BWFC 24

West Brom v Bolton preview

Universally challenged !

Another great contribution from bwfcforum’s dh1985

Starter for ten (or should that be thirty considering it’s three questions): What can go up a chimney down but not down a chimney up? What always ends everything? How do you score a goal and draw a football match without ever having a shot on target? Answers on a postcard please.

Ok, I’ll give you a clue for the final question. It wasn’t an own goal. Any guesses? Yes, a deflection. I am of course talking about our last visit to the Hawthorns when a wayward shot from Robert Koren deflected off Danny Shittu (yes, I was surprised he was playing too) and found the bottom corner to level the scores after Matty Taylor had given Bolton the lead.

Gary Megson’s return to a club at which he achieved considerable success ended all square. It was the only game I have ever witnessed in which a manager got a better reception from his old supporters than his current ones. However, I doubt the same could be said for Megson had he visited the Walkers Stadium, the City Ground or any of the other grounds he has managed at during his nomadic managerial career.

Megson didn’t get to see the final minutes of the match having already been dismissed by Howard Webb, which sparked scenes of delight amongst the travelling fans. Elmander had made a darting run forwards carrying the the ball some 30 yards (something we’re getting used to now, but was unheard of at the time) to square to Taylor whose shot was saved by Carson. This was clearly too much for Megson (his team trying to win the match late on) as he had been trying to subsitute Elmander for some time. Seeing the player he wanted to remove in the opposition’s half was too much to bear and he rightly berated Webb for preventing him shutting up shop.

A little over 18 months later and the two teams meet again, although they’re both under new management; Mowbray having left to join Celtic following Albion’s relegation and Megson having departed in December of last year, following a run of poor results. To continue the subject of brainteasers, here’s the most confusing one of them all; how does the manager of a team, who were ultimately relegated despite playing pretty if unsuccessful football, get rewarded with the Celtic job? Maybe it was because our own Owen Coyle turned it down. I’ll leave you with the ‘riddles’ for the moment, and move on with Saturday’s preview.

I’d like to start off by giving due praise to West Brom for their fantastic away win at Arsenal on Saturday. Aside from Bolton winning, there are few things I like more in football than to see Arsenal, or more accurately Wenger, lose, especially at home. The fact that West Brom played some great football and scored some well worked team goals, and thus prevented Wenger from using his traditional ‘bully boys’ excuse for this defeat, was even sweeter.

I don’t think I was alone in thinking they’d again fail to shed their ‘yo-yo’ tag and suffer an immediate return to the Championship. Those thoughts seemed to be accurate following a 6-0 defeat at Chelsea on the opening day. However, since that defeat, they have recorded some impressive home form, including two wins (versus Sunderland and Birmingham respectively) and a draw against Champions League qualifiers Tottenham.

Going into our game this weekend, they sit sixth, and on merit too having had a tough start to the season, which included not only away trips to the aforementioned Arsenal and Chelsea, but a trip to Anfield too.

West Brom have already amassed a third of the points they gained for the whole of their last Premiership campaign, at the end of which they finished bottom and Mowbray headed north to Celtic. Goodness knows what job is in store for Di Matteo come the end of the season if he keeps the Baggies in the Premiership.

Moving on to our beloved Trotters, we also have some impressive form and results to speak of, the most recent of which was a 2-2 draw at home to United. Like everyone who watched the game Sunday, I left the match feeling two very conflicting emotions; Pride at the way the team had performed, the commitment each and every player had shown to the cause, and the football we had played. But there was also disappointment that such a performance had not yielded the three points that I, personally, think it deserved.

That said, this should take nothing away from the players in what was a fantastic performance and a very entertaining game of football. I think it speaks volumes that, following two tough games away at Villa and at home to Manchester United, the Bolton message boards have been filled with fans saying, not unreasonably, that we could have had four, if not six, points from the two matches. Credit should go to Owen Coyle, his staff and obviously his players for giving the fans the belief that we can take points from the big boys once again. Long may it continue.

With regards to Saturday’s game, we have had a mixed run of results at the Hawthorns: good news first – we have suffered just one defeat in nine matches. Good form yes? Cause for optimism perhaps. Well, let’s not be too hasty. We have failed to win at the Hawthorns since we gained promotion to the top flight back in 2001, our last victory coming in a 2-0 win over Gary Megson’s Albion (will that man ever go away) in the promotion winning campaign of 2000/2001. We still have reasons to be optimistic, although some of these reasons are not based in logic; they’re based on faith; in the heavens. They are the football Gods.

While I praised West Brom for their excellent result on Saturday, as we know from experience, football can have you on an unbelievable high one minute, before bringing you crashing down to earth the next. Like losing at home to Bolton perhaps! Case and point, in 2004 we went unbeaten on a run of three league games which included a home win over Liverpool, a draw away at Arsenal and, as on Sunday, a home draw against Manchester United. Good results – title winning results even. We then drew at home to Birmingham before losing away to Saturday’s opponents West Brom. It can change just that quickly.  One minute you can look and feel unbeatable and the next, well, you’ve just been beaten.

West Brom should not be taken lightly. As I have mentioned, they have good home form. Di Matteo has honed his managerial skills in the lower leagues with MK Dons before getting West Brom to the Premiership, something his old team-mate Zola may have been wise to consider in hindsight. He is here on merit, as are West Brom. They have some very good technical players in Brunt, Dorrans and Thomas and have strengthened well this summer – Shorey has added some steel and experience to a defence which was their Achilles’ heel last time round and Odemwingie looks like one of the buys of the season on his early form and has the pace and skill to trouble even the best defenders. Speaking of defenders, Gary Cahill, our star CB, will return (I assume) on Saturday. I will leave that up to you to decide whether you think that is good or bad.

We also have our own players who I would hope are providing the West Brom fans with reasons to be pessimistic about their chances of success: Holden seems to get better with each game he plays. He has a good engine, he’s not afraid to get stuck in (a must for any Bolton player) and has a good eye for a pass. Petrov has scored what I hope will be the fist of many goals for Bolton (and with his right foot to boot) and has made promises of more to come. We have a rejuvenated Elmander who was a mere foot or two away from writing himself into Wanderers’ folk lore with a game clinching goal against Man Utd. Sadly, it was not to be, but his performances this season have been impressive and he will be a threat on Saturday. Kevin Davies is always a handful and there were signs of a decent partnership developing between the two of them on Sunday with some neat interplay on show. Such play would have been unthinkable last season.  We have our England international centre half returning, Zat Knight is all set to add goals to his locker (easy there Zatyiah, let’s not run before we can walk, concentrate on keeping goals out the other end first) whilst Paul Robinson will be desperate to get a result on his return to the Hawthorns.

With all due respect to West Brom, if we are to move up the league and keep away from the relegation dog fight this year, we need to pick up points this month, or the good results against Villa and Man Utd will have been wasted. We have a good platform to go out and perform, and we have a team who look like they have the belief and mentality that they can win any game they play. With both teams coming into the match with decent form, and on the back of some good results, not to mention the fact the both sides are attempting to play football and are coached by two of the most promising young managers in the league, there are signs that it could be really good game, although we’ll inevitably end up last on MOTD, especially now Adrian Chiles has defected! Here’s to a good game of football and, hopefully, a good result. Come on you Whites!

dh

Riddle answers:             1) an umbrella

2) the letter ‘g’

3) Danny Shittu’s shin