Tuesday 24 May 2011

Final Word

Sunday's 3-3 draw with Newcastle secured the club's highest league placing in 30 years and the manner of the comeback has left many fans heading off into the summer recess on a high looking forward positively to August. A special mention also for the unpredictable Somen Tchoyi who signed off his first English campaign with a hat trick, only the second one in Albion's Premier League history. All that's left to do now is reflect on those players who made a contribution to this ultimately successful season and this has been duly done by ranking them in order of their effectiveness.

Mulumbu - 9 Man of the season, consistent, energetic, productive. The essential element of any reasonably successful team.



Odemwinge - 9 Superb return of 15 goals. Lively, pacey, dangerous. At last a striker to put fear into top flight defenders. Hot streaks at start and end of season.



Brunt - 8 Dip in form coincided with team slump. Creative, conductive and provides balance. Established Premier League player now.



Thomas - 8 Rehabilitation complete. Essential outlet, respected by opponents and constant threat. Increased productivity would launch him into higher echelons of league.



Scharner - 7 Inspirational, simple and missed when unavailable. Won over fans with commitment and maintained impressive record of keeping his sides up.



Olssen - 7 Usual committed self who was often charged with plugging a leaky defence. Comfortable with distribution and provide left side balance.



Shorey - 7 Fought off Cech for preferred role. Steady, competent and generally error-free. One of several who produced best at start and end of season.



Reid - 7 Injury free enough to be influential when it mattered. Combative, experienced and displayed leadership credentials. Questions on mileage left.



Morrison - 6 Delivered periodically yet stamina always a question. Great individual goals and some inspirational displays. Often substituted.



Carson - 6 Mixed season. Errors highlighted and often round the corner. Yet fought off Myhill and mid season dip to make some vital contributions.



Jara - 6 Not sure of best position. On day can easily perform at this level. Prone to off days and getting targeted by pacey wingers.



Tamas - 6 Can look the part and give classy performances. Has been integral to a leaky defence and errors often prove costly. Lot to prove next year.



Cox - 6 Limited, fighter, enthusiastic. Impressed with desire to make the grade. Had to drop back to find a role but delivered one of season's best goals.



Myhill - 5 Did little wrong when given chance but not impressive enough to retain place. Interestingly to see where he fits in if a summer keeper reshuffle happens.



Meite - 5 Out in cold for most of season but returned late to make some important contributions. Unfortunately old habits returned to mar end.



Dorrans - 5 Issue plagued season which only flourished for a small segment in the middle. Showed enough to compete at this level but needs to re-establish influence.



Tchoyi - 5 Inconsistent, unpredictable and frustrating. Looked to have all the components but influence faded prior to end of season bang.



Cech - 5 Combination of injury and inconsistent form conceded much of season to Shorey. Still enough quality and experience to figure in future.



Vela - 5 Two critical contributions created impression but probably did very little in loan spell to further career. Increasing used sporadically towards the end.



Fortune - 4 Disappointing return. Lost the spark of previous spell with positive characteristics missing. Likely to face increased competition in future.



Ibanez -4 Lacklustre, content, mediocre. No desire to compete. Content to live on pedigree with little desire to impress. Lots of questions to be asked.


Also figured but insufficient contribution to be assessed - Miller, Thorne, Barnes, Hurst, Zuiverloon.



So that completes my focus on West Brom's 2011 relegation battle, although some might say that with all the carnage and tension surrounding survival Sunday, it probably wasn't really a battle. Not something I expected to say when commencing this little project in February.


See you again

Sunday 15 May 2011

Player of the Season

West Brom ended their 2010-2011 home Premier League Campaign successfully yesterday with a 1-0 victory over Everton. The win importantly brought the club their first clean sheet since August, a startling statistic when you consider their eventual comfortable mid table position and the collective defensive improvements that Roy Hodgson has delivered in his short tenure. The success has also given the team an opportunity to become the highest placed West Midlands club, an achievement not seen since the halcyon 78-79 season. A third important statistic from the game was the seventh goal of the season from Youssuf Mulumbu and it is decided that this penultimate Scrapplejack Reborn Blog will be dedicated to the 24 year old defensive midfielder who has also won my award for player of the season.


Mulumbu is currently in his third season at West Brom having initially signed on loan from Paris St Germain in January 2009. During the six games he played in that relegation season, he impressed the staff sufficiently to complete a permanent move in the summer. This drop in division gave the DR Congalese international an opportunity to get to grips with the day to day requirements of English football and prepare himself for another go at the highest level. After proving to be a consistent star performer in di Matteo's promotion winning side, Mulumbu has taken his game to new heights this term with a string of energetic and passionate performances in the heart of Albion's midfield. The odd suspension allowing, Mulumbu is a permanent fixture in the starting eleven and even more impressive are those seven goals he has contributed from his holding midfield role.

There are those who consider 15 goal striker, Peter Odemwinge should sweep all end of season player awards and there is a little bit of, perhaps, justified criticism of Mulumbu when he starts to attempt to spray Hoddle-esque passes around the field, which is clearly not his game. However the main reason for him being my choice over his fellow African for the award, is the consistency he has showed all season in the engine room where many Premier League games are won or lost. Also he did not have a mid season blip like Odemwinge and his, to-date, haul of seven league goals puts him second place behind the star striker in the scoring chart. He has been an integral part of an ultimately successful Premier League team and in my opinion fully deserves this award.

So it's off to Newcaste now and one more game before the season ends. The final Scrapplejack Reborn Blog next week will contain an individual player review and reflect on their contribution to our impressive campaign. So a final mention to Roy Hodgson for his impact and Jeremy Peace for his decision, and not to forget the autumn start that Roberto di Matteo gave us but at the end of the day football is about the players, and they deserve to be the final focus of this blog.

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Mathematically Safe

For the record Wolverhampton Wanderers beat West Bromwich Albion by 3 goals to 1 with Peter Odemwinge netting his 15th goal of the season and thus becoming the first Baggies player since Tony Brown to score in 5 successive top flight games. However from a blue and white footballing point of view, this game was deemed irrelevant the previous evening when, due to a combination of others failure to win, the sole task of avoiding relegation was achieved. So while that West Midlands fringe club tries to reclaim the Black Country (thought that was Dudley, Cradley, Netherton, Brierley Hill), this week's Scrapplejack Reborn blog is dedicated to just one man- Roy Hodgson.




Just after Christmas Roy Hodgson's season plunged to a new low following Liverpool's home defeat to Wolves. To be fair with Liverpool's Boston based owners, they didn't dwell too much and it was not long into the new year before King Kenny got his call from the stands and Roy headed into the temporary footballing wilderness. There was plenty of column inches on Hodgson's short reign at Anfield as the club flirted with the lower echelons of the Premier League for the first time in living memory for many Red's followers. There were claims that the alleged negativity that served 'little' Fulham well was not the Liverpool way of doing things and the miserable Carling Cup exit to Northampton ensured that a honeymoon period was non-existent.


However February was the month when Hodgson announced a very quick return to top league management as West Brom reacted sharply to a decline in form with the surprise removal of Roberto di Matteo. Albion's caretaker manager, Michael Appleton, fluffed an 'on the job' interview by losing a 3 goal lead to West Ham and Roy Hodgson was installed soon after. Perhaps it was a return to an environment similar to Fulham or a steely determination to prove the Liverpool doubters wrong but over the next 3 months, Hodgson rejuvenated a West Brom side that had enjoyed a fruitful start to the season, instilling an organisation and desire to eventually avoid the drop. This was achieved with a zero change in available personnel but a tinkering of formation and a reshuffling of the squad pecking order once team selection time came.




Prior to the day actual survival was attained, Hodgson- led West Brom only lost one league game and acquired a steady accumulation of points that took them past previous Premier League totals and eventually to the final safety mark of 43. As this run of games evolved, the world of football began to take note and the stock of Roy Hodgson began to rise. Perhaps not quite to the levels of European bound Fulham or the spells in charge of the continent's elite, it was even a little premature to re-open the post Capello vacancy debate but Roy had regained the simple compliment of being referred to as a good manager.

There was a little bit of small talk of this being a temporary marriage especially as Albion have the infamous Head Coach structure where others in the set up are perceived to make key playing decisions. There is also the question of the short term contracts Jeremy Peace hands out and the notorious reputation he has of keeping a tight control on the purse strings. However Roy has indicated an acceptance to this regime and there appears to be very little rumour of this being a short term arrangement. The prospect of Hodgson doing a slice of wheeling and dealing in the forthcoming transfer windows is appealing to many Albion fans especially as those purse strings are sure to be released a little in the security of another Premier League campaign.




So on the weekend Roy Hodgson accomplished phase one of his West Bromwich Albion assignment, let's leave our Staffordshire friends to fret another week and celebrate the success one man has delivered and at the same time began to restore his reputation. This celebration will be shared amongst a capacity Hawthorns crowd in the upcoming final home match versus Everon where there will surely be the chant 'There's only one Roy Hodgson'.







Sunday 1 May 2011

26 Year Wait Is Over

Let's put our relegation battle on hold for a moment and cast our mind back 26 years. In April 1985 West Brom beat traditional arch rivals Aston Villa 1-0 with a goal from, Canadian, Carl Valentine. Little did we know that it would be another 26 years before the blue and white half of this rivalry would taste success. In the interveening years the old foes have only met on 17 occasions and more pertinently, rivalries with Wolves and Birmingham have grown to replace the intensity of this traditional one which over 100 plus years has often been the battle to be the West Midlands topdog. But to a large number of fans, this is still the true derby, both geographically and within their footballing DNA.


However on Saturday April 30th 2011, the Hawthorns experienced such fervour only recently seen at promotion parties and Wolves play off games as the ghost of Carl Valentine was finally laid to rest. Today fans put their modern hatred of Wolves to one side and rekindled the the traditional passion of the 60's, 70's and 80's as West Bromwich Albion finally overcame their richer, more successful and generally bigger neighbours Aston Villa.


The game itself meandered along for 70 minutes heading for a draw that would have finally banished the minimal relegation fears of either side. The turning point was the sending off of Paul Scharner that all of a sudden put the onus on Villa to go for the kill and secure the three points. Instead it totally galvanised Albion to fight, battle and ultimately take the game back to Villa in search of the win for themselves. In this battle of intensity, Albion showed more desire than an increasingly apathetic Villa and fully deserved to get the victory and break the 26 year, 17 game hoodoo.


For the record, goals from Peter Odemwinge, 14th of the season, and Yousef Mulumbu, an impressive 6th of the campaign, cancelled out the 4th minute Meite own goal taking West Brom up to 11th position in the table and past the much quoted 42 point mark. On a day where elegant passing football was missing, key performances came from stand in skipper, Jonas Olssen and the hard working fill in role performed by Simon Cox. The midfield lacked width following the absence of Brunt and Thomas and chances were generally limited to a few speculative efforts.


For the first time since 1999, a West Brom campaign is fizzling out in mid table with no chance or likelihood of the team exchanging divisions. Who would have dreamt that this would have happened when this blog started in February. For the time being, you can say that the yo-yo tag is shelved and attention now turns to one major challenge yearned by those more modern fans, and an opportunity to all but relegate Black Country bitter rivals, Wolves. A team beaten many times over the last 26 years.

Sunday 24 April 2011

Credit to the Chairman

The end of season club honours will shortly be upon on us with all focus being on the playing awards where Odemwinge, Mulumbu, Olssen et al will be the leading contenders. If we manage to stay up, there will also be plenty of plaudits for Roy Hodgson and the excellent job he has done since taking over in February. However quietly sitting behind the scenes will be one man who probably made the most vital season defining decision and he will be smiling quite contently as others get their well earned praise.


Chairman Jeremy Peace divides opinion amongst many fans ranging from appreciation of steering the club through to solvent waters to that of an owner who refuses to take expenditure to a level enjoyed by most Premier League clubs. Yet in February, he decided to remove Roberto di Matteo from his role, a brave decision in light of the fairly unanimous opinion of the decent job he had done in his short time at the club. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but there is a growing widespread thought now that without the change, the semi post Christmas decline would have gathered pace to such an extent, that in a season where the basement team will probably exceed 35 points, we could well have been doomed by now.

So with 4 games to go we have now reached the mystical 40 point mark, thanks to our 2 all draw at Champions League chasing Tottenham. While safety is still not mathematically assured, relief and optimism is now beginning to soar. This point was achieved on one of the hottest April days in living record. While London temperatures headed into the upper 20's, Albion battled back from surrendering a early 5 minute lead, to fruitfully equalise 10 minutes from time. Simon Cox deservedly opened his Premier League account with a sublime curled effort, while Peter Odemwinge's 13th of the season, added a few more pounds to his value, should we wish to trade a little in the summer.

While Odemwinge's goals and general play have thrilled fans this season, he does give you the impression of having a nomadic career, and we all know the past history of Jeremy Peace's astute and very profitable transfer activity. Although let's not be too negative on this Easter weekend and enjoy the praise that is beginning to filter our way from the national footballing establishment.

As well as the 42 point target set by manager, Roy Hodgson, there is still plenty to play for in the remaining weeks of the season. First up is a derby game against traditional rivals, Villa, a team we have not beaten since 1985. Soon to be followed by a massive game at Molyneux, with a possible chance to relegate our bitter Black Country neighbours. It's definitely a good time to be a West Brom fan.

Sunday 17 April 2011

Defeat Eventually

This blog has really been Albion's lucky omen as, from the moment Carlos Vela equalised against Wolves, our unbeaten run has gone on and on. Eventually it had to come to an end but for this to finally happen on the 39 point mark with 5 games to go is a tribute to the management of Roy Hodgson and the commitment shown by the players. You probably have also got to give a little credit to chairman, Jeremy Peace who made a brave decision to sack Roberto di Matteo, which while widely decried in some quarters, has seemingly paid off with impending survival.


The unbeaten run finally came to end at the unsurprising hands of Chelsea who had far too much class for an Albion team that lacked the recent intensity shown to grind out a lot of positive results. The multi millionaire pound Londoners were really on a different level from the Baggies and after quickly replying to Odemwinge's impressive opener, there was only going to be one winner. The eventual final scoreline of 3-1 could have been a lot worse if Chelsea had have been more clinical in the second half but while this Albion team were off the pace, their recent form did not warrant a good beating.


The main positive from the match was an energetic performance by Yousef Mulumbu, who eclipsed goalscorer, Odemwinge with a never say die effort. Unfortunately the defeat was contributed to by a few defensive errors, an element of the game that Hodgson had worked hard to eliminate. Shorey was guilty of one bad mistake and Carson had an afternoon that leads to a divided opinion amongst the fans, with some quality saves residing alongside more questionable efforts.


With Wolves currently on a downer, West Ham conceding a last minute winner to Villa and Blackpool tumbling quicker than a seaside helter skelter, 39 points might be enough to stay up. However there is no evidence of complacency within the club and all focus is on securing a couple more points to put the icing on survival.

Friday 15 April 2011

Safety Almost In Sight?

39 points with 6 games to go. Unchartered territory for yo-yoing West Brom. In fact you can almost whisper the word 'mid table mediocrity'. But let's not get too carried away as this unpredictable season has sprung more than one or two surprises and nobody within the club has banished the thought of relegation yet.


The 39 point level was reached with last Saturday's 3-2 victory at Sunderland that lifted the Baggies up to tenth place in the table. This fourth away win of the season saw the team come from behind twice with the remarkable fact that each of these wins has been the result of at least three goals scored.

Although with the team's leaky defence it's been vital that scoring hasn't been too much of a problem this season. Peter Odemwinge has got a lot of plaudits this week after converting his eleventh goal of the campaign but fittingly it was the scoring contribution from midfield that sealed the points. Despite his often holding role, Mulumbu has contributed a few vital goals in his first couple of seasons with the club and Paul Scharner's winner was his fourth goal of the season, impressive from a player who you don't really expect to contribute in an offensive manner.


So it's Chelsea up next for the seven game unbeaten Baggies, a team they have failed to get a Premier League point against in the past. However the same scenario was with Liverpool a couple of weeks ago and that ghost was laid to rest. While Chelsea will no doubt be odds on favourites to seal the three points, a draw is clearly a possible outcome and see us ultimately hit the 40 point mark. The unpredictable nature of this season has led to many unlikely outcomes so why not a Albion win with Roy Hodgson smiling at reaching his 42 point target. Optimism is definitely reigning supreme at the Hawthorns this April.