West Bromwich Albion Thread

[fatman123]

West Bromwich Albion

Current Squad*

Over 21's
1. Ben Foster
3. Jonas Olsson
6. Liam Ridgewell
7. James Morrison
9. Shane Long
10. Yassine El Ghanassy
11. Chris Brunt
12. Steven Reid
13. Boaz Myhill
14. Jerome Thomas
15. Chris Wood
16. Scott Allan
17. Graham Dorrans
18. Gonzalo Jara Reyes
19. Luke Daniels
21. Youssouf Mulumbu
22. Zoltan Gera
23. Gareth McAuley
24. Peter Odemwingie
26. James Hurst
28. Billy Jones
30. Gabriel Tamas
31. Simon Cox
32. Marc-Antoine Fortune
36. Adil Nabi
39. Kemar Roofe
40. Liam O'Neil
42. Cameron Gayle

Under 21's
25. Craig Dawson
27. Sam Mantom
29. George Thorne
35. Romaine Sawyers
37. Kayelden Brown
38. Saido Berahino

*as stated on PL website on 10/8/12

Pre-Season Results

Malmo FF 1-0 WBA
FC Copenhagen 0-3 WBA
Barnsley 0-0 WBA
Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 WBA

Pre-season results have been mixed so far although this can be expected due to interruptions due to both the Euros and Olympics as well as Steve Clarke introducing a new system as well as giving youth a run in all pre-season games.

2012/2013 Season
Upon first glance the opening fixtures appear to be quite hard on WBA with their first three games being at home to Liverpool, away to Spurs and then at home against Everton, although in comparison to last season’s schedule which saw WBA face Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in their opening three fixtures this is much more favourable.

After a tough opening face an easier run of games against Reading(H), Villa(A) and QPR(H) before two more big games against City(H), Newcastle(A) and three weeks later Chelsea(H) in mid November. After this period WBA enter the "Christmas rush" with several winnable games against the likes of West Ham(H), Norwich(H), QPR(A), Swansea(A) and Stoke(H), although as is the cliché in football , results in this period will ultimately come down to fitness, rotation, squad depth and momentum.

Due to the influx of home games in the early part of the season WBA face several away games in the back end of the season against the like of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, although with the off-season recruitments it doesn’t seem beyond the reach of WBA to better last season’s 47 point haul and 10th place finish in 11/12. Interestingly WBA may play a key role in the title race as they face Manchester United at home on the last day of the season, and if history proves anything, this could be the most important game in Manchester United season.


WBA's full fixture list for the 12/13 season are aviailable here

[McAgger]

Our first game is against them. Their danger men are Shane Long and Odemwingie. We need all three points from this game. There's is no room for error with every top team getting better, so every game against teams like WBA is a MUST win.

[rwo power]

By the way, I heard some weeks ago that West Brom was interested in Michael Rensing - does anyone here know why that transfer never came to pass?

[fatman123]

Our first game is against them. Their danger men are Shane Long and Odemwingie. We need all three points from this game. There's is no room for error with every top team getting better, so every game against teams like WBA is a MUST win.

Its definately a must win for you guys, although for WBA a draw is a good result for them on the first day of the season against a bigger club, i could see them playing with just Odemwingie up top and trying to crowd the midfield.

Although if they start Shane Long (or he comes off the bench of course) i cna see his pace giving cara some real trouble and of course WBA have Rosenberg who ive never watched before but from what ive read, hes a big CF whose good in the air, which is really the perfect player to have up top when youre playing for the draw.

[McAgger]

Our first game is against them. Their danger men are Shane Long and Odemwingie. We need all three points from this game. There's is no room for error with every top team getting better, so every game against teams like WBA is a MUST win.

Its definately a must win for you guys, although for WBA a draw is a good result for them on the first day of the season against a bigger club, i could see them playing with just Odemwingie up top and trying to crowd the midfield.

Although if they start Shane Long (or he comes off the bench of course) i cna see his pace giving cara some real trouble and of course WBA have Rosenberg who ive never watched before but from what ive read, hes a big CF whose good in the air, which is really the perfect player to have up top when youre playing for the draw.

Well the good thing is that Carra won't be starting or playing for that matter. His days are past him and he's our 4th choice CB, so no worries about his pace.

Of all these overrated British players that we have signed, I wish one of them was Shane Long. The guy is a f*cking beast. He almost always scored against us, even from his days in Reading. Would have been a better signing than Downing or Charlie Adam.

[fatman123]

By the way, I heard some weeks ago that West Brom was interested in Michael Rensing - does anyone here know why that transfer never came to pass?

Because WBAs first choice GK from last season, Ben foster, was only on loan West Brom sounded out Rensing incase they couldnt sign Foster in a permanent deal although once they singed up Foster Rensing became unecesseary

[fatman123]

Of all these overrated British players that we have signed, I wish one of them was Shane Long. The guy is a f*cking beast. He almost always scored against us, even from his days in Reading. Would have been a better signing than Downing or Charlie Adam.

I'm more then willing to go out on a limb and say Shane Long really can be the next big thing in PL football, if only someone would give him a decent run in the first team, Long had a great return last season but Woy never gave him a fair run

Much like you said he'd be great at Liverpool and id love him at Chelsea too and his home grown status is just an added plus

of course if you talk to an of the Chelsea fans on the forum theyd tell you how long ive been talking up Shane Long to them, which is true, although its not on regular occasion i hype up a player, coincidently the last two players i hyped were Miroslav Stoch and Fabio Borini, both of which imo should still be wearing the Chelsea blue along with Scott Sinclair, but such is football


Cara falling down the pecking order is good to hear for Liverpool, hes cost you a fair few points in the last season or so, and its good someone whose been so big for the club can accept a new and less important role at a club he was once the corner stone of, in a way its sad to see a legen reduced to this, but good one him for pushing on

[Kick]

I don't remember you mentioning Shane Long once before...

[rwo power]

By the way, I heard some weeks ago that West Brom was interested in Michael Rensing - does anyone here know why that transfer never came to pass?

Because WBAs first choice GK from last season, Ben foster, was only on loan West Brom sounded out Rensing incase they couldnt sign Foster in a permanent deal although once they singed up Foster Rensing became unecesseary

Ah, I see. Thanks
Pity for Michael Rensing - he's a fine lad, but he's surplus at Köln because they want to put their trust in their youth keeper Timo Horn in the 2nd Bundesliga (plus Horn is way cheaper).

[Kick]

Lukaku has joined WBA on aseason long loan, please tell me they will play two strikers?

[nh01]

Fatman has been talking up Shane long for the past 2 seasons at least

[fatman123]

Lukaku has joined WBA on aseason long loan, please tell me they will play two strikers?

they never did under Woy, but now theyve got four strikers who are good enough for the first team.

Under Woy they played 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 and played down the flanks, so my guess is they might go for a 4-4-1-1 system so they can maintain their width and play any combination of Luaku/Rosenburg with Long/Odenwigie (ie big a little) up front together

thats my guess anyway, although during pre season theyve played 4-3-3 in every game except for their first friendly where they played 4-4-2 and in their most recent friendly (which was dominated by first team players) where again they played 4-4-2 and got one of their best result of the pre-season, a 2-0 win over forrest

[fatman123]

Lukaku has joined WBA on aseason long loan, please tell me they will play two strikers?

and look whose taking note of Shane Long all of a sudden

[Kick]

Lukaku has joined WBA on aseason long loan, please tell me they will play two strikers?

and look whose taking note of Shane Long all of a sudden

Lukaku - Odenwigie

as a front two.

[fatman123]

Lukaku has joined WBA on aseason long loan, please tell me they will play two strikers?

and look whose taking note of Shane Long all of a sudden

Lukaku - Long

as a front two.

WBA for the Europa League spot

[Kick]

Lukaku has joined WBA on aseason long loan, please tell me they will play two strikers?

and look whose taking note of Shane Long all of a sudden

Lukaku - Long

as a front two.

WBA for the Europa League spot

Doesn't matter if they make EL, Atletico will just knock them out

[fatman123]

Doesn't matter if they make EL, Atletico will just knock them out

[Kick]

Doesn't matter if they make EL, Atletico will just knock them out

Pretty good Demo of What Atleti will do to WBA should they make EL. Just shut the door on them.

In all honesty, where do you think WBA will finish and what signings do they need before the window closes?

[RedAndWhiteArmy]

Lukaku should be one damn good signing

[Art Morte]

Nice to hear that Lukaku joined the Albion, should make West Brom a little more interesting to watch. Also, what are the chances of him scoring the winner against us on the opening day...

[fatman123]

In all honesty, where do you think WBA will finish and what signings do they need before the window closes?

Its not easy to say really because Steve Clarke is one massive question mark for me atm. Imo Woy was the perfect manager for WBA and if they still had him i could see them breaking into the top 10 without challenging for EL spot though, although with a new manager, and on top of that one whose never managed before theres alot of mystery

Another thing is i get the feeling theres going to be a tactical overhaul at WBA as under Woy they usually played with one up top and crowded the middle of the park, although as i said earlier theyve now got four forwards who are going to demand minuted which imo will force them to play two up front and more then likely a 4-4-2 system.

As far as a 4-4-2 goes i think theyve got a fine DM in Mulumbu although i would be more comfortable if they had a more end-to-end creative CM to partner him in the middle although i dont know if we'll see that. In terms of width their wingers arent great but arent terrible either, but with the likes of Brunt and Morrison they'll be ok. Their backlin should be alright too, Craig Dawson is a proising CB whose played a bit in friendlies since coming back from the Olympics, and although another more attacking fullback would be ideal i dont think its a necessaity

In terms of furhter transfer actvity i doubt we'll see any as usually when a club of WBAs size and financial power starts bringing in loan signings it means they're shutting up shop for that window, but im sure theres still a few Bosman opportunities floating aorund so you never know

[fatman123]

CHRIS Brunt is hoping international action with Northern Ireland on Wednesday will help increase his chances of being involved in Albion’s Barclays Premier League opener with Liverpool on Saturday (ko 3pm).

The Baggies skipper got 21 minutes under his belt as a substitute in Friday’s 2-0 friendly win at Nottingham Forest – his first pre-season action of the summer due to a calf injury.

And a frustrated Brunt is now eager to get more game time under his belt against Finland in Belfast to boost his fitness.

“It was nice to get on the pitch,” he said.

“It’s been a bit of a rubbish pre-season for me.

“It’s never nice to miss any of it but when you miss a lot of it it takes its toll.

“It’s nice to get a run-out – and I got a bit longer than I was expecting.

“I’ll probably know more about where my fitness levels are on Wednesday when I play for Northern Ireland.

“I’ll hopefully get a good week’s training under my belt and get few more minutes in the international.

“I’d like to be involved on Saturday but that will be down to the gaffer.”

He added: “For a lot of the lads it’s probably not the best time for internationals.

“But for me, after missing almost every pre-season friendly, it’s a good time to get a few minutes under my belt.

“I’m looking forward to it.

“The calf felt okay so, touch wood, I can keep progressing with it.”
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Hopefuly Brunt will be back for the Liverpool game, it would be a massive boost for west brom if he can play even just the first hour or so

[Sina]

WBA VS LFC
*West Brom conceded the joint-most penalties in the 2011-12 Premier League (9)

*Liverpool were the first team to miss five penalties in a single Premier League season since 1998/99 (six taken in total).

[RealGunner]

Yassine El Ghanassy Looks like a talent.

[fatman123]

WBA VS LFC
*West Brom conceded the joint-most penalties in the 2011-12 Premier League (9)

*Liverpool were the first team to miss five penalties in a single Premier League season since 1998/99 (six taken in total).

stewert downing couldnt even score a PK vs Hilario at Anfield

Yassine El Ghanassy Looks like a talent.

he looks very dangerous and WBA have a clause to buy at the end of the season too. i think we'll only see him on the wing though as Albion already have alot of strikers.

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