A Dour Affair, Keeps One Wanting More
West Brom v Fulham 24.09.2011
The great suit game of 2000. QPR 0 – West Brom 0 was my first even live Albion game. Now there has been a lot written and said in the few days after the 0-0 draw against Fulham about how poor the spectacle was, but I’m pretty certain it was still a cut above my first game. It has been a hell of a long time since our last 0-0, but as fate would have it, West Brom 0 – Fulham 0 is now officially the first game of 3 year old Hugo and his dad Simon, both over from Australia.
I do think sometimes that Peace should give a commission to fans every time a first timer is brought to an Albion game, doubled when they leave with a team shirt. Get them in a shirt and they are the clubs for life.
Anyway, the game. First half we were very slow. Slow moving forward out of defence, slow in midfield, slow to realise Shane Long was never going to beat Hangeland to any high balls lobbed forward and slow in recognising that the referee, Mr Attwell, didn’t mind players kicking each other about the ankles.
Apparently we started as a 4-3-3, but it looked more like a 4-5-1 with Peter Odemwingie stranded on one flank and Jerome Thomas fairly anonymous after a couple of ankle taps on the other. Dorrans, Brunt and Mulumbu chased shadows in midfield ahead of a back 4 of Shorey, Olsson, Reid and mature debutant Gareth McAuley. Fulham had the majority of possession but never really did anything with it. While injury may have robbed Fulham of their preferred options up front, they did have their official #9 Orland Sa. It’s just that he was as poor as anyone in stripes.
Second half we were much better. The formation was changed, with Odenwingie moved into a more central forward position. But the main change was in the attitude of the midfield. Rather than shirking from the tackles, we began to kick back and Mr Attwell, to his credit was consistent in his idea of a foul all afternoon. It meant we got the ball into better positions and at least one line splitting pass put Odemwingie through on goal, only for a superb save from Mark Schwarzer.
The only other shot of note was a Chris Brunt effort very late in the day which beat Schwarzer, but came back off the post. Debutant McAuley was named man of the match, but it was more of a “Bradbury”, as no one else stood out. His passing and composure was top draw, but I must caution that he spent pretty much the whole game with no opponent to worry about. With no pressure from Fulham, he was able to stop and pick his passes all day. I’m sure today was easier than anything he ever had to contend with at Ipswich or Northern Ireland.
So 0-0 was not a bad result after a poor first half. Right now any clean sheet is still to be cherished. No doubt there will be more issues with our formation over the rest of the season. It does look as if Roy spent all summer teaching the players to line up in rows of 4, but the players still seem unsure of when they must stay in their row and when they can pass and move to get the ball forward. Until the players figure that out, I’d expect more of these disjointed performances this season.
by Anthony Coghlan
A Thirst in the West Midlands
The day began dark and early, around 4.30am to be exact, but the anticipation of the big match day quelled any tired feelings that may have been lurking on another day. With eager anticipation the group of travellers formed in the airport, Reprobates Delany Junior and Dunne joining us after a quick trip to the bar. One uneventful flight and a couple of buses later we arrived at our first destination of the day, Acocks Green.
The reputation and stories about a Mr. Jerry Rattigan preceded him, and what followed did not disappoint on any level. He was hustled and bustled out of his hotel by Del, despite and protestations he put up, approximately ten minutes later we were at the Spread Eagle (A Wetherspoons, to avoid any confusion) sitting down to our breakfast.
Soon after breakfast came the first of many beers that day, the more adventurous among us sipping on Ginger Pig’s got an unpleasant surprise upon sampling. Stick to the ones you know quickly becoming the best route to go down, or at least ask for the barman’s opinion! Jez got off to a slow start it must be said, but once he got going he did not let up. 3 pints later he was throwing all sorts of abuse at Mr. Chairman, something we were advised by Del, only confirmed his like for Ritchie. It was at this pointed we parted company with Jez and made our way towards West Bromich, advised that if we thought Acocks Green was below our high standards, things were only going to get better en route to West Bromwich.
This was an interesting bus journey, considering that Del and Ritchie sat away from the rest of the group and looked more than *ahem* comfortable in one anothers company, Del’s arm not moving from around Ritchie’s shoulder for the whole journey (Not Ritchie’s only display of affection for the same sex but we will get to that later). (Photo from Barry’s phone to be inserted if it can be gotten) A quick pitstop to use a toilet that involved getting a pint in too, and we were off up the road to West Bromwich, The Billiard Hall to be exact.
After meeting up with some more Baggie’s and Del recanting tales of how he used to sell books from his school library to second hand shops to play snooker there in his heyday, and we were off to the legendary Vine pub to continue our pubcrawl. I had heard about a “Vine Curry” for years so I was intrigued to taste it finally.
Upon arrival the Vine is not impressive. It looks small and dingy, like the front of an old house, certainly not living up to the hype thus far. Inside was another story. Rambling through the people past snugs and bars, we ended up out the back under a marquee. The place was packed wall to wall and smelt delicious. It wasn’t looking good for food though, we had left it late and the place was jammed. Not to worry we would just enjoy a couple of Bathams and set off for the match. That was until Del returned triumphantly announcing we would soon be sampling some of the Vine’s finest.
Just like everything else up to this point of the day, it most certainly was not a letdown and it was definitely worth the wait! 4 types of curry, each with a massive naan bread served as sustenance enough for us. Eolan returned with the tickets and it was time to set off for the ground.
The game was certainly eventful with plenty of incident and United were lucky to get the better as West Brom caused them plenty of problems with Irish signing Shane Long catching the eye with a well taken goal.
Meeting up with the guys after the match we headed back into Birmingham. Before we made our way for the airport it was time to hit The Crown. This I was reliably informed was Mr. Chairman’s favourite haunt in Birmingham, he certainly didn’t hold back once we got inside. There was some people there who could only be described as characters. Some sort of noise from the other end of the pub informed us that there was a karaoke going on. Ritchie wasted no time in mingling with the natives, even performing his trick of downing a pint of the black stuff, to the amazement of an onlooker.
Having had a few pints and shots, been serenaded by several of the members of The Village People, and Ritchie getting a smacker on the lips as a goodbye, it was time to head for the train for the airport. It was a great day out and certainly one to remember, the members of the WBA Supporters Club not being quite like the team they support. They were fun, loud, entertaining and thoroughly unforgettable.
A big thanks to Del and the lads for organising a great day out.
