2010, 9:10AM GMT.
Albion blogger Jarrod Hill picks his Championship team of the season with a little twist – there may be no Baggies in his starting XI.
Another game and another three points that takes our winning sequence to five games, and the boys have hit form at exactly the right time in our bid for automatic promotion.
Wednesday night’s one-goal win against Coventry may not have thrilled the crowd, like many of our performances this season, but to be totally honest I really don’t care.
At this stage, I am only interested in getting the three points.
With only seven games to go I must admit I almost feel like we are promoted, I remember saying at the beginning of the season that I thought 85 points would be enough this season for an automatic promotion spot.
We currently have 78 points I believe three more wins from the remaining games will be enough to see us popping the champagne corks.
I hope one of those wins come this Saturday against Reading. The Royals are on an excellent run of form themselves and it will be a very tough game, but the boys are just buzzing at the moment and will be looking to continue their winning run.
I am looking forward to returning to the Madjeski Stadium as memories of a previous promotion will come flooding back.
Memories of seeing my dad arguing with a steward that his Thor type home-made hammer made of card and foam wasn’t a real weapon, an argument that was falling on deaf ears.
They still wouldn’t let him take it in and when we were all asked to place our weapons into a box nearby I couldn’t stop laughing at the Arsenal confiscated.
I had a very interesting conversation with a fellow Albion fan this week who asked me to name my Championship team of the season without naming any Baggies players.
After taking some time to pick my team, he then asked me if I thought that team would be good enough to survive in the Premier League. I went for: -
Goalkeeper Keiren Westwood (Coventry), right-back Chris Gunter (Nottingham Forest), central defenders Sean St Ledger (Preston) and Steven Taylor (Newcastle), left-back Tommy Spurr (Sheffield Wednesday), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle) on the right wing, central midfielders Charlie Adam (Blackpool) and Kevin Nolan (Newcastle), and Peter Whittingham (Cardiff) on the left.
Last, but by no means least, come my strike duo of Andy Carroll (Newcastle) and Nicky Maynard (Bristol City).
After compiling my team above it quickly made me realise how strong our squad has been this season. With the exception of the strikers and the brilliant Gutierrez there a few others I would expect to improve our squad.
Maynard is a player I believe could make the step up to the top division and Spurr continues to improve each season.
There were a number of players who nearly made the team including Radoslaw Majewski at Nottingham Forest and the excellent Nicky Shorey, who played on loan at the City Ground right up until going to Fulham in January.
The truth is I am unsure whether the team above would survive in the Premier League, but if we could cherry pick a few of them and add them to our squad I believe you would have a decent team.
I will leave my thoughts on what I think we should be shopping for in the summer until we know which division we will be in, but there are some gems still to be found in the Championship that’s for sure.
I am looking forward to seeing many of you at Reading tomorrow and I hope the unity shown on Wednesday night can continue into the remainder of the season.
Albion fans have taken decades to build a reputation as one of the best set of supporters in the country, but it can quickly be erased due to a minority.
It’s interesting to see what a difference a year makes, after being relegated last season Mowbray was given a standing ovation and the support he received from everyone at the club surprised many in football.
Our former boss then threw that back in our faces after jumping ship to manage Celtic.
His sacking this week brought me no pleasure at all, but it also produced no sympathy.
The truth is, if we are to gain promotion to the Premier League this season, I feel more comfortable with Di Matteo at the helm than I did with him.
RDM has shown this season that he learns quickly from his mistakes and will change things if they are not working. Mowbray took three quarters of a season to conclude what was our best formation.
A year is a long time in football, but let’s keep taking each game as it comes beginning with Reading tomorrow. Up the Baggies!
What’s your non-Albion Championship team of the season?
Post your comments below.
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Great blog Bomber. I remember responding to an earlier blog, stating how manangers seem unable to see what the “average” fan can see or that they are too stubborn to change.Meggo, Buckley fit the bill, but Mowbray was classic in his determination not to play anyone who could tackle, thereby conceding midfield most weeks, last season. Well he didn`t learn did he? And he finally condemned himself this week, by questioning his own style of play. I wish him well, but perhaps he needs to “wake up and smell the coffee”
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The most pivotal game and weekend of the season i think.
fingers crossed it will work out alright.
Boing Boing
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True, a win is a win. Under TM we were playing free-flowing open football which was attractive to watch but we could never grind out a result, quite the opposite at present as sometimes I fall asleep during our games as we cant string 3 passes together and then wake up when we have just bundled one over the line, still promotion was the objective and I believe we are there.
I agree if we cherry picked a few of those players we would do well but we do need premiership experience you cannot survive without it.
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Hi Jarrod great blog mate as usual,look forward to seeing you tomorra hope you got your high vis jacket ready,i know reading have hit a bit of form of late but as you say we are buzzing at the moment so i hold no fears,im going for a 2-1 win,see you on the coach park,aye boing boing
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Nice blog Bomber. Lots to think about in there. I’ve got no hard feelings towards Mowbray, but also no sympathy. He should have acknowledged our loyalty, but it seamed he’d already started disagreeing with Peace and there was only going to be one winner, so what else was he ever going to do other than take the Celtic job when they came knocking.
He did the best thing for everyone concerned, and we’re in a much better place now with RDM.But I wonder if his lack of appreciation of us in some way led to the booing episodes this season?
The thing that worries me about Reading is the forward, cos big Ish was way off his usual self against Coventry. second half the ball just kept coming back at us. Brunts out so I guess it’ll be Thomas back in and he owes us. Not sure how that will help Mattock cope with their winger though. We need a plan to protect him. I’d settle for a break-even weekend, a draw at Reading,no red cards or injuries, and a draw at the Toon on Monday.
Thought Tamas and Reid were very good on Wednesday, as was Meite, and Carson seams to be controlling his area much better. Great atmosphere.
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got 4 signed shirts from this weekends game v reading. mulumbu, dorrans, olsson, bednar. if you are interested they are going up for auction let me know. On another note RDM plays a style that will suit premier i.e. soak up the pressure and hit quickly on break. this will work better in premier as more teams will look to attack us.
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Nice blog mate and great to see you back on form with an interesting topic. I’m not as knowledgable as you with reference to knowing the players names,but there were a couple of Swansea players who looked half decent,with the exception of Gunter, no one at Forest really struck me, obviously Gutierez and Carrol at Newcastle. I actually turned it around in conversation last night over the poker table !!!I dont think that there are better players than, Jara, Olssen, Tamas, Dorrans, Morrison, Mulumbu, and Brunt in this division. Add to that the re-emerging Barnes and i think that they are the cream of this division. It also gives us a great nucleus to build on for next year.
With regard to Mowbray that also came up last night and as a Villa fan said, he was foolish because he was idolised and accepted at the Hawthorns. I have no problem with bettering yourself, but sometimes in football is it better to enjoy yourself and be enjoyed, rather than going somewhere to fail. I wish him no ill at all, and have to say that i enjoyed his time here more than for a long long time, but like you i also feel no sympathy. I know he left because J Peace wanted to cut more than he wanted and also questioned Venus’s role, but R.D.M. has done a fantastic job and really hasn’t had the appreciation he deserved because of the love affair with T.M. Time to move on because like you i’m begginning to realise that we will have more of a chance with Roberto at the helm.
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By the way ive got the cards, fancy a game on the way down !!!
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Hi Tezza,
High vis jacket?
I own a recruitment agy, ive got tons of em!!!
Looking forward to tomorrow, see you then.
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Apparntly Jarrod after the goings on against reading at the end of the game in the FA cup alot of Albion fans going dressed as stewards, me included,aye boing boing
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Good blogg although I don’t really know which CCC players would really improve us – we have done that before with earnie & ellington and its rarely worked for us.
3 Roberto – were you asleep when Dorrens bundled that one over the line from 30 yards the other night??? How about koren’s 2 tap ins from the same sort of distance ??
Some people are never happy – except me of course (I have to live up to my name).
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Your best Blog so far Jarrod and I think you summed up the feelings of most fans towards Mowbray admirably. What I can’t forget is that during the media circus which greeted Mowbray’s arrival in Glasgow not once in the many interviews that I watched did he make any reference to the Albion fans who had shown great loyalty to him even when the team was already relegated. It has never been publicly stated what the issues were between JP and TM but I suspect JP was less than happy with some of the players TM brought to the club and that he expected to be challenging for promotion on a reduced squad and budget in view of the money that had been spent. In the final analysis Mowbray is a thoroughly decent man who has withstood some personal tragedy in his life. He is also a man of football principles but unwilling to change his principles when they clearly are not working. Mowbray went to a club which is not as big or good as they think they are and Mowbray failed to learn from the several mistakes he made at the Albion.
With reference to RDM I think you are right to feel more comfortable with him at the helm as he is obviously better suited to understanding football in the modern era. He has to prove it in the top league but I think he will and our only problem will be keeping him. In the meantime anyone got a Mowbray mask. I suspect most of them have been thrown away just like TM threw us away.
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Very interesting blog again.
One player I think is too good for this league is one we will be up against this weekend Gylfi Sigurdsson, as I now live 10 miles from Reading, I have seen a fair bit of him and really rate him, if he doesnt play well then neither do Reading so please please please please do a job on him this weekend boys……….I couldnt stand another week with the smug locals if they beat us again.
Come on you Baggies.
Oh and if anyone is coming down with a spare ticket let me know! I really dont want to have to sit in the Reading end again.
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berkshire baggie i have a spare ticket if u want it my mate shud have it with him let me know…
jarrod my team of the year is as follows;
camp
orr taylor st ledger gunter
gutierrez nolan adam mcanuff
maynard fryatt
boing boing
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Awesome, check with him and let me know where and when to meet him and I will be there. Do you know how difficult it was to sit on my hands when we equalised in the first cup game? Dont want to go through that again.
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i can imagine…ill let him know now. i know their going to a pun before hand the Sun Inn. Castle Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 7RD
I’ve just emailed him, his names max.
can u get to the pub?
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12 Robin i kept a mask as i knew it would come in useful one day,it will be there for all to see tomorrow,with a few add ons,aye boing boing
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apparently the moderators don’t like my messages so…just wanted to ask apparently is fryatt a baggies fan? is that true? if it is we shud deffo sign him up.
berkshire email me at skate12177@hotmail.com
let see if this gets through
cheers
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Thought provoking blog Jarrod. You sound back on form, thank goodness. Nephew and I on Coach 21 so will keep an ‘hello’ ready if we see you. You’ll probably see me outside their ground surrounded by female stewards all getting a cuddle. That’s unless they see Sir Tel first, then I shall be on the outside looking in. Mowbs will back at Hibs soon probably. It will be football’s loss if he is out too long. OK we had a roller-coaster ride, but I always knew when it was Saturday and Tuesday with him around and for a retired old git that’s an achievement.
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Enrique is the best left back I’ve seen at the Hawthorns all season and Vaughan from Blackpool was a decent player, even if he does look about 50 years old!!!
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18 london, We know how you feel mate join the club,aye boing boing
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19, Cyril me ole pal i think your on same bus as Hilltop n Jarrod,hope you can play poker mate,aye boing boing
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great blog,berkshire baggie where about you from,im in bracknell,think ill set out tom about 2 ish,twice in a season makes a change not driving for 3 1/2 hours up to hawthorn’s
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Its a tough one tomorrow they are like us on a
good run but i will be suprised if there are
no dismissals Reading will be fired up lets
hope the officials can handle what could be
feisty. Hopefully we are aware of their strengths the two wide men we are missing
Bednar Miller is a threat but a poor finisher
Reid is a better defender than GZ and Morrison
will be up for it also we now have Watson who
can battle its Thomas I am cocerned about true
he does get roughed up but must control himself better Barnes would have been better.
Stop their wide men and we can return with 3
points.
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Excellent point at a very difficult place they are the form team and with two tricky wide men and lets say it Carson looked England class. Suprisingly our two centre backs looked like the first time theyd played
together I forecast sending offs but the ref
kept his cards in his pocket. This was a game we could easily have lost, nine points ahead of Forest now and with a visit to Newcastle you wouldnt expect them to get any thing there. However we will need a new defence for
our hopeful return to the PL
Forest
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