Terry Wills on Albion’s place in the news.
A question – not for readers, but for myself. How and where do I start and finish commenting on happenings that have projected the name of West Bromwich Albion onto both the back and front pages of the national press?
More of that to come. Let’s start with the really important (as far as the fans are concerned) thoughts on the two vital away games at Tottenham and West Ham.
It’s fair to say that when Keith Downing announced his team selection for the Spurs game, the majority of supporters were astonished. Was it because he’d already written off the chance of getting a result, keeping his best players for what could be a relegation scrap against gum-chewing Sam Allardyce’s team? No way. A change of tactic; new formation, Zoltan Gera back at his best, a Jonas Olsson equaliser and a point that could have been three based on the balance of play. Definitely a point gained.
On to East London for the game that enthralled millions of Sky TV viewers and left the media overall feeling Albion had been the better team and deserved what would have been a well-merited three points. An early goal down -fortunes ebbed and flowed – but when Saido Berahino cracked home a deserved equaliser, if there was to be a winner, it would be Albion.
But of course it was the return of Nicolas Anelka that provoked the post-match furore with his alleged anti-Semitic gesture after opening the scoring with the first of his two goals. I wasn’t aware of the gesture, whether it was right or wrong. That I’ll leave to others to sort out. Sports and politics; unhappy bedfellows.
Speculation is rife as to what news will break over the next few days. Will a new Head Coach be appointed? Unlikely. Will Albion gain a point, or three, against high-flying Newcastle United to ease the threat of dropping
into the bottom three? All will be revealed in due course so here’s hoping that next week’s news will reflect on a period of increasing stability as opposed to uncertainty.
Come on you Baggies.