Got the game ordered on inDemand. I think the Baggies are going to be riding a wave of confidence going into this important match and I really like their odds. They proved their worth last week at Highbury and now it's time to take it to another big club. They desperately need to start accumulating some points.
West Bromwich Albion 0 - Manchester United 3 I stopped listening after the second goal. I just knew this was going to go bad at that point. Perhaps after that high after the Arsenal draw we should have expected something like this. The Baggies ran smack into a determined United side... far more focussed than the Gooners were last week. And here we were expecting some better football from the Albion... but it was back to the usual bunker-ball stuff. Haven't we convinced ourselves we can play real, flowing football against the likes of the Premiership's big boys? That we have brought in the talent that can do that? Er, don't answer those last two questions.
Second game in a row on TV that Purse has looked miserable-getting beaten time and time again. Lots of long balls intended for Earnshaw that never even got close to him. No coheasion in the WBA midfield and very few chances to score. I think Gera and Earnshaw each got one chot on target. Gera seemingly disappeared after the first half hour. They'll need a major regroup before going to Portsmouth.
WBA has a useful squad and should be able to survive on squad quality . But Robson is a poor manager choice and might well take them down this year.
Our tactics for much of the last match reminded me of that line from a classic The Who song: "Meet the new boss... same as the old boss." We played somewhat promising football in the Boro loss and Arsenal draw, but against Utd it was the same old defensive style that dominated the Gary Megson years. It brought us success in the First Division/Championship, but it is the recipe for mediocrity in the Premiership.