Terry Wills is starting to worry about the Albion.
“We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
Those are the lyrics of a 16th century Christmas carol, sung in a traditional happy tone to neighbours, friends and acquaintances. We move on. It’s the 21st century Baggies supporters, those who think they can sing (!) are practising in dulcet Black Country tones, to the objects of their affection. The players of West Bromwich Albion as they prepare to take on Hawthorns visitors Hull City – soon be known as Hull Tigers?
It had some effects for the first 15 minutes or so but after Steve Bruce’s outfit had taken the lead, it really was a backs to the wall battle from which we thankfully escaped with a valuable point. Steve Clarke’s dismissal, a shock to some but not others, seemed to have made little or no difference. Mercifully, though, the second half could, and
did, show a marginal improvement compared with the truly dreaded Norwich non-display.
Again there were far too many players way below their best, seemingly lacking in confidence and the inability to carve out genuine scoring opportunities. Four minutes to go. Hull seemingly set for a 1-0 three points victory, but
what’s this I’m seeing? A smart constructive inter-passing move, substitute Matel Vydra making no mistake as he equalised, leaving both the team and supporters vastly relieved. We were still out of the bottom three – but for how long ?
Stand-in coach Keith Downing stressed that he was delighted with the point, as were the supporters, but in truth many genuinely felt that without a major improvement the signs were ominous.
So where to next? With two visits to the Smoke, a rejuvenated Tottenham Hotspur followed with a West Ham side also desperate for points, then comes the visit of on-form Newcastle United.
At face value, should Albion fail to show a marked improvement the New Year Greed League table will see Keith Downing eventually handing over to his replacement a side deep in a relegation fight.
So that’s it for 2013. I hope Birmingham Press readers have enjoyed my weekly offerings on the fortunes, or otherwise, of West Bromwich Albion. If not, well we all have individual thoughts as to how the club should be
managed. I’m just glad that it’s not me!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.
Come on you Baggies.
The problem with UK football is there is no salary cap…only the rich teams can afford the mega players.
In the States, for instance, either teams have pay ceilings or individual players can be capped. This means a fairer system for the weaker teams.And you just have to look at the baseball,US football or basketball finals to see now varied the teams are that make the finals.
A weak team can come out at the top because the athletes cannot bully teams with pay demands