You might not have been alive the last time West Brom left Villa Park with three points: it was May 11th 1979. In fairness, we’ve only played in the same league 12 seasons since then, which reduces the chances of losing somewhat, but then we also didn’t have to endure Phil Dowd refereeing.
Actually, Dowd may have officiated one of those games for all I know, but I do know that he made us play with 10 men today in some
West Brom come to Villa Park in a fixture we haven’t lost since 1979. Our record from the last 10 times we played the Baggies in the league is six wins and four draws.
Roy Hodgson’s side picked up their second win of the season last weekend, a 2-0 home victory against the hapless Wolves. We’re trying to put a comprehensive loss at the hands of Man City behind us, Alex McLeish threatening to drop any players who put in lacklustre
An all too typical last minute goal from Paul Scharner set up an extremely nervous four added minutes, but it wasn’t enough to cancel out Stewart Downing’s first half opener or what turned out to be the winning goal from Emile Heskey 10 minutes earlier. Not a classic performance, but spirited and determined at times, it’s an important three points, something to build on and hopefully a threshold game.
Houllier made the necessary, but not straightforward decision to drop Richard
I may have spotted a Baggies fan or two playfully suggesting that their team could be responsible for the sacking of two Premier League managers in a week. I don’t think a loss would automatically lead there, but it would increase the pressure on Houllier exponentially. Beyond breaking point? Not quite, but close I’d imagine.
The good news is that this game is at home, all away fixtures leave me with a sense of foreboding these days.
I think we
Who makes the decisions about whether a goal is an own goal or not?? Someone made the wrong call recently and it matters. Fix it!!
Goals from Curtis Davies and Gabby Agbonlahor (or a Scott Carson OG) in the first half was enough for the 3 points, despite a consolation goal from James Morrison early in the second half.
The local derby game returns to Villa Park, can we expect another 5-1 type thrashing?? Well, we’re not exactly firing on all cylinders right now, but we’re still winning. With the fixtures around us it’s another case of the result being more important than the performance.