The Full on Excuse and Star treatment

[daverichards]

Its a joy to read I tell you ;D

www.expressandstar.com/2008/11/24/stoke-1-albion-0-analysis/

[Stafford-Stokie]

This is my comment that is awaiting moderation.

What a load of rubbish. It was a game where both teams played bad and most of the ooooff ball came from the boggies. We out battled you, out thought you and out played you. Tapping the ball side to side and then back again wil not get you points on the board boys.
May I suggest that Steve Madeley attend the games so that he may write a true assesment of a game. Lazy journalism at its best.
Come on you mighty potters.

Do you think it will make the comments board? ;D

[cousindupree]

What a bizarre report full of contradictions and utter nonsense...and we complain about the sentinel journo's!!!.....Keep your heads in the sand boys and dream you are on copacabana beach!

[Stafford-Stokie]

Haha. Never stayed on there long. Dingle lovin wankers.

[Butters]

The outcome was predictable but Mowbray’s conviction was that the free-flowing style that left his side exposed to the power of the big four would give his players the edge against the Premier League’s more limited sides.

Well the samba football has worked so far for them. ;D

[Lakeland Potter]

I don't think it was too bad a summary. West Brom did make the mistake of trying to outplay us at our own game. Their defence did ok (better than I expected) but their midfield was never going to out-battle us and their powder puff attack needed better service than it got. A series of long balls to Miller as a lone striker is not the natural way for West Brom to play so quite why they decided to play that way is a mystery to me.

OK, the writer overemphasises the "dross" quality of the game but that is just to try to give Mowbray some credibility - some one has to! ;D

[Stafford-Stokie]

This is my fav quote.

In fairness, the Baggies keeper had little more to do than his Stoke counterpart, all of which made for a desperate spectacle in which, for the most part, the only thing less likely than a goal was a Stoke pass inside their own half.

We played better football than the baggies all game (which wasn't hard to be fair). We passed out of defence loads of times and played good football through the mid-field.
Did you not see the football lesson before the Mama headed home you blinkered yam yam wankstain ???

[mcf]

I'm hopeful that my comments will stick.

[raytupper]

Nov 25th, 2008 at 9:36 am Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Lets face it. A bad afternoon all round but stoke were far the better team. We play to our strenghts, direct and creating angles for the wide men to come onto the ball. If anything albion showed there LACK of strength. They have below average players trying to play class football and no quality in any area to show for it.We dont try to be anyone favorate team,we need points and get them in our own way.Keep playing like that and they will be down by February.



My comments awaiting moderation.
Wank stains

[thepremierbanksy]

Not a bad summary really, a couple of swipes at us, but it seems that journalist is losing his faith in Mowbray - it'd be hard not to after 1 point from the last 7 games.

[dexter97]

Chris Leprowski has not been his usual scathing self though...


www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/west-bromwich-albion-fc/west-bromwich-albion-fc-news/2008/11/24/stoke-city-1-west-bromwich-albion-0-97319-22325022/2/

Stoke City 1 West Bromwich Albion 0
Nov 24 2008 By Chris Lepkowski

HAPPY birthday Tony Mowbray. Not quite.

The Albion boss might was born on the day JFK was assasinated but there were to be no 'where were you?' moments prompted by an unlikely Albion victory at Stoke.

It's now 26 years and counting since the Baggies beat the Potters in their own manor.

More worrying than Mamady Sibide's goal was the manner of the loss.

Scott Carson was given plenty of stick by the home fans following last midweek's events in Berlin and his decision to reject Stoke in the summer.

He responded with a good performance.

But what of opposite number Thomas Sorensen? Who knows. He was probably cold, like the rest of us.

Fact is Albion did not test the Stoke keeper once and that is simply unacceptable.

When the Baggies visited Stoke last season you knew that their defeat was a blip - they always lose at Stoke, goals and wins would soon follow and Mowbray's men duly obliged.

But can you see where Albion's next goals are coming from? Or even their next win.

Tony Mowbray is facing the biggest test of his managerial career so far. His efforts last season were outstanding and his visions for the future are empassioned and ambitious. He has a long-term goal which he is determined to see through and one would hope he is granted the chance. But the present is what he will be judged on and, right now, it's not going to plan. But there is only so much any manager, whether it's Mowbray or Mourinho, can do when he's working to the parameters of the division's lowest wage budget and may have little to spend in January.

Mowbray, to his credit, ensured that his team were well-drilled to cope with Rory Delap's throws. The Stoke player was off-form in that respect but Albion also defended it well and, after the break, gave just one throw-in away in their own half. Clearly research had been done.

But Mowbray's men look a shadow of the side of two months ago, let alone last season. There is also little in the form of alternatives - for example, Albion have no players who can add physical presence when needed.

The passing football was still very evident at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday but it lacks substance. It's cosmetic passing, with little urgency and, at times, far too self-indulgent. Unlike last season there is no fizz to Albion's movement with the ball. There is no cutting edge. Bad decisions are being made by individuals in the final third. It's such fine margins which are defining Albion's season. A poor pass is not always punished in the Championship - in the Premier League it can lead to a goal being conceded.

Mowbray, rightly, was mindful of the Stoke threat. But what did Tony Pulis have to worry about?

Ishmael Miller, willing participant that he is, simply lacks the experience and the nous to cope with the demands and a lone striker's responsibilities to his midfield. All too often on Saturday he would mistime his run or make the wrong decision. There is little cohesion between himself and the chasing midfield pack.

Do-Heon Kim was ineffective and has struggled for form since returning from injury. Jon Greening is off the pace and Borja Valero was playing deep, where last week he played further forward and had more influence against what was a more savvy Chelsea side. Chris Brunt started in a central role, perhaps because of his height, but he never got to grips with the game.

Filipe Teixeira was the most useful midfield outlet when he came on and was the only player who was positive enough to run at goal, while others may have been tempted to make an extra sideways pass. He squandered a great chance at the end when he hit a rising shot after opting not to pass to Miller.

The goal came late on and, on reflection, was probably a little harsh on Albion. Michael Tonge and Danny Higginbotham passed their way around Teixeira and the latter planted a left-wing cross for Mamady Sibide to head past Carson. The goal was also harsh on Paul Robinson, who played well but was simply up against a taller player who rose way above the Albion left-back to smash his header into the corner.

Albion find themselves in a rut of defeats while the other strugglers pick up points here or there. The Baggies may still be within a win or two from being in mid-table but soon that points gap will grow.

A win at Wigan wouldn't be a bad start. But they will need to improve as a matter of urgency, before these 'winnable' games are over.

[PotteringThrough]

That initial article is fantastic.

[FullerMagic]

www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/dan-silver/2008/11/25/stoke-s-ugly-win-over-west-brom-was-another-kick-in-the-crown-jewels-for-the-beautiful-game-115875-20923537/


This Mirror article takes the biscuit. If you've got nothing new to add to the debate and clearly were not at the match, why bother?

I suppose the editor was nagging him for a few hundred words? Although why the world needed a contrbution this poorly researched, poorly written and cliched is anyone's guess?

[dexter97]

Nov 25, 2008 13:40:24 GMT FullerMagic said:

Although why the world needed a contrbution this poorly researched, poorly written and cliched is anyone's guess?

The world didn't, FM. However The Mirror have a reputation to maintain.

[Beardy200]

I like how he said Carson had as little to do as Sorenson and then followed that immediately by telling us about the saves he made and what a good game he had ... quality

[PotterLog]

This line is my favourite:

"The manager and his players offered the pitch dimensions and Pulis’s ‘route one’ approach in mitigation as they faced the music for their defeat at the final whistle.

Yet it is difficult to imagine any of the league’s best footballing sides having Stoke’s style imposed on them as Albion did on Saturday."

The fact that we've already beaten Spurs, Villa and Arsenal at home has clearly passed somebody by...

(Not to mention Cheltenham and Rotherham... )

[jpm64]

The Sunday Mirror was great this week..

In the player ratings they had Kitson 5 and Sidebe 4 !!!!!


Then in the team of the week they had Sidebe as one of the strikers !!!


Oh and they had some twat named Olson as man of the match ???

[thepremierbanksy]

Christ that mirror article is possibly the worst thing i've ever read about us, vomit-worthy stuff:

"But let's hope that in doing so [possibly staying up], they don’t set a precedent for substance over style that undermines the very nature of football for ever.

Forever?!?! unbelievable. He also talks about skill, style, beauty. Nothing beautiful whatsoever came from west brom on saturday, their best chance was from robbing our full-back, the rest of it was a fair whack short of even being prick-tease football.

I can read an arguement about aesthetics all day long, but that is proper gutter writing.

[Irish Stokie]

This kind of lazy journalism used to really piss me off but i have to say i laughed my arse off at this one. he keeps saying how bd we were and almost trying to defend Brazil. A joke article but fuck him its 3 points

[NorwichStokie]

Nov 25, 2008 9:27:31 GMT Stafford-Stokie said:

This is my fav quote.

In fairness, the Baggies keeper had little more to do than his Stoke counterpart, all of which made for a desperate spectacle in which, for the most part, the only thing less likely than a goal was a Stoke pass inside their own half.
(

One could argue that the only thing less likely than a goal was a West Brom pass outside their own half!