Back from the game - West Brom FA Cup

[brendywendy]

Come on here after a great game,great result,great performance,great goal. And every thread is picking on miniscule negatives, slagging players off. Typical.
Very impressed with what bmcd is doing here. Improving players all the time, and the team as a whole. Cummings,federici. Long,karacan,kebe,pearce all added extra dimensions to their games since last year,and become good players. The sensible addition of steel and experience with griffin,harte, kish, legs, all effective. Addition of bwp and one other on the horizon.
Things are looking very good indeed imo.

[Woodcote Royal]

Delighted to witness a second game in succession and surprised to find my season ticket seat still unsold at 11.00am this morning

I have to say, though, I don't think this result came as that much of a surprise; Top half Championship side with home advantage defeats weakened, struggliing Prem outfit for whom top flight survival has to be the priority.

For us, today signalled not just the chance of another cup run but also further evidence of a team hitting top form with perfect timing as we enter the last half of the season. Long and Leigertwood picked up from where they left off against Burnley and no one played better than Cummings, who showed he was perhaps a little unlucky to have been dropped immediately upon Griffins return from injury.

I believe 4-4-2 is only feasible these days with 2 tough tackling, hard working central midfielders and Jem & Leigertwood more than look the part.

The only downsides for me were yet another unconvincing performance from Noel Hunt and the frighteningly slow Harte.

It's no longer a case of replacing the "useless" Long but finding someone to cover for him should he be injured or, God help us, sold.

Our left back has been an excellent player in his time but is clearly reaching the point where experience can no longer compensate for an increasing lack of mobility.

If a delve into the transfer market is not an option and Armstrong can't step up to the plate,we'll have to send Mr Angry down from the Upper West because, on current evidence he might just show Mr Harte a clean pair of heels

[Snowball]

Come on here after a great game,great result,great performance,great goal. And every thread is picking on miniscule negatives, slagging players off. Typical.
Very impressed with what bmcd is doing here. Improving players all the time, and the team as a whole. Cummings,federici. Long,karacan,kebe,pearce all added extra dimensions to their games since last year,and become good players. The sensible addition of steel and experience with griffin,harte, kish, legs, all effective. Addition of bwp and one other on the horizon.
Things are looking very good indeed imo.

Well said, Wendy.

And it's not just this thread.

I came on expecting some joyous posts and the list read like we'd just lost 0-4 at home
(and they are still arguing about where the money's gone!)

[The whole year inn]

all that for about three quarters of Roonies weekly wage

throw in the gate receipts too then

[Arch]

Addition of bwp and one other on the horizon.
Things are looking very good indeed imo.

I'm inclined to agree with those who think the "one other" is likely to be Leigertwood. Not to be sniffed at, of course, but I wouldn't expect anyone but BWP to be a new arrival.

[paultheroyal]

Come on here after a great game,great result,great performance,great goal. And every thread is picking on miniscule negatives, slagging players off. Typical.
Very impressed with what bmcd is doing here. Improving players all the time, and the team as a whole. Cummings,federici. Long,karacan,kebe,pearce all added extra dimensions to their games since last year,and become good players. The sensible addition of steel and experience with griffin,harte, kish, legs, all effective. Addition of bwp and one other on the horizon.
Things are looking very good indeed imo.

Excellent post.

[The Glory Days :(]

Waitrose 1
Tescos 0

We pissed it, nuff said.

Thought the atmosphere was good, fair play to Y25, would have been dire if the fat bloke hadn't turned up though

Yeahh and his missus ! :L mad banter for her ... she got rinsed

[AndyRFC]

I would struggle to award a team performance of more than 6/10 to be fair. Some absoultely turgid football offered, by both sides.

All it was in the second half was hoof and chase up the field and wait for the Albion to lose possession again. Against a striker who could finish a dinner we would be sitting here tonight lambasting the performance.

I dont know how Mills get such a high rating today, his positioning on more than once was abject, and non-existing. Fortunately the most-impressive Pearce got him out of his holes. Well done to Shaun Cummings aswell (beleive its the first time i've seen him play this season) but well done to the lad.

No quarms with the strikers, some of the balls from the midfield left a lot to be desired, some good catching practice for my favourite opposition goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill.

[The Glory Days :(]

I would struggle to award a team performance of more than 6/10 to be fair. Some absoultely turgid football offered, by both sides.

All it was in the second half was hoof and chase up the field and wait for the Albion to lose possession again. Against a striker who could finish a dinner we would be sitting here tonight lambasting the performance.

I dont know how Mills get such a high rating today, his positioning on more than once was abject, and non-existing. Fortunately the most-impressive Pearce got him out of his holes. Well done to Shaun Cummings aswell (beleive its the first time i've seen him play this season) but well done to the lad.

No quarms with the strikers, some of the balls from the midfield left a lot to be desired, some good catching practice for my favourite opposition goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill.

Were you watching a different game? Jem cleaned up everything that Leigertwood (rarely) gave away, so great composed play from Leigertwood doing the simple things well not really making mistakes, granted the "oh my god thats bad" jimmy turned up but even he got involved with some defending! Jesus why is there all hate on a game when we battered a prem side?

[Rex]

Come on here after a great game,great result,great performance,great goal. And every thread is picking on miniscule negatives, slagging players off. Typical.
Very impressed with what bmcd is doing here. Improving players all the time, and the team as a whole. Cummings,federici. Long,karacan,kebe,pearce all added extra dimensions to their games since last year,and become good players. The sensible addition of steel and experience with griffin,harte, kish, legs, all effective. Addition of bwp and one other on the horizon.
Things are looking very good indeed imo.

Well said, Wendy.

And it's not just this thread.

I came on expecting some joyous posts and the list read like we'd just lost 0-4 at home
(and they are still arguing about where the money's gone!)

I will second, third and maybe fifth that emotion.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

doesn't seem to be mentioned here, and in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter, but I was pretty annoyed at the "drop ball" in the 2nd half for the injury to their keeper.

The ref blows the whistle with the ball near the dug-outs, then awards the drop ball, unopposed, to their goalkeeper in his penalty box. Then was quite happy for him, rather than give the ball back, as you'd expect, to just play on and mount an attack - from which they hit the crossbar.


As for the game, we weren't brilliant, but didn't need to be because West Brom were crap. The looked like a weak championship side, and it reminded me of the game v Burnley last year, albeit with a rather earlier goal.

[Snowball]

I'd forgotten the sweet cross, VG header by Hunt and excellent save from the WBA keeper

[Barry the bird boggler]

I'm sure the Harte incident was all down to McAnuff just like Harte's display last week was down to him.

Then I suggest that you get your eyes tested. McAnuff had absolutely nothing to do with Harte allowing himself to be turned completely inside out! With any luck the incident will be shown on the TV tonight and you will be able to see.

Not with ITV it won't

[floyd__streete]

There should be a feeling of joy and excitement that we have beaten a Premier League side in the Cup, yet all I feel is relief that we have narrowly edged a midtable Championship side, because that WBA performance yesterday stank the place out. It was a very subdued WBA all told actually; a more than respectable turn out of their supporters, who were in the least boisterous mood I can ever remember from their lot, they didn't get one chant of The Lord Is My Shepherd started in anger. I can recall some even poorer WBA sides of the early and mid-nineties bringing a rabid flock of followes to Elm Park, but their travelling support yesterday was as meek and as mild as their team. Yet Eddie Newton (WBA assistant manager, who really seems to put the ass into assistant) somehow thinks they dominated? I can't recall Federici getting his gloves dirty once.

Good first half performance, but we really made a pigs-ear of it against 10 men by giving the ball away to WBA as if it was going out of fashion. Long performed well again and Pearce was imperious.....and he had to be given that his partner in the centre of defence was yet again a complete liability at times, not for the first time I was left wondering which one of the two really is the two million pound player. Noel Hunt's performance just served to remind how limited our options in the striking department are - he was awful, welcome to the club Bradley WP. Great to make progress again, deserved victory in an ultimately poor game of football against disinterested, dispirited relegation certs.

[West Stand Man]

I would struggle to award a team performance of more than 6/10 to be fair. Some absoultely turgid football offered, by both sides.

All it was in the second half was hoof and chase up the field and wait for the Albion to lose possession again. Against a striker who could finish a dinner we would be sitting here tonight lambasting the performance.

I dont know how Mills get such a high rating today, his positioning on more than once was abject, and non-existing. Fortunately the most-impressive Pearce got him out of his holes. Well done to Shaun Cummings aswell (beleive its the first time i've seen him play this season) but well done to the lad.

No quarms with the strikers, some of the balls from the midfield left a lot to be desired, some good catching practice for my favourite opposition goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill.

You are Brendan Rogers and I claim my £5.

[RoyalBlue]

IMO he played extremely well going forward, and in a trio with McAnuff and a-n-other (mostly Elwood)
they kept possession and opened up WBA time and time again. They also bought time.

But he's meant to be a left back god's sake! His defending was again below the standard we require if we're serious about trying to get promoted.

McDermott had a slight dig at Cummings, who we agree had a great game defensively, because of the piece of attacking skill he showed in the first half 'but that's for wingers not right backs'. Given that, McDermott clearly views the defensive performance as paramount, so Harte's performance going forward should not be allowed to paper over his defensive weaknesses.

Remind me of the score, again? RFC 1-0 WBA

Remind me how many we have let in in Harte's last 8 games (5) versus Watford, Leeds, Coventry, Derby, Hull, Swansea, Burnley & WBA

You don't get that many clean sheets and single-goals conceded if your defence is poor.

As others have pointed out, those results have been achieved because Harte has been supported/carried by other players in the team. I note you choose not to comment on how he should have conceded a penalty and earned himself a red card today because of another poor piece of defending.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Ian Harte obviously splits opinion here.

He's far too slow for me. Regardless of whether he closes them down early or uses his experience to deal with them, against the majority of fast wingers he is below standard. His set-piece delivery is vital, but he is poor defensively.

[RoyalBlue]

Ian Harte obviously splits opinion here.

He's far too slow for me. Regardless of whether he closes them down early or uses his experience to deal with them, against the majority of fast wingers he is below standard. His set-piece delivery is vital, but he is poor defensively.

His set piece delivery is important and, presumably, one of the main reasons we went for him. However, it has not been that good in the majority of games.

[working class hero]

A tale of 3 Irishmen.
One maintained his brilliant recent form,scored one and caused all sorts of problems to their makeshift defence.
The other two Irishmen were dreadful.
The rest of the team all played well and I am really pleased that the manager played what is probably our strongest side apart from Griffin for Cummings and Armstrong for Harte although today Griffin wasn't missed.
I asked the question about Armstrong's fitness the other day but nobody seems to know.
I can only think he must be injured as Harte gets worse every game and even his free-kicks have become poor.

You are wrong and Snowball says it so it must be true.....

[bcubed]

Come on here after a great game,great result,great performance,great goal. And every thread is picking on miniscule negatives, slagging players off. Typical.
Very impressed with what bmcd is doing here. Improving players all the time, and the team as a whole. Cummings,federici. Long,karacan,kebe,pearce all added extra dimensions to their games since last year,and become good players. The sensible addition of steel and experience with griffin,harte, kish, legs, all effective. Addition of bwp and one other on the horizon.
Things are looking very good indeed imo.

Sort of agree but I found that most points made are not that miniscule. Yes the win was well deserved but surely it shouldn't hide what are some real concerns

Mills Harte and Hunt were all poor and against other better (more motivated) teams we would not have got away with this performance