Sunday, Sep 2, 2001
West Brom have agreed a fee of £600,000 plus another £150,000 after a certain amount of appearances with Pompey. Moore has been Gary Megson's number 1 target all summer though it seemed highly unlikely that he would move after Pompey repeatedly put up the "Not for Sale" signs. However Pompey had a change of heart and agreed a fee with The Baggies. The only problems now are to sort out personal details and a pay off from the Pompey end. So the deal is far from done.
APOLOGIES FOR THE LACK OF NEWS AND UPDATES SINCE THE WALSALL DEFEAT BUT WE HAD TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. HOPEFULLY NORMAL SERVICE IS RESUMED.
Saturday, Aug 11, 2001
Walsall
.2.(Leitao, Barras) West Brom .1,(Clement)
Friday, Aug 10, 2001
Saddlers V Baggies
Preview, prediction and betting tips, plus more tips for the weekend from the
Advocate, our weekly tipster. Click Here
Thursday, Aug 9, 2001
Well, it eventually happened. Baggies idol Lee Hughes left his so called beloved club. The self proclaimed Baggies fan didn't however leave for the bright lights of the Premiership after all his previous comments of how he wanted to play in the Premiership preferably with the Baggies. It looks as though in the end Hughesy left the Baggies for the money. Having previously rejected 5,4,3,2 & 1 year contracts he joined Coventry City to more than double his money. Coventry City offered £5,000,001 which was rejected by the Baggies but eventually reluctantly accepted due to a clause in Hughesy's contract allowing him to leave if a club offered more than £5 million for him. You can't help thinking that Hughesy doesn't really know what he has done and how he has turned his back on the fans that loved him for a club that doesn't have much of a better chance for promotion than the Baggies. I fear that Lee Hughes will not realise what he has done until November 10th when he steps out at the Hawthorns in a sky Blue shirt.
A Baggies fan?
Saturday, Aug 4, 2001
West Brom .0.
Sunderland .3. (Schwarz [2], Haas)
Baggies started off with a string of chances and should maybe have gone in at half time 2 or even 3 goals up. Lee Hughes was the main thorn in the side of the black cats defence with 5 gult edged chances that all went a begging either due to good saves or poor finishing. Yet for the second game running it was the opposition who went in at half time a goal up with a strike from Schwarz. Second half was a different story with Sunderland proving the dominant side and confirmed that with 2 goals from Haas and Schwarz again.
Friday, Aug 5, 2001
Gilbert Prilasnig has joined the Baggies on trial from Austrian side Sturm Graz, Prilasnig plays at left wing back and has also represented his country. He even scored two goals against Glasgow Rangers in the Champions League last year.
Gilbert Prilasnig
Wednesday, Aug 1, 2001
West Brom .0.
Athletic Bilbao .2. (Exteberria, Guerrero)
A poor result from a Baggies side that were never really at the races against the top flight Spanish side. The game was a non event until Bob Taylor' scorching shot that bounced off the post midway through the first half and didn't get much better after that. Exteberria scored just before half time with Bilbao's first main attack. Second half wasn't much better but was controlled by the fluent passing Spaniards who increased there lead through Guerrero. Much improvement needed here.
Saturday, July 28, 2001
Kidderminster
Harriers .2.(Ducros, Bird) West Brom .1. (Appleton)
The Baggies lost for the first time in their pre season friendlies with a 2-1 defeat at 3rd Division Kiddy Harriers. Once again the games are used for fitness and you shouldn't take to much into the scoreline but I doubt that Gary Megson would have been happy as he is a winner no matter what the level. Albion never really looked comfortable at the back and went behind to a Ducros goal but pulled level through Michael Appleton befor Tony Bird won the game for the Harriers in the second half.
Michael Appleton
Just after the disappointment of finding out that Lee Hughes has been put up for sale then you find out that Jason Roberts is out for 6 weeks with a broken toe. At best we will be looking at him returning for the Home tie with Manchester City on September 8th but it could be even longer before he returns.
Jason Roberts
Friday, July 27, 2001
WBA FC LTD PRESS RELEASE
West Bromwich Albion Football Club is disappointed to announce that despite several weeks of strenuous efforts, the club has been unable to persuade Lee Hughes to sign a new contract.
Chairman Paul Thompson said today that the club has offered Lee a new contract which would have made him the highest paid player in the history of the club. Unfortunately, that contract has been rejected by Lee and his advisors, and the club has therefore had to accept that we will be unable to agree a new contract at the present time, and Mr Thompson has expressed his bitter disappointment at this outcome.
Lee Hughes has one year remaining on his current contract and though we would expect him to start the new season at West Bromwich Albion, we have to accept the realities of the situation, which mean that Lee could leave the club at the end of the season without the club receiving any transfer fee.
As a consequence, the club has confirmed that it will give serious consideration to any substantial offer which we receive for Lee Hughes.
Wednesday, July 25, 2001
Cheltenham
Town .1.(Milton) West Brom .2.(Hughes{2})
A less than convincing Baggies side beat Division Three side Cheltenham in another good workout for the Baggies squad. Lee Hughes grabbed both the goals and sandwiched a stunning goal by Russell Milton. Baggies fielded Senegal born trialist Mamadou Seck in defence who didn't look out of place. Also playing was Warren Cummings after completing his move to the Baggies in a 1 year loan deal. 730 Baggies fans cheered the team on and continued the Baggies impressive away following.
Mamadou Seck Warren Cummings
Tuesday, July 24, 2001
The Baggies
travel to Whaddon Road for the 1st time on Wednesday for their first pre season
friendly in England after their tour of Denmark to face Cheltenham Town.
Admission is £5 Adults and £3 Juniors with Under 14's at just £1. Baggies
Travel are only taking 1 coach but we expect quite a few Baggies to be there as
this is the first time many Baggies will have had chance to add Whaddon Road to
their list of grounds visited.
Baggies V Bilbao
tickets have gone on sale for the 1st August Clash at the Hawthorns with Adult
tickets at £10 and Junior/Concessions at £5.
Baggies V
Sunderland tickets have gone on sale for the 4th August Clash at the Hawthorns
with Adult tickets at £10 and Junior/Concessions at £5.
Monday, July 23, 2001
Hvidovre .1.(Neilsen)
West Brom .1. (Dobie)
Scott Dobie once again showed why the Baggies have signed the former Carlisle star with another decent performance capped by a 25 yard goal. Hvidovre got an equaliser late on but Baggies kept their unbeaten form in Denmark intact in a game they should have won.
Baggies have been
allocated just 1,900 tickets for the visit to the Bescot Stadium for the 1st
game of the season on August 11th. For
full Ticket Details Click Here.
Saturday, July 21, 2001
Harderslev .0.
West Brom .1.(Roberts)
West Brom continued there impressive winning streak on their pre season tour of Denmark with a 1-0 victory against recently relegated Danish Division 1 side Harderslev. Jason Roberts scored his 2nd goal in as many games and he looked very sharp although guilty of missing numerous chances before eventually giving the Baggies victory. This was Baggies toughest test of the tour and they came through it well. Albion started off with Adamson in goal, Butler, Siggy and Gilchrist in defence with Clemmo and Lyttle as wing backs. In midfield it was the obvious 3 of Fox, McInnes and Appleton who incidently was sent off in the dying minutes for a second yellow card which seems a bit harsh for a friendly. Up front it was Taylor replacing the injured Hughes alongside scorer Roberts. Baggies made just 3 changes and moved to 4-4-2 in the second half before eventually scoring the winner. Quinn, Adam Chambers and Dobie came on for Siggy, Fox and Dobie.
West Brom have been linked with moves for 2 big towering central defenders, Danny Shittu of Charlton Athletic and Jason De Vos of Dundee United. Take a gander in the rumour mill for a more detailed look.
The Baggies have announced that they have broken all records in season ticket sales and have so far sold over 12,500 tickets which is up 31% on last season with more sales expected between now and 18th August when we play our first home game against Grimsby Town.
There are only approximately 100 Away Season Tickets left, so if you haven't already purchased one then you need to get a move on. Away Season Tickets holders get first chance to buy tickets for Away games with £5 taken off the price of each ticket.
The game at St
Andrews against Birmingham City scheduled for Saturday 6th October has been put
back 24 hours to Sunday 7th October after the Blues fans voted on their official
site because the original game fell on the same day that England play.
Max Iezzi has had a request to the club that his contract be terminated to help him move to another club rejected by the Baggies. Two teams from Italy are both interested in the 20 year old who joined the Baggies at the same time as Enzo Maresca has yet to play in the first team.
Max Iezzi
Thursday, July 19, 2001
Slagelse
.1.(Nielsen) West Brom .3. (Fox, Taylor & Roberts(Pen))
Baggies continued there good form in Denmark with a 3-1 victory against Danish 3rd Division side Slagelse. Ruel Fox made his first appearance of the tour and scored the opening goal. The only bad thing about the game was a thigh injury to Hughesy who limped off after 36 minutes.
Tuesday, July 17, 2001
Greve .1. (Frandsen)
West Brom .6. (Clement, Hughes, Dobie, A.Chambers, Quinn(Pen), Taylor)
Baggies brushed passed Danish Amateur side Greve with a 6-1 thrashing. The most pleasing things about the game were the return of Captain Fantastic Derek McInnes from a long term new injury and the debut of Scott Dobie who managed to get on the scoresheet.
Scott Dobie Derek McInnes
Monday, July 16, 2001
The Baggies travel out to Denmark today for a 4 game tour. There are 19 players going with a few regular squad members and youth players left behind. The most notable of the absentees are Brian Jensen who is injured, Russell Hoult who's wife is expecting twins, Adam Oliver who is unfit and Warren Cummings who is on tour with Chelsea before his year long loan move. For a full list of friendlies and fixtures follow this link. WBA SCHEDULE 2001/2
Gary Megson has been linked with a number of players over the close season and a few more were added just this last week. They include Middlesbrough's Dean Gordon and Everton's young star Kevin McLeod. For all the latest rumours go to the Rumour Mill.
Kevin McLeod
Tuesday, July 10, 2001
Gary Megson has completed his first signing of the summer with Scott Dobie joining from Carlisle United. The player has cost £125, 000 with £25,000 more after 25 appearances.
Friday, July 5, 2001
The Baggies will this weekend try to conclude the signing of Carlisle United's highly rated 22 year old striker Scott Dobie in an estimated £150,000 deal. He is tall strong with lot's of pace and aerial power. Dobie scored 12 goals last season in what was a struggling Cumbrians side. Dobie is an extra option in the striking department who can score goals with his head.
Warren Cummings has joined the Baggies on a season long loan from Chelsea after signing a new 3 year contract with the London Club. Cummings was at the albion on loan at the end of last season.
Warren Cummings
Wednesday, July 4, 2001
The Baggies home game with Nottingham Forest scheduled for Saturday 3rd November has been put back 24 hours to Sunday 4th November for live TV coverage on terrestrial television. Another game to be moved is the trip down to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace which was originally scheduled for Tuesday 30th October has been moved back 24 hours to Wednesday 31st October.
An enquiry for Bristol City's Aaron Brown has been turned down whilst rumours suggest the former Baggies Loanee Warren Cummings could be joining on a year long loan from Chelsea. Full Details in the Rumour Mill.
Saturday, June 30, 2001
The Rumour Mill is a new section added to Westbromalbion.co.uk, it will enable you to keep upto date with all the latest rumours of players coming to the Hawthorns and of Baggies players being linked elsewhere. Rumour Mill
The results of the last 2 polls are up for everyone to see. The polls were "Do you like the new Away Strip" and "With Megson saying the Left back/midfielder is top of his shopping list, which is the next area that most needs boosting?". Take a look at the 2 polls and the way you voted by following this link. Polls Page
The following games have all had their dates changed either for Live TV coverage or on Police advice. For Albion's Full 2001/2 Fixture List Click Here.
Cambridge United
Away Worthington Cup tie has been moved from Tuesday August 21st to Wednesday
August 22nd for TV coverage.
The
Millwall Home League game has been moved forward from Saturday October 13th to
Thursday October 11th also for Live TV coverage.
The Norwich City
Away League game has been moved forward from Saturday October 19th to Friday
October 18th also for Live TV coverage. What a nightmare trip that is for a
night match.
The Wolves Away
League game scheduled for Saturday 1st December has been put back a day to
Sunday 2nd December on Police Advice.
Craig Shakespeare has joined the Baggies backroom staff on the same day that Richard O'Kelly left the club. Shakey who was a former player back in the early nineties joins as Youth/Schoolboy Liaison and recruitment officer and will work with newly recruited Youth Team Coach Alan Crawford from Blackpool.
Daryl Burgess who was released at the end of the season by Gary Megson has joined up with Kevin Wilson at Northampton Town on a free transfer.
Daryl Burgess
Thursday, June 21, 2001
The Baggies will start off their new campaign with an away trip to Walsall on August 11th. Other fixtures of interest or Wolves at Home on October 23rd and Away on December 1st. We play B(lose) at St Andrews on the 6th October with the return game at the Hawthorns on the 29th January. We play Walsall at Home the previous league game on the 19th January. For Albion's Full 2001/2 Fixture List Click Here.
Wednesday, June 20, 2001
Baggies have
been drawn away to Cambridge United in the revamped Worthington Cup. The
competition was previously a two legged affair but was changed to just a one off
cup tie after the amount of games that teams were having to play in a season
were considered too many. The game will be played on Tuesday August 21st with a
7:45 Kick Off.
Farewell to a Legend, Ronnie Allen was buried today after his death at the age of 72. The funeral precession passed by the Hawthorns where between 200 - 300 fans had gathered to pay their respects. Ronnie will be sadly missed, RIP.
West Brom have appointed Alan Crawford as our new Youth team coach. Alan joins after leaving the same position at Blackpool after bringing some good youngsters through to the first team. It looks almost certain that Richard O'Kelly will be leaving the Hawthorns in view of this appointment but no official word has come from the club as yet.
Monday, June 11, 2001
Former Baggies Legend Ronnie Allen has died at the age of 72. Ronnie who played 415 times for the Baggies in which he scored 208 Goals after joining the Baggies from Port Vale for £20,000 in March 1950 died in a nursing home on Saturday morning. Ronnie Allen was most famous for his two goals in the 1954 FA Cup Final victory against Preston , he was a brilliant footballer who was successfully converted from a speedy outside-right into a goalscoring centre-forward of the highest calibre. Indirectly, West Bromwich Albion manager Jack Smith was the man responsible for switching Allen from the wing - doing so during the 1951-52 season on the recommendation of ex-team captain and director Tommy Glidden and centre-half Jack Vernon Allen left the Baggies in May 1961 for Crystal Palace and went on to manage the Baggies later in his career aswell as managing local rivals Walsall and Wolves before hand.
Saturday, June 9, 2001
The
New Baggies Away Shirt
Monday, June 4, 2001
A new Multimedia section has been added to this site. It includes backgrounds, Screensavers, Sound Clips and Misc Pics. With Video Clips to come soon. Click on the link to take a look. Multimedia Page
Wednesday, May 30, 2001
Lots of photo's added to the past players section under photo's. For a quick link try here More Past Players
Work on Albion's new training ground will begin this week after a delay of almost three months. The ambitious project, which is expected to set the club back more than £2m, should have started in March but was postponed because of poor weather. It will include eight football pitches and dressing room facilities on a 46 acre site at Aston University close to junction seven on the M6.
Sunday, May 27, 2001
The latest poll is up and running and this time we want to know what area of the pitch you would like strengthening in the summer? We already know that Megson's top target is a left wingback so we've taken that out of the equation. Incidently we ran a similar poll in December and at the time you thought we needed a keeper, defensive midfielder and left wing back in that order and Megson went out and promptly brought the first two in Russell Hoult and Michael Appleton. See the results of that poll below. Also, take a look at the previous 3 polls and the way you voted by following this link. Polls Page
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| Archived on: December 24, 2000 |
1.)
Goalkeeper
2.)
Central Defender
3.)
Left Wingback
4.)
Right Wingback
5.)
Defensive Midfielder
6.)
Attacking Midfielder
7.)
Centre Forward
Westbromalbion's Player of the Season is Neil Clement. Westbromalbion has only been up and running since mid November so all totals were from that date onwards. Clement who has been a revelation since his £150,000 move from Chelsea in the Summer won the award after pipping a few of the new arrivals in Appleton and Hoult. For a full table of games played, points totals and overall averages follow this link Player of the Year
Saturday, May26, 2001
Season Ticket Prices have been announced earlier this week. Check the Ticket news
page for full details.
Wednesday, May 23, 2001
List of Pre-season Friendly's :-
17th July -
Greve in Denmark
19th July -
Slagelse
in Denmark
21st July -
Harderslev in Denmark
23rd July -
Hvidovre
in Denmark
25th July
- Cheltenham Town Away
28th July -
Kidderminster Harriers Away
1st August -
Athletic Bilbao at Home for the opening of the East Stand
4th August
- Sunderland at Home
West Brom have already been linked with numerous players as Gary Megson will try and strenghten his side before the start of the new season. The latest player to be linked with a move to the Hawthorns is Brentford's highly rated Midfielder Martin Rowlands. Other players that have been linked with the Baggies include Port Vale pair Bridge-Wilkinson and Alex Smith, Portsmouth's Darren Moore, QPR's Richard Langley and many more. Only Megson knows who he really wants and he won't be telling anyone.
Martin Rowlands Darren Moore
Mark Briggs has joined Elliot Morris in signing a new contract with the club. Neither player has yet to make a first team appearance and Megson is hoping that both players will fulfill their promise.
Mark Briggs
Monday, May 21, 2001
West Brom have released Matt Carbon, Daryl Burgess, Richard Sneekes & Jason Van Blerk on free transfers and given Elliot Morris a new 1 year deal. This will clear down the wage bill and give Megson greater bargaining powers in the hunt for new signings. Megson has confirmed he is after a left sided defender/midfielder but will not confirm what other areas he is looking to strengthen.
Released
Van Blerk Burgess Carbon Sneekes
New Contract
Morris
Some new interesting Lookalikes have been added. Go take a look! It's Blues players Martin O'Connor and "Budgie" Burrows and BBC analyst Alan Hansen. If you think that two people look alike then email us with your suggestions.
Friday, May 18, 2001
I think that most Baggies will agree that they feel totally gutted after getting knocked out of the Play Off's after a defeat at the Reebok Stadium yesterday but I also think that most fans will be brimming with pride in the way that we got behind the lads at Bolton. "The Lord's My Shephard, I'll Not Want..............", "Boing Boing", "When the stripes go marching in" and "It's West Bromwich Albion, West Bromwich Albion FC, we are by far the greatest team the world has ever seen" Drowned out the celebrations of the Bolton fans at the final whistle. Anyone walking into the ground at the final whistle would have thought that we had just won. Jason Roberts said after the game "The support was just unbelievable, I'm just sorry we let them down, our best wasn't good enough in the end." Well Done Lads! PROUD TO BE A BAGGIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Upset - but this wasn't the way we supported the team
Gary Megson was unhappy by the way we defended against Bolton and especially how we conceded the first goal. "We must be into double figures for the season for goals conceded from set pieces. We work hard in training on these things, but players lose concentration. When you do it in a game of this stature, a big match where there is a lot at stake, you are giving a freebie to your opponents. But it is one of a number of things we have got to improve on if we are to be more successful in the future," added the Albion boss. We did threaten Bolton but, in the first half, only about six of my players made a contribution to the game. On Sunday at the Hawthorns every man played well and that is why it is so disappointing. We had a few men at the Reebok who just did not put enough into the game. We did look threatening, but, when you give away daft goals, it makes all the difference."
Megson wants to continue the form of this season into next and hopefully onto Automatcc promotion. "The trick now is trying to improve on our sixth position," said Megson. "There have been teams who have been in the play-offs and then struggled the following season. Then there are other teams who have continued to be around. Hopefully we will be one of those. We have to make sure we do things right, and better, next time. We let down the fans who travelled to Bolton . But, over the year, we have had the best season this club has had for 15 years. We have had our best finish for 15 years and that has got to be good. What we have to do now is go away and lick our wounds and then make plans to do even better next year."
Thursday, May 17, 2001
Bolton
Match ReportMonday, May 14, 2001
West Brom manager Gary Megson refused to be too downhearted despite seeing his side surrender a two-goal lead in their play-off semi final first leg against Bolton. Albion had established a deserved advantage through goals from Jason Roberts and Lee Hughes, before Gudni Bergsson and Per Frandsen struck late on to blow the tie wide open. But Megson is confident his side have the capabilities to pull off a surprise success at the Reebok Stadium, where they were 1-0 winners earlier in the season. Megson said: "For 80 minutes that was probably our best performance of the season. Then one or two of the players started doing things that weren't in the script. With ten minutes to go Adam Chambers had the ball on the edge of their penalty area and instead of passing and keeping the ball moving he tried a dribble and lost possession. They came up the other end and straight away the ball was in our net. But we've showed that we can play against the third best team in our division. If you'd have said to me that we'd be going up there with a 2-2 draw then I'd have taken it, and now we know that we can cause them problems and we know a bit more how to stop them causing us problems. Hughes and Frandsen both scored from the penalty spot after clumsy challenges from Colin Hendry and Phil Gilchrist respectively, and Megson was in no doubt that referee David Laws was right to award both spot kicks. From my view they were both penalties. Jason Roberts has got around Hendry and it's not the most elegant challenge, and he's brought him down. Then Bo Hansen was getting away and Gillie's (Gilchrist) dived in and caught him, so there's no complaint."
Sunday, May 13, 2001
Wednesday, May 9, 2001
Bolton
have sold their full allocation of 2,300 tickets for the clash at the Hawthorns.
For details about home tickets for the game follow the ticket
news link.
Bolton Wanderers are favourites for the First
Division playoffs as the season draws to a close. Sam
Allardyce's side finished third behind Blackburn and Fulham, four points off an
automatic promotion place. And bookmakers Bluesq.com make them 13/8 favourites
going into their double date with West Brom. Wanderers' recent form is good,
with three wins and a draw in their last four matches of their league campaign.
Birmingham are second favourites as they prepare to face Preston. The Blues are
priced 5/2 despite winning just two of their last 12 First Division matches.
North End are 3/1 with West Brom the outsiders at 4/1.
Tuesday, May 8, 2001
West Bromwich Albion .0. Newcastle United .3.(Cordone[2], Bassedas)
Two goals from Daniel Cordone and one
from Cristian Bassedas gave a strong United squad a 3-0 victory at the
Hawthorns in the Daryl Burgess Testimonial. A
disappointing crowd of 4,440 turned up to pay tribute to the long-serving
Baggies defender and Bobby paid due respect to Burgess by fielding his strongest
fully-fit XI. Cordone opened the
scoring after nine minutes with a neat run and finish and Bassedas headed a fine
second just after the half hour. Cordone got his second early in the second half
with a shot from the edge of the box before numerous substitutions followed. The
Baggies looked fairly lack lustre in a game that came at the wrong time really. DereK
McInnes was the one bright shining light after his first game back for the
Baggies after a long lay off due to a cruciate knee injury.
WBA:
1st half: Jensen, Butler, Burgess, Gilchrist,
Lyttle, Sneekes, Appleton, Jordao, Van Blerk, Roberts, Hughes
2nd half: Adamson, Balis, Burgess (Sigurdsson 50), J.Chambers, A.Chambers, Collins, McInnes, Oliver, Iezzi, Quinn, Taylor (Stovell 78)
Newcastle Team: Harper (Karelse 69), Barton (S.Caldwell 46), O'Brien (G.Caldwell 60), Hughes, Quinn, Solano (Gavilan 27), Bassedas, Speed (McClen 61), Glass, Cort (Ameobi 69), Cordone (LuaLua 81)
Monday, May 7, 2001
Gary Megson spoke about how he used the Preston game as a exercise for the
play off semi-final. "I am not being disrespectful but we tried to use
today's game as preparation for next week, and I am sure everyone else in the
play-offs will have done something similar. They (Bolton) are a team that can
beat us and a team that we can beat - we've done it this season. I would think
they are favourites out of all the teams in the play-offs, a team with the
already-built big stadium, a lot of internationals and a very high wage bill
geared for the Premiership. But we'll do what we've been doing all season and do
our best."
Sunday, May 6, 2001
Friday, May 4, 2001
North Enders V Baggies
Preview, prediction and betting tips, plus more tips for the weekend from the
Advocate, our weekly tipster. Click Here
Wednesday. May 2, 2001
Tickets for the Play Off Home Leg fixture will be put on sale to non
season-ticket holders with ticket stubs for both the Huddersfield and Grimsby
games from Saturday 5th May 2001. The Ticket Office will be open from 9am to 5pm
on Saturday. We expect to be able to provide tickets for everyone with stubs
from both games. Please note that season ticket holders’ seats will still be
held for them until Tuesday 8th May 2001.
West Brom boss Gary Megson wants Igor Balis' injury problem to be sorted out once and for all - even if it means making it worse.
The Slovakian wing back has been dogged by a groin problem for several months despite Albion being assured the strain was not that serious.
Megson told BBC WM: "He's seeing the same specialist as before but he's taking a translator with him this time.
"He may have to play and make it worse so the specialist can see what's up."
The Baggies were yesterday given another 200 tickets for the clash with
Preston North End at the weekend but before you get your hopes up all tickets
have been allocated already. It now means that the Baggies will be backed by
1,900 fans for the annual end of season beach Party.
Tuesday, May 1, 2001
The first leg of the Play off's will take place on Sunday 13th May 15:30 kick off with the second leg being announced as Thursday 17th May with a 19.45 kick off. The second leg was originally planned for Wednesday 16th May but has been moved due to a clash with Liverppol's Uefa Cup Final against Alaves.
A strong Baggies side drew 1-1 with Oldham Athletic at the Hawthorns last night. Portugese midfielder Jordao scored the Baggies goal as he continued to get some match practice back after a foot injury. Line up:- Jensen, Van Blerk, J.Chambers, Mkandawire, Balis, Jordao, Oliver, A. Chambers, Cummings, Scott, Quinn Subs:- Collins, Perry, Turner, A.Chambers, Adamson, Iezzi
Albion have dismissed talk they could stage the home leg at nearby Villa Park because of building work at The Hawthorns. Fewer Baggies fans will be able to watch the tie than normal as guidelines stipulate home clubs have to allocate a minimum 15 per cent of seats to opposing supporters rather than the normal 10 per cent. That means approximately 2,700 seats will be taken up by the away club leaving just 15,000 for Albion fans.
Baggies boss Gary Megson has said he will experiment with his line up for the trip to Deepdale. Some of the top players will be rested in what is seen as wrapping the players in cotton wool. Megson has also said that the Baggies don't need to go into the play-off's in form as long as we are there, which is the main thing.
Monday, April 30, 2001
Neil Clement picked up the Player of the year award last night and also took a lot more trophies from other Supporters Clubs. Adam Chambers got the young player of the year award. While Lee Hughes & Ruel Fox were the official runner's up to Clemmo. Other players that picked up awards from supporters clubs were Jason Roberts, Tony Butler, James Chambers and Richard Sneekes for his goal at Derby.
Player of the Year
Sunday, April 29, 2001
West Bromwich Albion are pleased to confirm that they have qualified for the Division One play-offs, the semi finals of which will be played on Sunday 13th May and Tuesday 15th May or Wednesday 16th May 2001. Go to the Ticket News page for more details.
Gary Megson was delighted that the Baggies secured a play off place and was quick to remind people where we we last year "After three games at the start of the season we had no points and just one goal to our credit," he said. "Now, 42 games later, we are looking at the other end of the table. This time last year we were waiting to see how Walsall had got on to see if we were going to stay in this division. Now we have booked ourselves a place in the play-offs and I have to say I am absolutely delighted. I can't think of another team who finished fourth from bottom and then guaranteed themselves a place in the play-offs. There has been a lot of nervousness in my squad for a time but hopefully that will recede."
Megson was also quick to praise the Baggies fans "Our fans have been
marvellous and over the years they had to go through the thick and thin -
normally the thin. We are in the country's second city and they could opt to go
and watch Premiership football but they come to the Hawthorn's. This club owed
these supporters - not these players, this board or myself or the staff, but
over the years they've stuck with it through thick and thin, mainly thin. But we
got to Gillingham and there's loads of people, go to Norwich on a Tuesday night
and there's loads of people there. They're near the second City, they could
watch Premiership football just down the road, there are other big clubs here,
but they come here in their droves, so the club owed them. Not the players,
because this year they've given it their best all the time.
Saturday, April 28, 2001
Huddersfield
Match Report Match photo's are
on the match report page.
Roberts Celebrates
Friday, April 27, 2001
Thursday, April 26, 2001
Gary Megson has
been boosted ahead of this weekends game with Huddersfield Town by the return to
training of Portugese midfielder Jordao. It was first thought that Jordao could
miss the rest of the season with his badly bruised foot which he suffered at
Craven Cottage a few weeks ago against Fulham.
Jordao
Max Iezzi could be on his way out of the Hawthorns with Napoli, Torino and Genoa all watching him score for the reserves at Wolves yesterday. Iezzi has failed to figure in the Baggies first team during his stay here.
Baggies reserves
gave there Wolves counterparts a lesson in football last night with a 4-0 win at
Mollyspew. Goals from Max Iezzi, Leon Kelly, Adam Oliver(pen) and Josh Perry got
the goals for a very youthful Baggies side with only Chris Adamson and Adam
Oliver the only players with first team experience. The Wolves had many of their
big stars on show but like their first team have had a lack lustre season.
Oliver Scored a penalty
Gary Megson has urged
the Baggies fans to roar the side into the play off's a little bit like how they
roared the Baggies to a 2-0 victory against Champions Charlton Athletic in the
last game of last season, which ensured that they Baggies staved off the threat
of relegation.
Tuesday, April 24, 2001
Confusion is rife
around the Hawthorns after first good then bad news. Albion first announced that
Preston North End had given the Baggies an extra 746 tickets for the big clash
at Deepdale on 6th May. But now say the original Press Release was wrong as they
have not received any more tickets and may well not get any after all.
Gary Megson is
relishing this weekends game against Huddersfield Town. Megson said: "This is another massive game for us, if we win it will take a monumental effort to stop us getting into the play-offs."
The Baggies currently sit in fourth in the table and six points ahead of seventh placed Nottingham Forest, a win against Huddersfield should then take the sting out of the final game against Preston.
The Baggies
are trying to secure that Athletic Bilbao will be the team to celebrate the
opening of the new East Stand in pre-season on 31st July 2001. Full details to
follow later.
Sunday, April 22, 2001
Megson hailed his Baggies side after the 2-1 win at Gillingham and said: "Results-wise this has got to be one of the best of the season. We knew it would be hard here even though they are a mid-table side and I told my players to try and go out and win the game by half-time. They did that with two early goals, and although Gillingham came at us I didn't think we were threatened that much." Megson was also pleased with two goals his side scored. "You have got to give credit to Russell Hoult for the first goal. It was his 70-yard kick downfield that caused their man Pennock to make the mistake and Lee did well to finish. It's also an understatement to say that Neil Clements' free-kick was a great one. He is always doing that in training and just needs a little bit more belief in games."
Saturday, April 21, 2001
Friday, April 20, 2001
Baggies look
likely to have the same starting line up against the Gills after Jordao failed
to recover in time with a sore foot. Matt Carbon is also missing from the squad
due family reasons. One man that is travelling is Igor Ballis though he it is
not thought that he will play more than a bit role.
Gillingham
~V~ Baggies Preview
Thursday, April 19, 2001
Baggies V Gills
Preview, prediction and betting tips, plus more tips for the weekend from the
Advocate, our weekly tipster. Click Here
Wednesday, April 18, 2001
Baggies Reserves lost 1-0 at home to Bolton Wanderers last Night from an Emanuele Morini strike. The Baggies had a very youthful side playing with just Jensen, Burgess, Oliver and James Chambers with first team experience. Burgess was taken off through injury after just 35 minutes.
Tuesday, April 17, 2001
Gary Megson was not happy with the home defeat against Grimsby and said: "I thought the first half against Grimsby for us was a waste of time. We didn't kick off until four o'clock. We didn't pass the ball well, we didn't compete and there was no desire from my players. We got caught by a set-piece and that is just not good enough. In the second half we battered them and, if we could have turned the halves around, I think we would probably have got something out of the game. But in the end we got nothing. When you play like that without desire, passion or tempo you don't deserve to get anything. We are now back in the melting pot and it's our own fault. A number of teams picked up some great results today and it proved the race for the play-offs is going to go all the way to the wire. But against Grimsby it was chalk and cheese. We have thrown away a fantastic opportunity. Some of my players like it here because they felt expectations weren't high. I don't want these kind of players in my squad."
Monday, April 16, 2001
Sunday, April 15, 2001
A new poll is up and running for you to decide how many points we need to secure a play off place? Also the results of the last 2 polls are up on the Polls Page with you voting for Watford as the team you'd like to face in the play off's.
Gary Megson was happy with a hard thought point: "Not many teams come here and find it easy. Fulham and Preston both lost here recently so we are happy with the point. We were grateful to see the ball land on Bob Taylor's head when it did and his goal was typical of the lad, he's scored a few like that for us. We didn't impose ourselves enough in the first half or ask enough questions of them and we took a calculated gamble by going with three up front in the second half, but we've done it before and it worked. It wasn't a classic but it will be typical of the type of games you can expect from teams at the top. It's tight and people are frightened of making mistakes."
Saturday, April 14, 2001
Burnley
.1. (Little) West Brom .1. (Taylor) Match Report Here
Friday, April 13, 2001
The club have
announced that 1,000 tickets will be available at the gate against Burnley.
The Baggies
Portugese midfielder Jordao will definately miss tomorrow's crunch clash at Turf
Moor against Burnley. Also out is Igor Ballis but Ruel Fox if fit and raring to
go.
&
Clarets V Baggies
& Baggies V Mariners Previews, predictions and betting tips, plus more tips for the weekend from the
Advocate, our weekly tipster. Click Here
Thursday, April 12, 2001
Ticket priorities have been set for the Play-off semi final first leg. If we make it of course. Click here for full details.
Baggies reserves
lost 2-1 at home to Stockport County last night. After playing only 2 nights
before most players were rested which gave the youngsters a try and trialist
Leon Kelly from Atherstone United. The only two players in the team with first
team experience were Adam Oliver and Chris Adamson. Albion's goalscorer was
former Forest youngster Matt Turner who looks likely to have earned himself a
new one year contract in the summer.
Matt Turner
Gary Megson has a
couple of injury worries before this weekends game at Burnley. Igor Ballis is definitely
out injured and Jordao is struggling with a foot injury which forced him off
against Fulham. Ruel Fox would be the obvious replacement for Jordao but Gary
Megson may rest him due to the heavy pitch at Turf Moor and the physical way
that Burnley play.
Get your ticket
for Burnley as your team needs you! Gary Megson has said that this is the
biggest game of the season and the team need as much backing as possible.
Wednesday, Aprill 11, 2001
Baggies have officially announced that they will be reverting back to the yellow and green stripes for the away strip next season. The strips will be released in July and this is how we think the strip will look.
Tuesday, April 10, 2001
FOR ALL THE LATEST TICKET NEWS CLICK HERE. Details about all the remaining games.
Baggies second string drew 1-1 with Huddersfield last night with Jason Roberts scoring the Baggies goal on the stoke of half time to give the watching Gary Megson a reminder of his abilities before Saturday's game at Burnley. Roberts was the man that scored in the 1-1 draw with Burnley at the Hawthorns earlier this season. Also out to impress were James Chambers, Siggy, Carbon, Quinn and Oliver amongst others.
Monday, April 9, 2001
Preston North End
Away tickets were sold within the first hour of opening after fans queued for
upto 33 hours to get a ticket for the traditional last away game beach party.
Which could also turn out to be a play off decider.
Sunday, April 8, 2001
Megson wanted to beat Fulham as you can tell by his post match comments. "We worked hard but then we always do. But you may not have noticed that Fulham had to put a lot of hard work into this match too. In the first half they ran out of ideas and we had the best chances but in the second they forced us back. My only disappointment was when we won the ball we often lost possession too quickly. Someone said `congratulations' to me, but congratulations are not in order as we didn't achieve what we wanted to."
Friday, April 6, 2001
Fulham V Baggies
Preview, prediction and betting tips, plus more tips for the weekend from the
Advocate, our weekly tipster. Click Here
Match report and other site updates will not be done until Sunday Afternoon due to spending the weekend in London watching The Baggies.
Thursday, April 5, 2001
Both Sheffield United and Wimbledon kept the pressure up on the other play off contenders with good results last night. Sheffield United got a very credible draw at Blackburn Rovers whilst Wimbledon won 1-0 at the in form Dingles. For a closer look at the run in go to the countdown page.
A new interesting Lookalike has been added. Go take a look! It's our very own Manager Megson.
Wednesday, April 4, 2001
After a few site hosting problems, the site is now back up and working fine. Sorry for any inconvenience while the site was down.
Two of the Baggies main play off contenders Watford and Forest where in action last night with Watford coming out on top with a 3-0 victory. Take a look at all the play-off contenders run in to the season on the Countdown page.
Baggies have sold
all 1,200 tickets for the away clash at Gillingham on the 21st April. The
Fulham game also looks likely for a sell out with the Baggies selling just over
3,000 tickets of the 4,000 allocation. This and more
Ticket News here
Bob Taylor has
told his fellow players to get stuck in when we play Fulham on Saturday. He
reckoned there was no point trying to play Fulham off the park as obviously
there record speaks for itself. But if the Baggies battle for everything and put
in 110% then there is always a chance of getting something out of the game.
Jason Roberts and Jason Van Blerk are both just one booking away from a two match ban which would hit Gary Megsons play-off plans very badly. Both players will have to tread very carefully against Fulham on Saurday if selected. If both players avoid a booking then they will stay suspension free for the rest of the season.
Jason Van Blerk
and Ruel Fox are Gary Megson's only real injury worries ahead of the trip to
runaway leaders Fulham this weekend. Van Blerk missed the 3-0 victory against
Graham Taylor's Watford due to a hamstring pull. Ruel Fox who missed the same
game is unlikely to be fit for the trip to Craven Cottage.
Tuesday, April 3, 2001
North End's reserve team were much the better side and picked up three points in a comfortable home win over West Brom at a cold Deepdale on Monday night. There was a goal in either half for a decent crowd to applaud, with the first coming from a delightful bit of skill by Pawel Abbott. The young pole was also involved in the second being tumbled over in the box to give North End a penalty. Irishman Michael Keane strode up confidently and sent the 'keeper the wrong way to double the lead and finish off the scoring on the night. Adam Oliver continued his comeback from injury alongside Siggy who had returned from international duty with Iceland.
Sunday, April 1, 2001
Gary Megson was happy with the Baggies win against play-off rivals Watford
today, he said: "My lads can't work harder than that. The effort they put into the game was terrific. I have to say I thought our second and third goals were fortunate. This win has given us a bit of breathing space over the other teams in the promotion race. But we went 10 points clear two months ago.
I don't know what the target is going to be. Sometimes 71 points is enough but it's also been as high as 76 points. All we can do is keep working our socks off."
baggies@westbromalbion.co.uk