Baggies keep cool while the fans fume

Monday 23rd January 2012, 10:59AM GMT.

Baggies keep cool while the fans fume

West Brom today played down two flashpoints in their historic win at Stoke after Baggies fans were left fuming at Potters striker Peter Crouch.

Supporters bombarded social networking websites to complain after TV cameras appeared to spot Crouch attempting to poke Albion’s Jonas Olsson in the eye. But

Baggies keeper Ben Foster revealed Olsson had not even mentioned the incident to team-mates while goalscorer James Morrison apologised for an angry gesture towards Potters fans.

Replays seemed to show Crouch put his fingers towards Olsson’s right eye after the pair had argued over a Stoke penalty appeal.

But Foster, who spoke to reporters after his second-half penalty save, said: “Jonas hasn’t mentioned anything about it and I didn’t see a thing, so I can’t really comment.”

And boss Roy Hodgson added: “I’m afraid in penalty area situations these days you could almost prove anything you want to prove with TV replays.

“There is always someone who has got a hold here or a shove there.

“I thought the referee and his assistants were very good because they officiated the game very fairly and adopted a sensible line.

“They cut out as much of the pushing, shoving and holding as they could.

“I don’t think any referee would be capable of seeing everything that goes on.”

Meanwhile, Morrison said sorry for directing a defiant gesture at home fans after his first-half goal opened the scoring.

He said: “It was a little bit ‘heat of the moment’ and I didn’t mean anything by it.

“I have been to Stoke a few times and I know what it takes to win so I was just glad we were winning and I was delighted for the three points.

“I didn’t mean anything by it. In the heat of the moment when you score it takes you over and if anyone was upset I apologise for it.”

Hodgson added: “That gesture could be interpreted in a thousand ways.

“I think today guys who are watching and writing about it have so much good they can talk about, so many interesting things they can say without starting looking for imaginary gestures.

“I’m sure it was just a way of celebrating.”


  1. 1
    TAN

    Roy Roy Roy we will never get a penalty telling refs how good they are why dont you tell them that the penalty was a diabolical decision and he should be demoted to the championship thats how stoke got that one …

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  2. 2
    TAN

    great news about newcastle game on sky i love sunday 4 o clock k/os at home …

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  3. 3
    Cyril Randle

    I saw the Crouch ‘eye-gouging’ incident 3 times on a large TV screen. It was quite deliberate and calculated although ‘heat-of-the-moment’ might apply too. But ask yourself, however angry you are, who attacks another human in the eye? Utterly disgraceful.
    My opinion of Crouch went from high to a negative low in that instant. He should be, nay, MUST BE, banned for a minimum of 3 games or more.

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  4. 4
    KP

    Crouch got frustrated that Olsson kept winning all the headers so tried to affect his vision. I had Crouch down as a decent bloke, but this was cynical and blatant foul play … maybe something from the Stoke coaching manual ?

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  5. 5
    Boinging Baggie.

    Good old Woy.

    Its all gone very quiet on the transfer front again apart fom a few murmers here and there. Any one got any news?

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  6. 6
    santa

    Well i never,why haven’t more fans said anything about Crouches quite deliberate attempt to gouge Olssons right eye.I was obvious what he tied to do!!Olsson did not make anything of it and credit to him for that,but what if he(Crouch) had got his fingers into his eye.I don’t think any of the weekend papers mentioned this incident,at the same time making great strides to imform us that Morrison might be up before the F.A for his gesture.

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  7. 7
    We only need one half!

    1) What he said.

    Its all well and good us trying to be sporting and by the book, but other managers take this has a cue to use to their advantage against us.

    When In Rome!

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  8. 8
    Baggie in Langley

    Excellent result and a stirling peformance. I will admit to having some doubts at times with Roy but the way he set us up was tactically astute. For to long we have gone to Stoke and treid to impose our game on them with no sucsess. I still worry for our home from and would like to see MAF and Long together. Crouch is a disgrace and the penalty decision was shocking but thats Stoke for you . Roll on the dingles put another nail in there coffin

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  9. 9
    glenn hussey

    paper talk admittedly…but…
    west ham and fulham both after odemwingie but put off by £8 million valuation
    if we can get £8 million for him i,ll take him to london myself
    i,d still like to see a wingie/zamora swap.
    i,ll admit to being a fan of simon cox but think we have to secure the services of ben foster and with blues wanting cox,a deal needs to be made

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  10. 10
    Robin Brittain

    It was a cowardly action by Crouch to attempt to poke Jonas in the eye. Fortunately no harm was done so perhaps Crouch would like to apologize just like Olsen did when he broke the picture last season. The game was generally played in a good spirit and even Pulis made mention of our fine display which is most unusual for him. Three invaluable points , lets move on.

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  11. 11
    Baggiescomeon

    I did state my disgust at Crouch on saturdays thread, Is there anyway we can petition the FA on this, after all they go on about fair play enough and had Olsson reacted we could have been down to 10 men.

    Crouch your a disgrace to young kids who watch you and want to get into the game you should be banned and fined without question.

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  12. 12
    kev in mallorca

    Santa.
    I’m keeping out of anything controversial
    from now on.
    Adéu

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  13. 13
    santa

    Quite right kev.Tarar

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  14. 14
    J♣ck the Hat.

    Agree with Cyril on this one and would like to add, Crouch came from behind and the look on his face showed he meant it. The referee did not see the incident, so the tape should be sent to the F.A. for their scrutiny. Hope Crouch gets his comeuppance. Balotelli is another one. Their action have nothing in common with our beautiful game.

    BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.

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  15. 15
    TAN

    looks to me like hes gesturing to Cyrils mate with the legs …

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  16. 16
    Cyril Randle

    12.Kev. Right, I shall remind you of that the next time Jurgens lets your donkeys out !
    Santa. I doubt the FA will ever mention Morrison’s gesture knowing that one of theirs is into eye-gouging. Crouch is an ENGLAND International, whereas Morrison is only a SCOTTISH International.

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  17. 18
    sherlock

    ”that gesture could be interpreted in a thousand different ways”

    sorry, but what on earth was he doing? what did he mean by it? i can’t think of one interpretation, let alone a thousand

    somebody help me please, i’m aiming some very strang gestures towards my computer at this moment

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  18. 19
    1954 baggie

    Does’ anyone know the address to write to FA about
    Crouch if enough people write they will surely act.
    Pleased for MAF he’s never moaned about not being
    involved and a super performance from him.
    Do we still have Bedner? if so why hasn’t he gone
    outon loan.

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  19. 20
    The Real Bully Hoo.

    1 TAN.
    I agree with your criticism of Roy on this issue, he’s too nice a bloke for our own good.

    3 Cyril.
    Like i’ve just answered No 1 it’s a bit of a conundrum ain’t it.

    Do we want our Manager whinging on after every game about how hard done by we are?
    Answer no but if we don’t we’ll carry on along with Wolves and Wigan being the ref’s whipping boys.

    Do we want Jonas to go down holding his eye and rolling round on the floor to get a decision?
    Answer no, it’s pathetic behaviour and is killing British football but if our players don’t do it we will get no decisions from refs that always take the easy option.

    We all know your last statement is peeing in the wind. Why because Crouch is a media luvvie and Olsson plays for little old Albion.

    9 Glenn.
    I’m interested that you seem to have a downer on PO but want to swap him for Zamora. Zamora has been a victim of the boo boys at Fulham do you think our equivalent section of fans will leave him alone?

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  20. 21
    marc bevin

    Glenn

    I hope your proposed Odemwingie/Zamora swap also involves a large amount of cash coming our way too. Just remember this is the club that paid us £6 mil for Kamara!!!!!!

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  21. 22
    JimDavis

    You play by the book – you get done over by the opposition, the ref and the media. It’s such a crap view from the moral highground.

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  22. 23
    JimDavis

    I must say – the hand of Crouch look as bad, and was probably just as lacking in force, as the back heal of Henry.
    Yes I know the action of kicking out is a red regardless of the strength of the kick, but was it really of such force as to cause the Villa palyer to roll around?

    The only difference to me was one guy rolled around on the floor and got the opposition player sent off and the other just got on with the game.

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  23. 24
    boy from the REAL black country

    Well i hope Crouch doesn’t get banned. I’ve used up all my transfers in my fantasy team and crouch is the only striker i have playing right now as Demba Ba has cleared off for the African N Cup! ;-)

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  24. 25
    CantelloRocket 78

    The problem with the Crouch incident is that he can approach someone from behind and simply do what he did when the officials weren’t looking.

    On the other hand,due to his height,it would be much harder to do the same thing to him.

    The best way that comes to mind is to wait for Stoke to get a corner,then when he jumps up to head the ball,get someone to stand on the crossbar and poke a broom stale at his face.

    But I guess despite the poor officials we have in the prem.,at least one of ‘em might spot the infringement………………….

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  25. 26
    J♣ck the Hat.

    (24)
    Real,
    Hope you get relegated mate, reality comes before make believe. So there.

    BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.

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  26. 27
    glenn hussey

    trbh
    all we want from our players is the effort and commitment for 90 minutes. i realise it doesnt happen every game,all players lose form,but odemwingie has had more bad games than good this season.
    in zamora you have a player who will hold the ball up and be an aerial threat. it could be argued fortune can do this but i dont think he,s the 10-15 goalscorer we need.
    and i still think jordan rhodes is worth a look!!!!
    marc
    perhaps mr harrods will throw in the promise of a statue of Tony Brown in any proposed swap!!!

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  27. 28
    CantelloRocket 78

    18 Sherlock (by the way,good to have you back before you left)-

    looking at Jimmy’s photo,maybe because his teammates are nowhere to be seen,he’s celebrating his goal whilst at the same time trying to pat himself on the back?

    I don’t know why no one wants to go near him-

    maybe it’s not so much P.O. as B.O.?

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  28. 29
    The Real Bully Hoo.

    Rocket, sherlock.
    He could be trying to salute Max but missed his nose.

    Report abuse

  29. 30
    CantelloRocket 78

    29 Bully,

    I just noticed on Jarrod’s blog,Max is asking if anyone can explain the meaning of life to him.

    I’m just tryin’ to decide where to start………

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  30. 31
    tescobaggie

    Placing your left hand on your right bicep and then lifting your right forearm in a upward motion and fist, has long been established (mainly in Europe) as a gesture much the same as the raising of a single finger (in America) or a two finger salute (UK) having spent most of my formative years overseas, i have personal experience of this.

    P.S, not sure if this is deemed offensive in Scotland.

    Report abuse

  31. 32
    CantelloRocket 78

    31 tescobaggie,

    I was familiar with your explanation of ‘Jimmy’s gesture’.

    Nevertheless,I just think JM thought it was a normal form of greeting in Stoke,because whenever a visiting team or fans turn up at the Brittania,they do it to them all the time……..,..

    Report abuse

  32. 33
    The Real Bully Hoo.

    Rocket.
    It’s just too good an opportunity to miss isn’t it?

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  33. 34
    tescobaggie

    Cantello, just trying to help Sherlock out at 18

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  34. 35
    sherlock

    cheers tescobaggie

    i had begun to wonder if it’s Scottish for ‘have a nice day’ but i asked my Scottish mate and he just told me to stop pulling faces at my computer

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  35. 36
    CantelloRocket 78

    34 tescobaggie,

    Sorry,I was just tryin’ to be light-hearted.

    I’ve seen that type of gesture many times over the years,and usually the person making it is looking very aggressive,with their left fist clenched tight across their right arm.

    In the above photo,Jimmy has got his hand over his shoulder,and it looks like a bird’s wing,which appears odd.

    I’m not sure if Sherlock saw the incident or if he looked at the picture and was being sarcastic at how strange it appeared.

    At least he’s now got it cleared up.

    Report abuse

  36. 37
    J♣ck the Hat.

    Means one or two things. 1/ He is signalling to the “Sagar makers bottom knockers” That ALBION are one up. 2/ He is getting some extra training in for when we play the Dog-Heads.

    BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.

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  37. 38
    sherlock

    38 cantello

    was watching in pub. very busy, very raucous pub. at the time mozza was delivering his weird expostulations i was trying to dissuade the fella in front of me from ejecting me through a window for knocking him half way to the ground, and knocking his pint all the way to the ground as part of my own celebrations

    cost me £2.60 that goal did

    Report abuse

  38. 39
    Cyril Randle

    38sherlock. I was so excited I nearly bought a round of drinks. Luckily, I was on my own.

    Report abuse

  39. 40
    baggiescomeon

    27 – glenn hussey

    I hope He dosen’t send that remoulded Michael Jackson statue over to us, and if he does please don’t face it overlooking the youth team changing room or there could be all kind of comments made.

    Report abuse



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