Albion 0 Stoke 1
Sunday 28th August 2011, 5:00PM BST.
Goalkeeper Ben Foster’s last-minute error handed Stoke a smash-and-grab victory over Albion at the Hawthorns.
Substitute Ryan Shotton pounced on Foster’s 90th-minute fumble to give the Potters an undeserved victory and prolong their lengthy hold over the Baggies.
Albion were dominant for most of the game and went close through both Shane Long and Somen Tchoyi.
The Baggies were in charge during the first half, dealing effectively with Stoke’s strong-arm methods and outplaying the Potters.
They had a host of chances, the first of which arrived when Tchoyi got the better of Marc Wilson on the Albion right and crossing into the centre, where Chris Brunt banged heads with Robert Huth as he nodded wide.
A Brunt free-kick from the left was then headed by Paul Scharner too close to goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, before the best chance of the half was almost converted by Long.
The Irishman did superbly to beat Wilson to a Tchoyi cross and power a header at goal, but it was beaten away by Begovic.
Youssouf Mulumbu fired over the bar from distance, after a Tchoyi cross was half-cleared by Jonathan Woodgate, and another fine flowing Albion move ended with Brunt’s cross from the left skidding away from Long and Scharner in the centre.
A Brunt free-kick then just eluded Jonas Olsson at the far post, before a more central set-piece was bent a yard wide by Brunt.
Stoke’s only real chance of the first half arrived in stoppage-time, when Jermaine Pennant headed wide from a cross by Matthew Etherington.
But they went close again soon after the restart when they cut out a Gabriel Tamas free-kick and hit the Baggies on the break, with Jonathan Walters teeing up Glenn Whelan to slide a shot just wide.
The match was a closer contest now, but the Baggies were still edging it and they threatened when Tchoyi received a pass from Nicky Shorey on the edge of the box and bent a shot just wide.
With 13 minutes remaining, the Baggies were inches away again as Steven Reid’s cross from the right was headed back across goal by Scharner and Tchoyi volleyed just wide from the edge of the box.
But, in the final minute ,Walters’ hopeful ball forward was fumbled by Foster – apparently expecting a headed backpass from Gabriel Tamas – on the edge of his box and Shotton nipped in to score.
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Bummer.
BUT – Tamas should have cleared it.
Last two minutes, launch it into the stand.
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Oh dear!
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Oh dear oh dear West Bromwich Brazil 0 Stoke Hoofers 1 You delusional lot shouldn’t be such Football snobs criticising our Staffordshire neighbours all the time. Thats another lesson for you. Oh and by the way…how much pure football did you lot play under Megson? Short memories eh?
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Another day another narrow defeat. We all know the fixtures were unkind to us again this year. More winnable games around the corner let’s keep the faith. In Roy we trust.
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Typical, we lose a game and all the retards from the custard come to gloat.
A very poor performance IMO, we started well then just stopped playing after 30 mins, Brunt was poor, Morrison is still not good enough for this level, after looking very sharp and nearly scoring Long drifted out of the game entirely.
Disappointing after our first two games of the season, we looked good in those two, but today we went backwards to our old selves.
Bring in Hargreaves please and we still need another defender and striker.
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Ah,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha.
I think iv’e just wet myself.
Not many of the usual Albion posters on here at the moment. I think they have closed their curtains and curled up in a corner.
Ah,ha,ha,ha,ha, i’m off again.
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Not Foster’s fault – he had both hands on the ball and the Stoke cheat illegally kicked it out of them.
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And by the way. Its getting rather silly now regarding our neighbours. Anybody would think they are in with a chance of winning the league! Very quik to point and laugh at our expece. We will be the ones looking down from a top ten place laughing at them sweat it out on another survival Sunday in may. This time they might have to do it themselves rather than rely on other results and for us to give them pity points to keep them up.
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7pts
how much pure football have wolves EVER played???
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Absolute shocker! First rule of defending – deal with it. Both left it to each other and it’s cost us! Poor performance which is very frustrating after the way we played against Utd and Chelsea, we need to sort ourselves out sharpish!
Boing Boing!!
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WE ARE IN TROUBLE
ITS GONNA BE A LONG HARD 2ND SEASON
39 GAMES AND NO CLEAN SHEET
FORGET THIS FANCY FOOTBALL WE ARE BECOMING A LAUGHING STOCK
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what a poor display, got a bit to moan about,
what does Morrison bring to the team? No pace, no strength I used to like him but hes not the same player as he was, Dorrans should start over him every time.
get Chris “one foot” Brunt on the LEFT wing as he looks too awkward with the ball on the right.
Thomas should start on the RIGHT, not a big fan of this left footer on the right and right footer on the left at all.
Defence needs sorting out, its the same back 4 as last season for christ sake! Been our weakness for the last 4 years! If we do sign Hargreaves he should start right back, I like Reid but he’s not the answer for me.
Need a partner for Olsen, could Mcaully or Dawson be the answer?
On a positive we still have Odemwingie and Gera for the match at Norwich.
Sorry for the rant I needed to let a bit of steam off.
Boing boing.
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I am bitterly disappointed today. To be honest I expected us to win, nothing else. With all due respects Stoke were rubbish but our confidence was very low and the players were static glued to the ground. Brunt was a disappointment, from the coach to all players involved today I saw no commitment whatsoever. They seemed down from the very first minute. And what the hell happened to Odemwingie I thought he would play today. Ad ay to forget, are we better than last season. We shall have to suffer wait and find out very soon.
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Whoops!!!!
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Woy could soon be looking for his 22nd club
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What the hell is Roy Hodgson complaining about. That was a goal and thats it. No foul, the Stoke player got the ball in mid air, no contact. I dont see any controversy in it at all. I think the players and staff today were not present at all. Sorry Roy, but its our fault, no desire, no match plan and we played a poor side today not Man u or chelsea. NO EXCUSE we were rubbish
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Sorry tamas not good enough at this level, sort it out Roy before it’s to late
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John and your fellow dingle. Thanks for your comments. Now off to bed. Come back again after 38 games. But perhaps then you will not be so willing to post. Sack Mad Mick time is not too far away!.
Back to more important things – played 3 lost 3 is worrying and despite the fixtures not being too kind, we are having to play catch up. Unfortunatley, we can not all have Blackburn and Fulham as our opening games but there will be pressure for the trips to Norwich and Swansea which now become important where we need to pick up a minimum of 4 points.
Most worrying thing today is how we stll managed to concede against a team that didn’t even try and attack!!!
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2&3.
Thank Goodness you’re back at school soon.
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We’re still the team that lost 2-1 to Man Ure who have since put 5 past Spurs and 8 past Arsenal so I’m not panicking.
It was a daft mistake but these things happen to the best. Such a shame as it was the only shot on goal they had. Sense of perspective we didn’t get a point from these three games last season. I know it’s not much but as they say ‘when the going gets tough etc’ that goes for supporters as well as the team.
As for the gloating Wulfies on here, you spent all of last season telling us ‘it’s where you are at the end of the season that matters.’ Remember where we finished and where you did. In the meantime feel free to gloat away. It’ll make it all the sweeter.
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Stoke were abysmal and we were worse. Proved a point, we are scared of Stoke. If we had played half as good as we did our first two matches we would have won by four goals. Roys face said it all, long before the final whistle. Lets hope this is a one off. Now, come on lads you are better than that. Lets get our passing game back with accuracy. To much long ball.
BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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Why do we attract such players…..they get paid very well to get hurt sometimes when its required. It was a 70 – 30 ball in our favor and he pulled out.
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Yet another short report this week so as not to rub salt in wounds/ kick a man when down etc.
Town fans went into todays home game with mid table stoke city expectant of 3 points after 2 games and 2 defeats against the big boys…but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.
To be honest there was very little to choose between the teams apart from the obvious plus one in the goals scored column.
Town somehow conjured to snatch defeat from the jaws of a draw which would have earned them their 1st point of the season.
This time it was the shaky Foster who was the culprit, in coming to collect the ball in a less than commanding fashion. The keeper dithered and Stoke duly seized the opportunity to secure the 3 points in the dying stages of a forgetfull game of football.
Brunt on the other hand was his usual steady self and didnt half put a shift in.
Reasons to be cheerful….was a decent gate at the town today, and for the 23,000 faithfull the only way is definately up!
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Gutted. Again we play well against a good but not impressive Stoke side and end up on the sticky end of a result. Stoke fans recon it’s easy beating the Albion when actually they have enjoyed unbeleivable luck over the years getting the results that they have, not every time of course but it’s incredible.
Come on lads, don’t dwell on this fluke and come out guns blazing for the next few games.
Boing Boing
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3.
Wolves supporters stuck in the past as usual.
Probably just jealous.
Always forget we gave you some of our players to help you out and of course three points to save you from the drop last season.
Short memories eh?
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3. Is that 7 points or more like 7 pints. You talk such drivel. Only last year the whole custard bowl sang “How do you watch that every week”. You’d love to play our brand of football but as you are now more like Stoke yourselves you defend them. Pure rubbish. And also we have not forgotten Megson – he is still well respected and loved at the Hawthorns for what he did for us. But as a club we have moved onwards and upwards.
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i cant believe we done it agen,when are we gunna learn,just get rid,stoke where there for the taking, gutted agen aye boing boing
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The above match report pretty much sums it up-
‘Albion were dominant for most of the game’
‘Stoke were given an undeserved victory’
‘Albion dealt effectively with Stoke’s strong-arm methods,and outplayed them’.
We seem to see this every season,with the result so often the same,and very cruel it is too.
So far this season,we’ve been playing some very impressive stuff,but each time a late goal has taken away the result that we deserved.
We’ve obviously upset the Gods,so they seem to have directed bad fortune towards us.Even Chelsea’s equaliser last week hit Olsson’s leg,then deflected a shot that was going wide towards goal.
But it’s no time for self-pity.
We have a better squad than last season,and having watched the likes of Blackburn,Fulham,Villa,Bolton,and yes,Wolves,so far this season,we’ve played better quality football than all of them,and I’m convinced that as soon as we start picking up points,we’ll begin to fly.
If I’m not mistaken,Arsenal have had a similar start to us in the league,but having watched them in Europe during the week,how many would seriously say they are a bad team?
They’re not.
And neither are we.
Keep the faith,and all will be well.
Proud to be a Baggie!!
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Well we were well and truly mugged again, no excuses we let Stoke bully us for most of the game, just what voodoo God do they prey to up there! because it works, they were woeful all game, the fact they only had one shot on target all game is testament to that.
That said, we were by far (a country mile in fact) the better team, more skillful, more creative, and with more ideas. Over the season I m sure Stoke will be found out, and we will top the two teams from Staffordshire come the final table, yet again!, after all, even Brazil lose occasionally.
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3- I’m a big boy,I can count up to seven-
you seem to be getting bored and irritated.
It often happens after a six-week holiday.
Don’t worry,you’ll be back at school next week,and you can then learn to count to eight.
Now go to bed.
Someone will read you a night-night story.
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When I was at the game,someone said Man.U. were beating Arsenal 3-1,and I heard no more.
Having just said Arsenal were not a bad team,I then saw MOTD,and witnessed the Gunner’s being well and truly demolished.
So if you ARE gonna get it wrong,get it wrong BIG-TIME.
Oops!
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Apologies for the Wolves trolls, but all the same too many last-minute goals like this would remind me of Wolves’ luck last season…
You have Norwich next – if you don’t get anything from that then Albion really are in trouble!
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Moderators.
What was wrong with my post from yesterday?
Cantello.
Feel free to continue replying to the likes of the Wolves fans above, their offerings have beaten me into submission.
I don’t really understand the negative posts above, I thought we were the better team and yes I only watched on the TV but I enjoyed the game so tranquillo lads,there’s a long way too go.
Adéu
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From a dingle, unlucky guys, I’m not here to gloat, season has another 35 games left yet, against man u and Chelsea you looked good, but u seemed to miss someone to put the ball in the net today, u need a micheal Owen in the box type player to finish it, do think it was a foul on foster, both hands on ball, think if foster was still in a man u shirt it would have been blown as a foul, u should still be fine though, here’s to a hundred more black country derbies
U t w
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(7)
Hall Green,
Ronnie Allen hooked the ball out of the keepers hands when we played Sheffield United at the Hawthorns and stuck the ball in the Brummie road net. That was a good goal as well. Their were enough defenders against Stoke to deal.
Nice to see the E&D afford the Dingles all this space on our site. Wonder how much we will be allowed when wolves lose?. I wont hold my breath.
BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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Foster wouldn’t have dropped it for man u because they got rid and now you know why plus why no top teams came in for him another Carson?
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Hopefully this will force us into getting a defender before the window closes. I have been saying all summer that the defence is not good enough. Individual mistakes have been costing us for years and a manager cannot coach that out of a player, unfortunately it is just inherent in them. We are so close to having a a really good squad, please lets get the final piece to the jigsaw!
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to all you dings on here,you cant be that convinced looking at your away support,we took more to bournemouth on a tuesday night carling cup game than you took to vile 5 mile up the road,aye boing boing
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Tamas and Foster took too long to deal with the ball, but that doesn’t excuse Dean’s decision to allow the goal.
My concern was the inability to open up Stoke, especially in the first half.
My little girl is one today, what a pity I’m bringing her up in a City full of numbskulls.
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34 Thehoffsleftsock
Thanks. We know there are thousands of Wolves fans like yourself out there unfortunately results like yesterday bring out the minority from under their stones, I wouldn’t mind betting they’re the same ones that call for Mick to be sacked but don’t go to games.
Good point about yesterday’s decision (or lack of one) re Man Ure and we all know you’re spot on with it but that’s football isn’t it, or at least that’s Premier League football.
PS Any Albion fan (and I’m thinking probably WONOH) was this idiot the same one that ‘ref’d’ the fixture last year and gave them not one but two very dodgy penalties?
When they announced the teams yesterday the announcer read our team and then said ‘and today’s referee is Mr Mike Dean, I said to the bloke next to me ‘it was alright til then.’ At least Mike didn’t let me down.
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Irrelevant whether Foster had his hands on the ball or not – foot up with studs showing is a dangerous challenge and the goal should not have stood and Shotton should have received a yellow card, at least.
Having said that, we were very poor and played as many long balls as they did. The game had 0-0 written all over it, but ended up similar to last year’s home game against them.
Roy has got to find a place for Dorrans in the starting 11 and the sooner Odemwingie and Thomas get fit, the better!
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Sorry Alf, buy some glasses – plastic ones or you might damage your cheeks! Foster had both hands on the ball, TV confirms this.
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Gutted after such a good performance and to those lot too!
I think we all knew the first three games could draw a blank, so lets look forward to an easy run.
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Good to see that most of our fans saw yesterdays and the two previous results for what they are and are not calling for wholesale changes or the manager to be sacked. Only a couple of ‘cheese eating surrender monkeys’ amongst us.
5.
I suppose it depends how you see a game. For you ‘Long drifted out of the game after 30 mins.’ For me he never stopped running for 90 mins and couldn’t have tried any harder.
Before the Man Ure game I watched second half of Chelsea v Stoke under the BRE. Stoke did exactly the same job on Chelsea that they did on us yesterday. They stifle the game with negative tactics and finding a way of combating it is easier said than done because they do what they do very well.
TB said on here last week that he wouldn’t go to the match because it would be a terrible game to watch. He was right of course, it was the worst game I’ve seen since… surprise, surprise the game against Stoke up here last season.
Stoke play anti-football. Some media people have been saying that they now play some proper football. I was almost sucked into thinking this when I said the other week that Pulis is buying better quality footballers. I was half right in that he is but he’s getting them playing like robots in the same old negative way he’s always employed even when he’s managed other clubs. Stoke aren’t the problem, Pulis is the problem. He’s the modern day John Beck and I can’t think of a greater insult in football.
I know some Stokie will pick this up and accuse me of jealousy but it’s not. If I had to watch that monstrosity masquerading as football every week I’d take up bowls, if I hadn’t topped myself first.
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im not one for “that the fixture list has been cruel etc”, just get out there and win!!!!!! dont have the mentality, its man utd or chelsea, we havent beaten stoke for 30 odd years, so were not expected to win, come on albion get a grip.
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First let me deal with the new ‘improved’ Sandwell Times Editor. The words ‘forgetful’ and ‘faithful’ both have just one ‘l’ on the end. Also the word is ‘DEFINITELY’. This is quite a common error but needs watching out for as other children than yourself may be influenced by your ambitions to be a member of the Press. I can see you took my last criticisms on board because the spelling and grammar is improved although content is predictable and poor. 5/10. Still not good enough to join the ranks of ‘would-be’ hacks.
The game. Not much of a one, but no one expected it to be. We started well with loads of width and ideas but after 30 minutes or so, Stoke had gradually throttled all the football out of the game. It is at such times and at my age that I consider it’s time to pack it all in, because entertainment it is NOT! I will not resort to belittling the the Wulfies generally, although No.6 really is a Dumbo to twin Numbo. As Jeff says, many live in the past, but they DO have a past. If Stan Matthews were around today watching Pulis’s Stoke City, he’d sob his heart out.
I forgot, News editor, Stoke City has capitals. Oh dear. Off to bed for you.
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44 TRBH-
right from the kick off,the Stoke ‘keeper was wasting loads of time,obviously slowing things right down to take the early sting out of the game.When the Albion players started complaining,I saw Ref.Dean look at them,and hold his arms out,as if to say ‘what can I do about it?’
How about acting like a Referee for starters?
Then those big,burly Stoke players kept falling down everytime there was the slightest contact.
The guy next to me was getting frustrated at this,and other ‘incidents’.
So I pointed over to Tony Pulis,and said to him ‘there’s your answer-he knows every trick in the book,and doesn’t hesitate to use them’.
Hand on heart,even if I lived in Stoke,the one thing I could never do is go to watch their ‘football’ team play.
Anything but that.
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Here’s a holiday quiz-
Can you connect these two facts-
1) A larger than usual number of moronic dingles have found time to post on here.
2) This weekend happens to be a BANKER’S holiday.
Have you spotted the link yet?
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Poor display against a poor team IMO but we’ve only got ourselves to blame. The defence for the goal was laughable. Another thing which I’m not too happy about is the attendance.Where are our fans going?
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6 wolf-
the other day,you told us that you keep having dizzy spells,and now you say you’ve wet yourself.
I did think about giving an opinion of you,but I don’t need to,because you’re already doing a great job of describing yourself.
The term ‘shooting yourself in the foot’ immediately comes to mind.
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49 laughingstockwolf-
if you were an Albion fan at the game,you’d have noticed the large empty section that was reserved for Stoke fans that they didn’t fill.
Yet another pathetic disguise from a very sad man.
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I don’t even need to read a match report to tell you the most likely story of the game: we start well, don’t put the ball in the net, Stoke time waste, we get frustrated, are dragged down to their level, game looks like it’s petering out, a dodgy refereeing decision in their favour, chants of “we always beat west brom” as Albion fans bemoan never getting that 90 mins back from their lives.
Are we talking about this year or last year? Who knows.
It’s Stoke. We should have known better to think it would be anything other than the above.
We are a decent team. They’re our bogey side. Let’s move on.
We need a performance and 3-4 points over the next two games. We’ll need to grind something out as confidence will be low. But let’s not lose sight of the fact this is the best Baggies squad in 30 years. Tough start to the season, but we will be ok (especially having witnessed the other games this weekend: Villa, Wolves, Blackburn, QPR, Fulham…all shocking displays).
Boing Boing
PS My poor brother in law won’t be going to a football game again.
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I thought we played reasonably well. Stoke are a comfortable mid-table side and they looked second-best for large chunks of the game. There’s a fine line between success and failure and those with any sense of persective will know there’s no need for inquests, the results will come.
Few side points- Odemwingie and Thomas ARE our most creative players. We’ve played three games without either (Thomas cameo aside). I imagine if you took Rooney and Young from Man U, Modric and Van Der Vaart from Spurs or even that irrepressible duo Jarvis and Doyle away from the Wulfs, you’d have a different looking line-up.
The goal was contentious, but given the flimsiness of some of the tackles Mr Dean was happy to reach for his whistle for, then both hands on the ball and studs-up, you would hope, would warrant a whistle. If you’re not allowed to jump for a header with a keeper, seems a bit harsh to allow that, especially given we’ll probably see a foul given in further examples this season.
I hope most sensible fans will see some perspective, we just need to snap out of the unlucky loser mentality. There was a bloke behind me who spent the first hour calling Odemwingie a four-letter-word for being injured, bemoaning his £40k per week, 3-year contract- “sell him, we’re better off without him”. He spent the last parts of the game calling JP a four-letter word for being tight and not spending any money. “Where’s the millions gone?”, failing to establish a link between the £6m Odemwingie contract he’d just been rattling on about. Unfortunately this is the mentality of some. We’re still looking good, keep the faith.
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Wolves fans
7 points? That’s nothing, don’t you lot remember you had an 11-point gap once…….
I still wouldn’t swap our team with our points, for yours with yours. 3 easy games….
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Looking at this positively, from the three corresponding fixtures last season, we took…….0 points…….and finished 11th. Keep the faith.
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TRBH
Last year’s ref was Chris Foy I think, certainly not Mike Dean anyway although I can’t say I’m a big fan. I’ll be kind in saying he’s always struck me as whistle-happy, just a shame he didn’t deem studs-up on the goalkeeper to be as much of an offence as Shane Long challenging for a header for much of the game…..
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Just a final point, there’s been some criticism but I thought the midfield were excellent. The work off the ball in recovering shape when we lost the ball and getting tackles and blocks in really restricted Stoke IMO. Morrison gets a lot of stick, but he must’ve ran about 35 miles yesterday. He, Scharner and Mulumbu worked tirelessly. I’m sure I also saw JT tracking back and putting tackles in when he came on. There won’t be a team in the PL that creates dozens of chances against the Stokies, we weren’t that bad. We just need a break, next few games hopefully……
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It’s the right time to change the manager again and bring back DiMatteo for the first 19 games and then interchange with Roy throughout the season thus ensuring regular doses of ‘new manager bounce’ in order to escape yet another relegation battle.
Then next season you can pretend that the same players are still good enough.
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With Tamas standing and watching the referee could well have been unsighted if it was indeed studs up. However Foster should have made that ball his own. No bottle…. it’s no wonder Sir Alex got rid. (Looks like he’s got another one to unload now unless there’s a distinct improvement)
33 Kev in Mallorca. Maybe the mod didn’t like the bit of sarcasm you left on our site in between our two matches. Back fired a bit eh?
The remedy for second season syndrome is to keep away from the back pages and sporting centre folds and drink plenty of Bathams. Ooops sorry you don’t get that over there !
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HOW MANY SQUADS ARE WEAKER IN THE PREM THAN WBA?
APART FROM THE GOALKEEPER THE DEFENCE IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE WEAKEST ONE IN THE PREM LAST YEAR.PO MAY NOT PLAY IN MANY GAMES WITH HIS ANKLE PROBLEM.THIS LEAVES LONG WHO MAY SCORE 10 TO 15 GOALS AND TCHOYI. COX MAY CONTRIBUTE.NOT ENOUGH OVERALL TO KEEP US IN THE PREM.
TAMAS IS ONE OF THE PLAYERS WHO IS NOT QUITE GOOD ENOUGH. WHY DID’NT WE GO FOR UPSON OR WOODGATE BOTH VERY GOOD. WHY DID WE BUY A PLAYER FROM IPSWICH NEVER HAVING PLAYED IN THE PREM AND IN HIS LATER YEARS? WHY NOT TRY FOR SCOTT DAN?
WE ALSO STILL NEED ANOTHER STRIKER.
I THINK WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A SEASON LIKE WOLVES HAD LAST YEAR WITH NO GAURANTEE OF THE SAME HAPPY ENDING.
COME ON JP DA AND ROY THERE IS ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT BETWEEN SUCCESS AND DISASTER FOR WBA. ITS WHAT YOU DO NEXT.
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West Brom were better than Stoke yesterday and with a better luck would’ve took a point off both Man U and Chelsea. Stoke got very lucky. Foster did little wrong and MOTD replays showed Shotton’s challenge was a foul on two counts, both for kicking it from Foster’s hands and also for high raised studs (but the ref. was pretty poor all afternoon). I watched Villa v Wolves last week and neither side impressed me much, we’re easily as good as both.
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TRBH and CR78. There is a better team in Stoke. It’s called Port Vale.
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53Warren. Just imagine you were that bloke’s wife or partner. There was a frustration you could touch when the final whistle blew. That’s 3 games where we could feel hard done by. There’s a long break now, one or two players to get fitter, maybe recover some poise and belief. I’ve tried never to believe in ‘Luck’, ‘Hoodoos’ and such because that’s for witch-doctors. Leaving the lid up on the toilet doesn’t let out bad vibes, only bad smells. However, I shall avoid walking under ladders, on cracked paving stones, or annoying any black cats I meet. Not because I’m superstitious you understand. Right now I’d bump into all of them and fall over. Now THAT would be bad luck !
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Hang on a minute lads. If I’m not mistaken we have just lost against Man U, Chelsea and Stoke our major bogey team who we inexplicably haven’t beaten in 28 attempts. Why are so many of you wetting your knickers over that? If you know enough about the game you will take heart from the performances and realise that unless heads start to drop we should be picking up points sooner rather than later. If we were Fulham I’d be more worried. Even Spurs and Arsenal should be more worried because a bad start for them and Europe (their bankroll) will be unobtainable.
Most of the Wulfies on here I can forgive, because illiteracy and inbreeding is rife over there. You so called Baggies supporters who are already getting shakey kneed should know better.
The incident happened quite fast and I just accepted what happened at the time but having seen it on MOTD2 again, it is clear that the cheating Stoke players foot is high, everything else is academic (not to mention the fact that Foster actually did have the ball in both hands when the naughty little cheat raked the ball out with his studs). Thats a free kick anywhere anywhen for anybody, but apparently not for us against the cloggers.
Some of you need to get a backbone and anyone thinking about laying into Foster needs to wipe their nose, grow a pair and start acting like a man. Just because your local team is in the Prem now we don’t need any ex Man Ure fans at the Hawthorns thank you. Being a Baggie requires character.
Boing Boing
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57 Warren.
I agree about Morrison, he had a poor first half against United but yesterday I thought he had an excellent game despite being amongst the giant hacking lumps in their midfield who as Cyril points out turned into one of those fainting goats every time anyone tried to tackle them.
Perhaps I’m too easy pleased but I thought it was a good display in a difficult game from our players. Some people always have to have a scapegoat to single out when we lose and all of the new favourites have been mentioned. Tamas was an obvious target because he was involved in the goal but that apart he did nothing wrong. Brunt was below his best but even Messi is allowed an off day.
We lost, it happens, we need to get over it and look forward to the next game and not start crying like a load of glory hunting Arsenal fans
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Trbhoo.
I must have had a senior moment, I replied to Cantello about conversing with the Dingles, just realized it was your good self who appealed about continuing this folly but after the dross above from the Neanderthals they deserve everything they get.
Adéu
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No. 3, 7 points:
Short memories?!!
I can remember a time not so long ago when you were 10 points in front….damn…seems you were right, i’ve forgotten what happened next, any chance you can post back to remind me?
When i saw the first 3 fixtures, i commented i’d be happy with a point given the difficulty involved playing Man U then Chelsea…and we all know about the Stoke hoodoo ( I’ve long insisted theres no such things as bogey teams, Yeti’s, Poltergeists or spontaneous combustion, but even i’m beginning to doubt myself regarding bogey teams).
No points on the board after 3 games is a bad start, but by no means a disaster, yeah if we were chasing a Champions League place maybe, but we should only be looking to finish midtable and avoiding the 2nd season syndrome, so i see no cause for alarm whatsoever.
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Keep the faith all Baggies fans, we have been through this before, and no doubt go through it again. Woy will sort it out.
And Numbo Dumbo (11) didnt we beat Everton 1-0 towards the end of last season.. Get ya facts right dude …..
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Why did Tamas put the brakes on?. Surely he should have kept going until Foster had the ball safely in his arms. After all he had the march on the striker and should have shielded the ball and keeper, which is standard practice. Shotton wouldn’t dare raise his boot with Tamas on guard, as he would have walked. Tamas decided to leave it all to our keeper, by leaving him without cover.
BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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a wolf in peace,
hopefully all sensible wolfies and baggies will pay each other compliments as and when results dictate,
its okay taking the proverbial but some times the banter goes over the top… wba have played well in all the games but just are’nt getting any luck.
wwfc have got a reasonable start, but injuries and suspensions will surely take thier toll on both clubs….
good luck to all the west mids clubs… utw
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Sorry guys, But we are not afforded the same rights as the Dingles are on our site by E&D.
Mick the magician does it again. Two wide men off, two defenders on, better known as “Parking the Bus”. Just like the team we played on Sunday. These clubs have no right in the Premiership. Better suited to the amateur league. They are killing our beautiful game.
BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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64 baggieinmanc-
well said,I couldn’t have put it better myself.
I believe I’m a very positive person,but that doesn’t mean you wear rose-tinted glasses all the time,it means you can see the reality of life,but choose to focus on the good, constructive stuff,and refuse to let the negative drag you down.
In truth,many of us looked at the fixtures when they came out,and realised that on paper it was a pretty tough opening.If he did get any points from the first three games,it would probably be seen as a bonus.
Well,we haven’t got the points,but so what?
Should we put on ‘Dad’s Army’ gear,and run around like the Scottish guy shouting ‘we’re all doooooomed!!’?
Like I said earlier,we’ve got a better squad than last season,and from where I’m standing,we’ve played some pretty good football so far,and a couple of wins now would probably take us into the top half!
But unfortunately,some people are only happy when they’ve got something to moan about,and then hope for the worst to happen so they can be proved right.
At least the legendary Spike Milligan used his great sense of humour when he requested that it read on his gravestone-
‘See,I told you I was ill’.
But WE’RE still alive,so let’s enjoy the football while we have the opportunity to!
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When are the F.A. going to do something about these “Chicken” managers who are too scared to play football. Put them with their negative ideas in a league of their own, where they can hoof the ball and play without the off side rule, and kick one another all afternoon. Their fans will love it.
BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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Take last season’s results against these three teams and pretend they’ve just happened.
Man.U 1-2 Chelsea 0-6 Stoke 0-3
Goals for ONE
Goals against ELEVEN Nil points just the same
but look at the goal difference.
Man.U. have just stuffed Arsenal with EIGHT.
Tottingham are leaking like a sieve. Without a top 6 position these clubs could be in serious trouble. Maybe the F.A. will panic a little. After all, they are LONDON clubs. It’s not easy keeping your head high right now
but we haven’t suddenly become a bad team. (Cue there for childish comment from our neighbours, you know, the ones on school holidays). I still hate the Prem as it stands, where ‘survival’ is seen as victory. Do we really want a bunch of insanely wealthy
foreign owners running the show? I DON’T.
But I can remember when teams of our size could win the League and Cup, so I cannot be happy with this set up.
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I’ve only just seen the goal replayed on TV and I really can’t see why people are criticising Tamas. It wasn’t a situation that required him to boot the ball into the stand. We were trying to win the game and the keeper should have gathered it comfortably and set us back on the attack. You can’t applaud the team for trying to play attractive football most of the time but then use the power of hindsight to knock them for not reverting to hoofball when something goes wrong.
I can’t see why Foster didn’t have his body behind the ball as he came to gather what was a straightforward ball but he seemed to be leaning over trying to pluck it off Shotton’s foot. He could have been preparing to run around Tamas to throw the ball out. or a number of other reasons.
Having said that I’m not condemning Foster, players don’t make mistakes on purpose but as long as the game is played outdoors with a bag of wind on a grassy field players will make mistakes. They are human. For the rest of the game and the first two games I’ve thought Foster has looked very good.
What I don’t like is people trying to single out Tamas as being at fault because they don’t like him.
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TRBH
I agree about Tamas. The thing that riles me, is if you sit with a DVD player and watch 90 minutes of a football match again and again, each and every single player will take the wrong option at least 3 or 4 times a game. Yet the morons will judge you on the circumstances that follow the error, rather than the error itself. If Tamas had hesitated, Foster had collected and the game finished 0-0, these boards would be full of praise for our solid back four, yet Tamas would’ve done nothing different.
I’m glad there’s some out there with a bit of perspective. Anyone that watches us week in, week out knows we’re still good enough for a top-half finish, the Wulfies here are praying otherwise and no.60 Ric can GAURANTEE that we won’t do. But would any Albion fan out there swap 0 points, Roy Hodgson, Dan Ashworth and that group of players for 7 points, Mad Mick, percentage football, Henry, Ward, Elokobi, Foley etc etc?? Ha ha pull the other one. Anyone who says otherwise, has been on the Bathams with Farmer Ted…..
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I said when we signed Foster he was prone to little errors. You will notice he took the ball with his arms slightly to the right of his face he should have taken it with his hands in front of his face then the ball wouldn’t have gone straight through.
However Foster has made a good start he is
dominent and is playing very well and in his defence it wasn’t a goal. The ball was in his hands, the Stoke lads foot was to high and his studs were showing it should have been dissalowed for any or all of the above.
It also wasn’t Tamsas fault at that stage of the game you want the ball safely in the keepers hands.
Thought we did enough to win but Tchoyi needs
to start being aware of what’s around him to
many times he shoots or trys to beat people
when a pass is on, We had a golden opportunity when Sharner was clear on Tchoyi’s right and he chose to shoot. He is definatly a work in progress.
On the whole no need to panic we are playing well and the point’s will come
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75 TRBH-
when you get this sort of incident,people seem to instinctively look for a scapegoat,because the reasoning is that SOMEONE’s at fault,so the brain says you MUST have a name to link it to,or it just doesn’t make sense.
But what happens if there’s more than one possibility?
Tamas can try to shield the ball,but he can’t prevent a player from wrapping a leg around him.
And if he’s right-footed,he has to kick the ball someway across the pitch to clear it,then it possibly falls to another Stoke player,which would have made him look a real clown.
As for Foster,maybe he was taken by surprise to see a foot so high,with studs showing,which should be penalised by the Ref. for dangerous play,so the hesitation of a second or two was enough to affect his judgement.
Everyone else paused for a second,because we all thought the Ref. WOULD blow his whistle,but true to form,he did the opposite of what looked to be right.
So can you really point the finger at anyone and say they were TOTALLY to blame?
If I was forced to choose,I would go for Ref. Dean,mainly because he was inconsistent and incompetent throughout the game,so I would like him to take the blame just to please me.
But that’s not being very scientific,is it?……..
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It was Carsons fault aye boing boing
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56 Warren.
You’re right and I think my mistake is because there is a little group of PL refs that morph into one super bland, error ridden, biased mediocrity. Foy and Dean fit that category perfectly along with Peter Walton and the truly awful Martin Atkinson while Mike Jones and Phil Dowd are almost in another class as they vie for the Rob Stiles Memorial Trophy. Mason, Friend and Probert are still honing their skills but I’m sure they’ll get there some day. The fact that another member of the ‘toe the line’ club Mark Riley is now referees supremo says it all.
I don’t have a lot of good things to say about Wolverhampton on here but Jack Taylor where did it all go wrong? A briliant ref who would have shamed this current dire crop.
78 CR78.
The one thing we ask from referees is constency in decision making. No one in their right mind thinks they will get every decision right but we do have a right to expect that in the same given set of circumstances we will get the same decision.
As` a Wulfie said on here yesterday Man Ure would have been given foot up every day of the week there and we all know it. I’m not saying I agree with today’s fussy refereeing standards but they should be the same for everybody. As for Dean being unsighted, what are the ‘assistant referees’ there for? Since they’ve been given this trumped up title they seem to do nothing to assist the referee, most of them wait to see which way he gives a throw before they risk putting their flag up.
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79 Sir Terry
I agree if Carson had stayed we wouldn’t have signed Foster therefore the incident would not have occured
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The fixture list cannot be cruel.
Everyone plays 38 games.
Everyone plays each team twice.
Home and Away
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JÁCK thé HÁT – Its funny because you genuinely belive what your typing.
Its good that you have to have an excuse for every defeat. The ref is against you, bigger clubs get all the luck and now the corker Stoke shouldnt be allowed to play in such a way where our amazing football is useless. Your starting to remind me of some fans in London. You see at first they were adamant that their style of play was amazing and every other club should take note. Now after 6 years without a single trophy, they are finally starting to realise that it takes a bit more than just being able to pass a ball in order to be a great club.
It turns out propper football, played by propper clubs such as Barcelona, Man utd etc, can actually defend when they need to, they can put away their chances when they get them, they can even play against more physical sides without falling over every chance they get streaming tears because big bad Stoke wont let them pass the ball to their friends.
Dont get me wrong, I dont think you will be down there come the end of the season, but its not Stokes fault that all your amazing attacking propper football wasnt enough to get past their defence.
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(75)
Bully,
Foster and Tamas were at fault in equal parts, mate. Had both got the basics right we would have gleaned something from a non-footballing club. Look how many good chances we spurned. We are not knocking our type of football or ever would, what is galling is how well we played our first two matches, then play like that on Sunday. Kev has got the right idea, never post just after the match. Anyway the disappointment will soon wear off. Come~on,~the~ALBION.
BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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(83)
R,
Dingle, you are howling up the wrong tree. What I am saying is, Every club should play something that resembles football. NOW, do you comprehend. Can’t explain it any better if you don’t. But there again, if you’ve been brought on fast food, how are you to know Gastronomic delights.
BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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84 Jack.
That is your opinion. I was at the match and couldn’t see that Tamas was at fault, I’ve since watched it numerous times on TV and cannot see that he did anything wrong. In my opinion.
Like I said, once the lynch mob have got their claws into a player they never miss a chance to condemn him, even when it’s not his fault.
PS Before anyone else accuses me. I have no hidden aganda, I’m not a Tamas fan like I wasn’t a Carson fan, I just try to see things how they are.
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Anonymous
That’s one way of looking at it. You could also argue that teams who carry momentum into a season have a better chance of performing well than those that find themselves in a scrap from week 1/2.
Then there’s times to play certain teams e.g. a newly-promoted team away in September, when they’re unlikely to have lost at home for the last year and the whole town is vocally behind them, is probably more difficult than that same team in January/Febraury when they’re likely to be somewhat more deflated with less of an invincibility factor.
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85 – JtH
Get over yourself, man. Mick simply made a tactical adjustment to avoid losing a point, He hasn’t always got it right but it worked on this occasion. Arsenal could have ‘parked the bus’ on Saturday but didn’t, and got stuffed 8-2. Your team and my team are definitely not Man Utd’esque when it comes to the beautiful game but I’ll bet we’re both glad of the points whatever way they come.
Have a nice day.
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82 Too embarrassed to have a name.
Please Miss, could you explain the rules of conkers to us now! Dur.
So you would be happy if your club (can’t imagine who that might be) had to play Man Ure twice, Chelsea twice, Liverpool twice, Man City twice etc at the beginning of the season. Thought not. We would all like to play some easier games and get a few points under our belts.
It’s all about the psychology. These are games that you don’t expect to get much from and so you’re playing catch up. Most of our fans realise that this will happen but there are always a certain percentage of Nervous Nerys’s as proved on here that will start panicking and this can transmit onto the pitch. It also puts a bit more pressure on the players as the Norwich fixture has been branded a ‘must win’ game which it isn’t.
Hope I haven’t made that too complicated.
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this blogs a joke half of the comments dont get put on here.yet loads of albions fans can comment on our storys..
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(86)
Bully,
Never have and never will use my claws in a lynch mob, mate. But I will say as I see. Tamas lost the striker he was marking and failed to get between Shotton and Foster. Both of our defenders were at fault. As said Shotton wouldn’t have got his boot on the ball as Tamas would have shielded it.
(88)
NC,
You say get over yourself, Then You agree with me!, that Mick parked the Bus!. Did ALBION park the Bus against Manchester United?, NO. Did ALBION get stuffed 8-2?. No. Would Arsenal have lost 8-2 if they had still got their two top players?, NO. So before you talk stupidly, get your facts right. wolves and Stoke simply do not have “FOOTBALL” managers, in the true sense of the word. AGREE?. Have a very nice day.
BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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82 anonymous (forgot your real name,or just embarrassed by it?)-
No s…,Sherlock?
Thanks for explaining the way it works.
This may be a bit complicated for you,but mental attitude and motivation are very important in sport,and many agree (including managers and players),that a good start to the football season gives those involved a boost in confidence,and often improved performances.
So for the second season running,the Baggies have had to face the best clubs in the country right at the beginning,and there’s no doubt that it’s a very tough challenge to start with.
Unfortunately,we don’t get the advantage of an ‘easy’ start,like our neighbours wolves,whose fans can then come over here to say that these things are ‘not cruel’.
No,the wolves fans were more concerned last season with saying-
‘It’s cruel that we have so many injuries’. (although up to 10 other prem. clubs actually had more injured players),and
‘It’s cruel that we concede so many late goals’
(first minute,last minute,every game lasts for 90 minutes,what’s the difference?).
So thanks for the words of wisdom,but don’t bother coming back,you won’t be missed.
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90
Your comments don’t get posted as they are
probably not worth reading
Its not us vetting you its E&S they must be of the same opinion
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90 wolves baz-
funny that,because I’ve only ever managed to get a couple of posts on the wolves site,and whenever I look over there,it seems to be a maximum of one or two Baggies per story-if they are nice,harmless ones.
So did you want to add to all the insulting,intimidating one’s from you lot at the start of this thread?
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91 – JtH
To use one of your very own phrases; you are howling up the wrong tree. My original post was in response to the rather pretentious and somewhat misguided assertion you appeared to be making, that your team are purveyors of the beautiful game, and that my team and Stoke are not. Man Utd you ain’t, Sir.
Have a very, very nice day.
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I actually like wba, and do hope that you lot stay up. I don’t say that about a lot of teams, especially local rivals but wba play some very good football and are a stronger outfit now roy is in charge.
I must admit we were lucky to get that win, but we always seem to play the same way at wba, keep it tight and try to nick one. If you went out and bought a stronger, no nonsense defender at centre back I do genuinely think you could push for top 10.
Good luck in the coming season, as long as it doesn’t affect us.
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Oh, but 91, jackthehat, stoke do have a ‘footballing’ manager. We play very negatively away from home but at the brit we do play some good attractive football – hence why if we ever are on sky, 9 times out of 10 its at home.
And, in the end, playing the better football is all about getting the points. I don’t mind watching long balls being played if it leads to a win, thats all that matters in the end.
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I’ve had it being a Baggie. I’m stopping watching this rubbish
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Is that all The Baggs can go on about Butterfingers Foster, after all he almost a man, he should pull out like that . That could be the reason he never got a game with Stoke’s third team. Get rid of or lose more games he has to be the worst keeper in The Prem .
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91 Jack.
In your opinion.
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98 chris wulf-
you’re getting confused mate.
The site you want is next door,you can’t miss it,it says ‘Site for failed,badly disguised wulfs’.
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20. erm…3 past Spurs
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96. Making creeping statements like that will get you nowhere.Your not liked and your style of HOOFBALL/LONG THROWS is detested FULL STOP.
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71. omg/lol. Nuff said really.
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Would have been a foul 9 time out of 10,foot up and studs showing.It is bad luck which wolves suffered with the begining of last season.Early days Albion,no need to panic.
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dillussional. and dreamers. that report is just the same. its what you want to hear its just not the truth.
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Funny isn’t it that if anyone on here dare criticise WBA or any baggie poster they are deemed to be a dingle? Obviously anyone with a personal opinion that doesn’t match that of Jack, Cantello or any of the other regular brainwashers on here are not welcome in case you give the impression that all is not well in Baggieland.
And no I’m not a dingle, I am a Stokie and yes you were the better side but forget the notion that you are a good footballing side because you ain’t.. End of!
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102.
Whatever.
Thanks for taking such an interest.
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91 jack t.h. Megson & Robson never parked the bus did they!!! And i suppose Denis Smith never hoofed it long to Lee Hughes did he? Honeymoons over son. Last seasons dead an gone. Roy’s CV says he’s a managerial tourist. Never stays anywhere long enough to put down roots & build. He’ll be off soon as Jeremy gets twitchy and you’ll be looking for manager No.97. You’re all getting very snappy aren’t you? And were all having a very nice day thank you!!
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106. you’re the deluded one if you think Stoke deserved 3 points. Shots 16 V 5 , possession 60% v 40%. You got lucky.
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107 unfunny shadrag-
you do realise that you’ve used the first sentence of your post many times,under several different pathetic names,don’t you?
So you claim to be a Stoke fan?
Well it’s funny that the only time Stoke fans would have any interest in us is when we play ‘em.Apart from that,we never have any contact.
And yet,you not only know our names,but are familiar with all the regulars,and what we say all year ’round!!
And despite the fact that we could have visitors from anywhere,you quickly jump up and say-
‘I’m not a dingle’.
But of course you are,don’t be shy.
And a rather sad,pathetic one,to boot.
Just go away,it’s embarrassing.
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109 I’m a big boy,I can count to seven-
not back at school yet?
we can see that underneath,you’ve been very upset for a long time,because the Baggies have had the upper-hand over wolves for so many years,you’re getting excited because you’ve won a couple of games.
As you dingles are always telling us what WILL happen,let ME make a prediction for a change-
I predict that when wolves start playing decent teams,you’ll soon start losing again,and drop down the table.
The Baggies are playing quality football,and will soon be winning games.
So in the near future,when Albion move above wolves,it’ll be very quiet over here,because you’ll be back in dingleland,silently sulking.
And I really see this happening,because it ALWAYS DOES!!
So enjoy your very rare position while it lasts.
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Funny isn’t it that if anyone on here dare criticise WBA or any baggie poster they are deemed to be a dingle I am a baggie fan and, I cant count over zero I dont have any need to .
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113 sad dingle-
why have you repeated exactly the same words as you did on post 107 with a different name?
If you have some kind of problem,apart from being a wolves fan,I’m sure you can get help.
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