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Post by felonious on Feb 25, 2016 13:14:56 GMT
I think we will miss out due to injuries and an arrogant January window, where it was possible to predict all of our current defensive woes. We could do it and will be a superb effort to qualify via that route just like Cup Runner up was. Yeah? Yeah I see your point but I don't think we get to play Cardiff reserves, Brighton reserves. Volvohampton Wankerers or falling over the edge of a cliff Bolton in our Premier League run in do we? I'm not going to mention your transfer window comment. If I keep it quiet you wont get laughed at. I'd forgotten Bolton were playing so badly
www.premierleague.com/en-gb/matchday/league-table.html?season=2010-2011&month=APRIL&timelineView=date&toDate=1304118000000&tableView=CURRENT_STANDINGS
You forgot West Ham reserves as well. Oh well I and the 4 others who went along enjoyed the ride. Not so much Cardiff away when the coin hit my lad though.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Feb 25, 2016 13:17:17 GMT
I suppose being outplayed for an hour by under strength Luton and Fulham outfits would have been been brought up by you if we were playing in a final on Sunday wouldn't they. I mean you're so wonderfully consistent like that aren't you I don't recall hailing them as magnificent victories deserving the erection of an Arc De Triomphe in the roadway outside where Woolies used to be in Stoke Town centre to be honest. There are an awful lot of if, buts and probably in there to be fair but as you have a crystal ball that allowed you to see our defensive injury list coming its hard to argue with you. I'm clearly inconsistent ahead of the fact as charged As was posted by many any deadline day night and many like it. 'Any complaints now from inside the club that we haven't met our objectives this season due to injuries can be viewed as completely hollow' Shawcross and Wilson were already out long term. Muniesa cannot be trusted to stay fit, Glen Johnson is in his thirties and the rest of the cover, like Tex and Bardsley simply isn't good enough. Hey ho, I suppose that crippled animal, Villa rolling in to town to potentially see our centre forward playing right back and Jonny Brazil who Fleetwood didn't want at the back is full testament to how far we've come in that area
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Post by senojbor on Feb 25, 2016 13:17:49 GMT
I find it highly if not a little sad that three years after Pulis has left he can generate a 44 pager.
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Post by okeydokeystokie2 on Feb 25, 2016 13:18:18 GMT
Or as a bloke who has made a good living in a ruthless, results orientated business. I actually think he is making a bit of a mess at West Brom. He's made some dubious signings and the football seems to as unentertaining and unproductive as it could be. But if Peace wants a guaranteed £100 million for the next 3 years off the back of the biggest TV deal in history, I guess they'll work something out. Why would he risk that on another appointment? Why did Peter Coates? I think Peter Coates made a brave and ultimately successful decision.
He maybe looked at season ticket sales, the beginnings of discontent from a larger section of our support, took some counsel from his colleagues and decided it was the right time to change. The team had stopped progressing and performances and results were getting worse.
The appointment of Mark Hughes was courageous and not without risk. It's paid off handsomely and all credit to Peter Coates, he's got another massive decision absolutely correct and moved the club forward. Guess that's why he is the multi-billionaire chairman and I waste my time getting drawn into these circular arguments!
I think Coates is a different animal to Peace. Peter Coates is a supporter. He now wants some glory for Stoke City and has the means to help achieve it. With hindsight, I'm not sure he could have made a better appointment for Stoke City. Peace is younger and runs West Brom as more of a business. He will want to keep them in The Prem for the duration of the next TV contract at all costs. Pulis virtually guarantees that. He's tried several managers before him and they've all flirted with relegation.
Would he swap Pulis for say, Pearson? Another headstrong guy without the same guarantee of safety? Maybe it's a case of better the devil you know and take the moolah while its on offer.
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Post by Pugsley on Feb 25, 2016 13:27:26 GMT
I think Peter Coates made a brave and ultimately successful decision.
He maybe looked at season ticket sales, the beginnings of discontent from a larger section of our support, took some counsel from his colleagues and decided it was the right time to change. The team had stopped progressing and performances and results were getting worse.
The appointment of Mark Hughes was courageous and not without risk. It's paid off handsomely and all credit to Peter Coates, he's got another massive decision absolutely correct and moved the club forward. Guess that's why he is the multi-billionaire chairman and I waste my time getting drawn into these circular arguments!
I think Coates is a different animal to Peace. Peter Coates is a supporter. He now wants some glory for Stoke City and has the means to help achieve it. With hindsight, I'm not sure he could have made a better appointment for Stoke City. Peace is younger and runs West Brom as more of a business. He will want to keep them in The Prem for the duration of the next TV contract at all costs. Pulis virtually guarantees that. He's tried several managers before him and they've all flirted with relegation.
Would he swap Pulis for say, Pearson? Another headstrong guy without the same guarantee of safety? Maybe it's a case of better the devil you know and take the moolah while its on offer.
WBA will make more money by winning more games and finishing higher up the table. It has been proved that in order to do this you have to play better football. Just to let you know, the majority of clubs and chairman have expectations and ambitions beyond 40 points.
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Feb 25, 2016 13:34:24 GMT
Okay fair enough. It looks like you are lining up your arguments for May just in case. Nothing like being ahead of the game. Can't fault you. I don't think there's any doubt our qualification for the Europa League came about by the fact that we avoided the two Manchester clubs in the semi-final. People can bitch and whine all they like about that point of view but is it wrong? We were all ecstatic for a reason when we avoided Citeh and and The Shit in the semi-finals and though I'd never try to water down the achievement of reaching the FA Cup Final, that's a fact. Finishing seventh over a grueling 38-game Premier League season would be a notable achievement by Stoke and would probably mean we'd break the 60 point mark and finish above the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton. It wouldn't need the luck of a random ball being drawn out of a bag and though you may argue that it would be by default because bigger, richer clubs have won the cups and qualified for the Champions League, it would be well worthy of a place in the Europa League. With regard to your first sentence I think there has to be doubt about it, because we'll never know what would have happened if the draw had been different. Exactly the same is true every year in the FA Cup - fans can always speculate about what they think might have happened if the draw had been different, but it's only irresolvable speculation. If you get to the final you've done well, whatever the draw. Obviously, nearly everyone preferred Bolton to one of the manc teams in the semis, but in the final we only lost 1-0 to one of those teams with Huth, Etherngton and (during the game) Pennant not fully fit. Who's to say what would have happened if the team which thrashed Bolton 5-0 ( without a set piece in sight, if I recall ? ) had met one of the manc. clubs on that day. I'm certainly not prepared to assume that we would have lost. Finishing 7th would also be a great achievement. Mark Hughes has done a great job in taking us for the first time to a top 10 finish and breaking the 50 point mark, and then repeating it. I think our current and previous managers are both very good managers, as their records prove. I'm pro-Pulis; pro-Hughes and pro-Coates for having the wisdom to appoint them.
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Post by thebet365 on Feb 25, 2016 13:35:58 GMT
Yeah I see your point but I don't think we get to play Cardiff reserves, Brighton reserves. Volvohampton Wankerers or falling over the edge of a cliff Bolton in our Premier League run in do we? I'm not going to mention your transfer window comment. If I keep it quiet you wont get laughed at. Oh and I'll think you'll find the vast majority of people on here think not getting a defender in the window was a mistake. Just the 'swallow absolutely anything since he left' mob who'll seek to defend every single decision of the club these days. Bardsley Johnson Cameron Shawcross Wilson Wolly Muniesa Pieters Tex 3 X Keepers 12 players to cover 5 squad places leaving 13 players to cover the other 6 squad places. The only people moaning about not getting a defender are either those that want to see the back of Wolly or those that have no idea how a squad works and the cost of that squad. Unless there was a top drawer 1st choice CB available in January for a decent price there was no room to bring in a defender. The squad is unbalanced but until a few are shipped out we aren't a big enough club to just not name a player in the 25 man squad but carry on paying him. We did it with tex the 1st half this season but he must be on not much more than a U21's wage.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Feb 25, 2016 14:23:41 GMT
At least we can agree that the squad is imbalanced. There’s a lot of truth in what you say but there also ‘special circumstances’ which were well under way before deadline day. The main thing I know about squads is numbers and before deadline day we knew that SIdwell and Wilson were not going to be part of the 25 that were in the pre Christmas cut and must also have known that van Ginkel would be offloaded if Imbula was coming in so there was plenty of wiggle room if the will to address an obvious deficiency was there.
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Post by okeydokeystokie2 on Feb 25, 2016 15:30:38 GMT
I think Peter Coates made a brave and ultimately successful decision.
He maybe looked at season ticket sales, the beginnings of discontent from a larger section of our support, took some counsel from his colleagues and decided it was the right time to change. The team had stopped progressing and performances and results were getting worse.
The appointment of Mark Hughes was courageous and not without risk. It's paid off handsomely and all credit to Peter Coates, he's got another massive decision absolutely correct and moved the club forward. Guess that's why he is the multi-billionaire chairman and I waste my time getting drawn into these circular arguments!
I think Coates is a different animal to Peace. Peter Coates is a supporter. He now wants some glory for Stoke City and has the means to help achieve it. With hindsight, I'm not sure he could have made a better appointment for Stoke City. Peace is younger and runs West Brom as more of a business. He will want to keep them in The Prem for the duration of the next TV contract at all costs. Pulis virtually guarantees that. He's tried several managers before him and they've all flirted with relegation.
Would he swap Pulis for say, Pearson? Another headstrong guy without the same guarantee of safety? Maybe it's a case of better the devil you know and take the moolah while its on offer.
WBA will make more money by winning more games and finishing higher up the table. It has been proved that in order to do this you have to play better football. Just to let you know, the majority of clubs and chairman have expectations and ambitions beyond 40 points. Maybe so. The extra money for finishing higher is marginal, compared to the catastrophic losses of relegation. If you don't get promoted in the first season, your revenue via parachute payments will be reduced. If you don't make it back before the end of the parachute payments, you're in trouble. Why take the risk? Burnley and Hull could do it this season, but for the last few seasons before that only Norwich of the relegated teams have made it back. Some, like Cardiff, Fulham, Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn, Blackpool and Birmingham now have financial difficulties.
West Brom are a mid table side really. If they get a top ten finish, they've had a terrific season. I genuinely think Coates has greater ambition than Peace in that respect, primarily because he is a supporter at heart.
Same old story really - easy to moan about pretty football when you're in The Prem, but would Leeds or Sheffield United or Wolves be that bothered now?
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Post by FullerMagic on Feb 25, 2016 15:47:23 GMT
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Post by MarkWolstanton on Feb 25, 2016 16:00:40 GMT
I don't recall hailing them as magnificent victories deserving the erection of an Arc De Triomphe in the roadway outside where Woolies used to be in Stoke Town centre to be honest. There are an awful lot of if, buts and probably in there to be fair but as you have a crystal ball that allowed you to see our defensive injury list coming its hard to argue with you. I'm clearly inconsistent ahead of the fact as charged As was posted by many any deadline day night and many like it. 'Any complaints now from inside the club that we haven't met our objectives this season due to injuries can be viewed as completely hollow' Shawcross and Wilson were already out long term. Muniesa cannot be trusted to stay fit, Glen Johnson is in his thirties and the rest of the cover, like Tex and Bardsley simply isn't good enough. Hey ho, I suppose that crippled animal, Villa rolling in to town to potentially see our centre forward playing right back and Jonny Brazil who Fleetwood didn't want at the back is full testament to how far we've come in that area Another transfer window you are proclaiming as a shambles then?
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Post by mumf on Feb 25, 2016 16:03:38 GMT
I hear what you and the link are saying, but I wouldn't write Tony off just yet. A struggling club would inevitably ring him or big Sam if they wanted saving from relegation. He just needs to keep his unblemished record and his future in the top flight is virtually guaranteed.
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Post by okeydokeystokie2 on Feb 25, 2016 16:03:55 GMT
That's an interesting take on it, but I disagree.
The decision makers are the owners/chairmen and they have to take a financial view.
Pulis is nobody's fool. He might well leave West Brom in the summer, but with the massive money available in the Prem, he will have twitchy chairmen courting him with potentially massive financial rewards every November.
He's such a specialist in getting an average group of players organised and to safety, I can't see him working anywhere but the Premier League.
I can see that Swansea or Bournemouth probably wouldn't go for him and I'm not sure he would go to say Newcastle. But if say, Wednesday or Derby get promoted and are struggling, what would you do?
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Post by wuzza on Feb 25, 2016 16:06:40 GMT
Don't really see why the ramblings of an Arsenal supporting non entity should be seen as having any validity whatsoever. Just getting a bit of bile out onto the net as is the way with so many associated with that club.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Feb 25, 2016 16:10:51 GMT
As was posted by many any deadline day night and many like it. 'Any complaints now from inside the club that we haven't met our objectives this season due to injuries can be viewed as completely hollow' Shawcross and Wilson were already out long term. Muniesa cannot be trusted to stay fit, Glen Johnson is in his thirties and the rest of the cover, like Tex and Bardsley simply isn't good enough. Hey ho, I suppose that crippled animal, Villa rolling in to town to potentially see our centre forward playing right back and Jonny Brazil who Fleetwood didn't want at the back is full testament to how far we've come in that area Another transfer window you are proclaiming as a shambles then? More a 'Jam Tomorrow' one I'd say, where everyone involved tells you how brilliant they are at their job and you end up playing your centre forward at right back.
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Post by RAF on Feb 25, 2016 16:17:53 GMT
Another transfer window you are proclaiming as a shambles then? More a 'Jam Tomorrow' one I'd say, where everyone involved tells you how brilliant they are at their job and you end up playing your centre forward at right back. I would have thought you would fucking love that considering your heroes penchant for putting square pegs into round holes. And that was when he didn't have to! H
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Post by sheikhmomo on Feb 25, 2016 16:23:42 GMT
More a 'Jam Tomorrow' one I'd say, where everyone involved tells you how brilliant they are at their job and you end up playing your centre forward at right back. I would have thought you would fucking love that considering your heroes penchant for putting square pegs into round holes. And that was when he didn't have to! H That was Steak and Chips today back then though, not Jam tomorrow
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Post by bayernoatcake on Feb 25, 2016 16:35:20 GMT
We'll never know. He made no secret of the fact he always like pace out wide and liked to get "through the pitch" quickly though. And so what if it was with players he inherited? Hollaway couldn't get then to work, and neither could Colin. He also added Puncheon to that pacey attack. I keep hearing the plodders argument. This is a guy who has signed Puncheon, Fuller, Etherington, Pennant... not all plodders? I know he builds from the back with his cage midfielders, but he does like a bit of pace too. Did he? Until we had Pennant and Ethers we barely had pace on the wings.
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Post by RAF on Feb 25, 2016 16:41:31 GMT
We'll never know. He made no secret of the fact he always like pace out wide and liked to get "through the pitch" quickly though. And so what if it was with players he inherited? Hollaway couldn't get then to work, and neither could Colin. He also added Puncheon to that pacey attack. I keep hearing the plodders argument. This is a guy who has signed Puncheon, Fuller, Etherington, Pennant... not all plodders? I know he builds from the back with his cage midfielders, but he does like a bit of pace too. Did he? Until we had Pennant and Ethers we barely had pace on the wings. Fuck off Bayern, Mama and Shotton were rapid! H ;)
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Post by alster on Feb 25, 2016 16:41:53 GMT
I hear what you and the link are saying, but I wouldn't write Tony off just yet. A struggling club would inevitably ring him or big Sam if they wanted saving from relegation. He just needs to keep his unblemished record and his future in the top flight is virtually guaranteed. I think you're right. I don't think many Premier league chairmen would aspire to have him as their manager at the start of a season but when they were staring down the barrel of relegation, he'd definitely get offers. I just hope it's never us, we've suffered enough.
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Post by RAF on Feb 25, 2016 16:43:35 GMT
I would have thought you would fucking love that considering your heroes penchant for putting square pegs into round holes. And that was when he didn't have to! H That was Steak and Chips today back then though, not Jam tomorrow :) I see, so it's still all about managing expectations, but a little more palatable! Got you now. H :)
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Post by Skankmonkey on Feb 25, 2016 16:46:07 GMT
We'll never know. He made no secret of the fact he always like pace out wide and liked to get "through the pitch" quickly though. And so what if it was with players he inherited? Hollaway couldn't get then to work, and neither could Colin. He also added Puncheon to that pacey attack. I keep hearing the plodders argument. This is a guy who has signed Puncheon, Fuller, Etherington, Pennant... not all plodders? I know he builds from the back with his cage midfielders, but he does like a bit of pace too. Did he? Until we had Pennant and Ethers we barely had pace on the wings. ... or wingers either come to that - Cresswell, Asaba, Greenacre etc... ;-)
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Post by alster on Feb 25, 2016 16:47:48 GMT
That was Steak and Chips today back then though, not Jam tomorrow I see, so it's still all about managing expectations, but a little more palatable! Got you now. H Tasted more like cod liver oil to me!
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Post by bayernoatcake on Feb 25, 2016 16:49:43 GMT
Did he? Until we had Pennant and Ethers we barely had pace on the wings. ... or wingers either come to that - Cresswell, Asaba, Greenacre etc... ;-) Yup! It's a weird thing to say!
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Post by thebet365 on Feb 25, 2016 16:51:29 GMT
Did he? Until we had Pennant and Ethers we barely had pace on the wings. ... or wingers either come to that - Cresswell, Asaba, Greenacre etc... ;-) Where do we put Lawrence ? Chips n Steaklet rather than Chips n Steak. A winger just not the fastest.
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Post by upthefud on Feb 25, 2016 16:56:43 GMT
I hear what you and the link are saying, but I wouldn't write Tony off just yet. A struggling club would inevitably ring him or big Sam if they wanted saving from relegation. He just needs to keep his unblemished record and his future in the top flight is virtually guaranteed. I think you're right. I don't think many Premier league chairmen would aspire to have him as their manager at the start of a season but when they were staring down the barrel of relegation, he'd definitely get offers. I just hope it's never us, we've suffered enough. To use the term "suffered enough" considering our position before Pulis started compared to where he finished is frankly embarrassing. We suffered enough getting battered by teams like Wrexham and Bristol Rovers, not watching a style that got us back on the map.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Feb 25, 2016 16:59:03 GMT
... or wingers either come to that - Cresswell, Asaba, Greenacre etc... ;-) Where do we put Lawrence ? Chips n Steaklet rather than Chips n Steak. A winger just not the fastest. Pace was specifically mentioned. About the only one I can think of before the Premier League is Lee Martin and he barely used him, there will be more no doubt.
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Post by alster on Feb 25, 2016 16:59:04 GMT
I think you're right. I don't think many Premier league chairmen would aspire to have him as their manager at the start of a season but when they were staring down the barrel of relegation, he'd definitely get offers. I just hope it's never us, we've suffered enough. To use the term "suffered enough" considering our position before Pulis started compared to where he finished is frankly embarrassing. We suffered enough getting battered by teams like Wrexham and Bristol Rovers, not watching a style that got us back on the map. Almost a decade of watching that tripe is enough for anyone regardless of where it got us.
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Post by alster on Feb 25, 2016 17:04:29 GMT
... or wingers either come to that - Cresswell, Asaba, Greenacre etc... ;-) Where do we put Lawrence ? Chips n Steaklet rather than Chips n Steak. A winger just not the fastest. I think Liam was more chips & dogger kebab. He'd fall over himself for a spit roast.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Feb 25, 2016 17:04:41 GMT
That was Steak and Chips today back then though, not Jam tomorrow I see, so it's still all about managing expectations, H Indeed. Plus ça change as the Eskimos say.
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