Terry Wills on Albion and survival.
Mission accomplished. Tony Pulis, the man few Albion supporters wanted,has guided the Baggies clear of the relegation spots thanks to a 1-1 uninspiring draw away at Newcastle.It wasn’t pretty, as are most Albion games, but with a typical “We will not be beaten” attitude it was enough to finally ensure the £50 season ticket increase for next season will see the cash-bloated clubs on our fixture list.
Last week I said this game would be harder than many anticipated. No club wants to see a losing run extended to nine successive games, and so it proved. A Victor Anichebe goal, it had to be from a Chris Brunt set-piece, raised hopes of another victory but it wasn’t to be. Overall it was a poor game, described at the best as being dull while on Match of the Day one pundit called it terrible.
No matter, Pulis had done the job he was employed for. Keep them up and hopefully for next season recruit the type of players needed to make us a far more competitive outfit. But that’s for the future. We still have two games remaining, neither of which we’ll be expected to gain a result in. First a week on Monday, against champions Chelsea followed by a last away game at Arsenal.
I can understand fans craving to see what is termed ‘entertaining’ football but under the modern thinking of chairmen/consortia, their first priority is ensuring that Greed League status is retained.
Ours is, so this week I can relax by musing which of the still threatened clubs is most likely to join Burnley and Queens Park Rangers into the land of Championship football. M prediction based on their last two games is Steve Bruce’s Hull City, unless they’re renamed ‘Tigers’ courtesy of their foreign
owners before then.
And if that doesn’t spell out just how the game has and will continue to change I don’t know what will counter the argument. Can any supporter dispute these sentiments?