BFTG - WBA

[harry]

Baggies: Apart from ten minutes after their goal ,they were poor. A Pulis team conceding from two set pieces ?

...did I see this right? - ageing fart and very back of North Stand so bear with me ...

...for our 2nd set-piece goal, we left Coops back on half-way (?) - I recall remarking to my mate, he'd not be my first choice as cover should they break and would be better in the box adding to mayhem - with Obita dropping back for him.

...anywhose - his absence from their box, appeared to engender total and utter confusion amongst their evidently pre-planned defensive set-up shape for defending against our free-kicks. This was already terminally undermined by letting us score for the first one - when they simply didn't look ready, anyway.
- so much so they all dozed again, when Hec drifted unseen round to the back post, to nod-in Olly's free-kick - which wasn't exactly swerved in - just chipped over everyone !!

Great move if planned (I'd like to think so) - or just happy-accident??

...sidles back to 'GF'

I think you do Norwood's delivery a disservice there. Heck of a swerve on it, perfectly executed would be my verdict.

Big Hec was in acres of space before the kick was taken. Could see him scoring a mile off and thoroughly deserved. Still needed the ball to be delivered, decent header and continued poor marking for it all to come off though.
Must admit I didn't notice Coops staying back but if it was all planned fair play. There's been a few oddities like that of late, where I don't get what we're trying up front but they come off.
e.g. bringing Piazon on for Quinn looked risky at that stage of the game.

[Four Of Clubs]

- so much so they all dozed again, when Hec drifted unseen round to the back post, to nod-in Olly's free-kick - which wasn't exactly swerved in - just chipped over everyone !!

I think you do Norwood's delivery a disservice there. Heck of a swerve on it, perfectly executed would be my verdict.

...OK RR - I withdraw my point ... in part - just had another 'butchers' and there's definitely a lot of swerve - was still more 'curly float' than 'whipped' though !!

...glad to see you aren't spending too long baiting the Cambo fans on the F'Focus bd - but then you're probably quite rightly keeping a low profile, after your lots' performance at 'Brook House' yesterday???

[Ian Royal]

We commented on same thing IE leaving cooper at the back....

Foster and that defender were terrible for that goal....

Same here.

Hec's been going round the back to the far post plenty when he's played. Should have scored at least one other like it this year. Perfect head on it this time and Cooper's absence caused chaos.

[Victor Meldrew]

Fantastic performance and result. Everyone (as Len Goodman would say) gave their all and earned the win in every sense.

So one question. Why dont we see this level of effort and commitment every week in the league?

This is still basically the same team that was 2nd in the league in September so why are we not still top 6 if the team is capable or performing to this level?

I know some on here will dismiss me for bringing negativity to the thread but if you can get past that emotion, its a fair question for a discussion board.

It's a fair point to make.
I'm not sure that the stats back it up but it feels as though we do better against the better teams ('Boro at home,Derby away, Burnley home and away, Ipswich at home)
Is it because we are set up to hit teams on the break?
If a team plays defensively against us we find it hard to break them down but the better sides are more open.

IMHO we are like West Brom in that they seem to enjoy being underdogs and so do we..
It augurs well for the next round.

[Lower West]

e.g. bringing Piazon on for Quinn looked risky at that stage of the game.

Or a neat move by MCD to play to the crowd and keep the atmosphere going to the death.

[Ian Royal]

Fantastic performance and result. Everyone (as Len Goodman would say) gave their all and earned the win in every sense.

So one question. Why dont we see this level of effort and commitment every week in the league?

This is still basically the same team that was 2nd in the league in September so why are we not still top 6 if the team is capable or performing to this level?

I know some on here will dismiss me for bringing negativity to the thread but if you can get past that emotion, its a fair question for a discussion board.

It's a fair point to make.
I'm not sure that the stats back it up but it feels as though we do better against the better teams ('Boro at home,Derby away, Burnley home and away, Ipswich at home)
Is it because we are set up to hit teams on the break?
If a team plays defensively against us we find it hard to break them down but the better sides are more open.

IMHO we are like West Brom in that they seem to enjoy being underdogs and so do we..
It augurs well for the next round.

There's a couple of things I think are relevant here.

Firstly, it's easier to be up for and put your all into a game where you're underdogs and really going to be tested.
Secondly, the better teams are more likely to be more aggressive and play higher up the pitch, leaving you more space to exploit when you get a turn over etc. There's not many top teams at the level we play against (or higher) who will attempt to park the bus and hit us on the break. They'll take the game to us.
Thirdly, I think we have an approach that works very well in one off cup games where both sides need the result. In League games drawing is acceptable and there's always the next match to put it right. Because we know we have to win, but losing isn't actually that important, we are a bit freer in how we play. The cup is a pleasant distraction from the pain of the league where the players can relax and enjoy themselves more.

I don't think it's a coincidence that in McDermott's 5 seasons in charge at the point we enter the FA Cup we've made three QFs. Something about his style and approach lends itself to cup success.

[RoyalinBracknell]

Really enjoyed that one.

I thought we played well throughout - we were the better team in the first half but West Brom sat deeper so we only created a couple of chances. Great response to going behind.

I thought Cox played pretty well, especially considering how little he's played this season. Dispossessed them quite a few times.

John had a great impact as a sub, probably one of the best he's had. Won the free kick for the second, had a shot just wide, two great passes in injury time (one to put HRK through and the other to Vydra for the third) and got the assist for Piazon too.

Thought the officials were excellent.

Let's hope we follow that up with two winnable games in the next 7 days!

[harry]

e.g. bringing Piazon on for Quinn looked risky at that stage of the game.

Or a neat move by MCD to play to the crowd and keep the atmosphere going to the death.

Definitely worked. Love the song. Need to sign Ola John permanently and find someone else who rhymes in the summer.

[Royal Rother]

I don't think it's a coincidence that in McDermott's 5 seasons in charge at the point we enter the FA Cup we've made three QFs. Something about his style and approach lends itself to cup success.

Dump Hodgson, bring BM in for the Euros.

[Royalcop]

Definitely worked. Love the song. Need to sign Ola John permanently and find someone else who rhymes in the summer.

Sal(omon) Rondon?

[taipairoyal]

I don't recall Rackels blatantly cheating. Could you be wearing your anti-immigrant glasses again?

Dived twice in the first half, made a complete fool of himself, fortunately the ref just ignored him. suggest you go to specsavers.

He did go down easily once, sadly it's common everywhere these days. I hope Brian tells him it's not acceptable. But how on earth those minor issues could have cost us the game I struggle to see.
File under the rest of this Tripepai's rubbish.....

No he dived twice, on another day could have been carded. Oh dear looks we have another Orlando Sar.

[taipairoyal]

He's fishing. Dont encourage him to spread his infection here as well.

I'm surprised he can even support a team made up of so many foreigners.

It is very hard to accept, and the fact that the game has changed to suit the cynical style of the foreign imports, ie, diving, shirt pulling, spitting, all seems to be the normal now. Similar thing has happened to Cricket,

[harry]

He's fishing. Dont encourage him to spread his infection here as well.

I'm surprised he can even support a team made up of so many foreigners.

It is very hard to accept, and the fact that the game has changed to suit the cynical style of the foreign imports, ie, diving, shirt pulling, spitting, all seems to be the normal now. Similar thing has happened to Cricket,

As opposed to good English fair play types such as Norman Hunter, Vinnie Jones, Shearer kicking Lennon in the head.
Yes, the game has changed for the worse with more cheating/"gamesmanship" going on but blaming it on Johnny Foreigner is boll#cks. Unless you mean Rupert Murdoch that is.

[Snowball]

They might just about have enough points, but WBA to be relegated at 18/1 looks decent value.

Agreed. IMO they looked like a Championship side

[Nameless]

Dived twice in the first half, made a complete fool of himself, fortunately the ref just ignored him. suggest you go to specsavers.

He did go down easily once, sadly it's common everywhere these days. I hope Brian tells him it's not acceptable. But how on earth those minor issues could have cost us the game I struggle to see.
File under the rest of this Tripepai's rubbish.....

No he dived twice, on another day could have been carded. Oh dear looks we have another Orlando Sar.

You really are not very good at this fishing lark.

[The Cap]

Ian Royal wrote:
Anyone else spot Habsi diving into the East stand after the third? I fooking love him.

Got to love the Habsi lad. He dived, literally, into the crowd just in front of where we were sitting/standing. His confidence has shot right up recently and he is clearly developing a great rapport with the crowd. I like the way he has also referred to the fans helping him when his name is sung. Fair play to you Ali and long may it continue mate.

As for West Brom, where do we start? They're obviously a passionate bunch who have a minority of 'clowns', as witnessed in town and by way of the coin throwing incident. I mean the fact that some idiot threw the coin at all, regardless of which player he or she struck is a disgrace. And I see they've also had similar problems at Chelsea this afternoon. This being said there was a decent Slough based Baggies' fan on the bus, after the game, who said that a lot of their support are really disillusioned with Pullis, as they feel a lot of his tactics are very negative. He also added that there were around several hundred of their fans who stayed in the concourse for the second half.

I thought our support was the best I've seen and heard at the Stad for a while now. However, I thought we would have sold more tickets. Still, we've got Rotherham coming up on a cold Tuesday night so, with the ST deal on, it will be interesting to see the attendance for that one.

[Longhorn1970]

Dived twice in the first half, made a complete fool of himself, fortunately the ref just ignored him. suggest you go to specsavers.

He did go down easily once, sadly it's common everywhere these days. I hope Brian tells him it's not acceptable. But how on earth those minor issues could have cost us the game I struggle to see.
File under the rest of this Tripepai's rubbish.....

No he dived twice, on another day could have been carded. Oh dear looks we have another Orlando Sar.

SA looked vaguely threatening ..

[Longhorn1970]

They might just about have enough points, but WBA to be relegated at 18/1 looks decent value.

Agreed. IMO they looked like a Championship side

Mayb theyll blame the pitch which was blooming awful again ..

[Ian Royal]

He did go down easily once, sadly it's common everywhere these days. I hope Brian tells him it's not acceptable. But how on earth those minor issues could have cost us the game I struggle to see.
File under the rest of this Tripepai's rubbish.....

No he dived twice, on another day could have been carded. Oh dear looks we have another Orlando Sar.

SA looked vaguely threatening ..

One headbutt doesn't make you look threatening.

[Longhorn1970]

No he dived twice, on another day could have been carded. Oh dear looks we have another Orlando Sar.

SA looked vaguely threatening ..

One headbutt doesn't make you look threatening.

is he claiming it was a head butt ! Looked accidental ..