Albion 3-2 Blackpool

West Brom ended their incredible losing streak when they entertained Blackpool on the 15th January 2011. Both sides had been promoted from the Championship at the end of last season, however the Seasiders had come out victorious when the sides met at Bloomfield Road in November, when Michael Oliver had sent both Gonzalo Jara and Pablo Ibanez off. The Baggies showed fighting spirit that night with 9 men, going down 2-1, and manager Roberto Di Matteo would have wanted more of the same attitude today. The teams were as follows:

ALBION (4-2-3-1): Myhill; Jara, Scharner, Tamas, Cech; Mulumbu (Shorey 89), Dorrans (Tchoyi 85); Brunt, Morrison (Cox 70), Thomas; Odemwingie. Subs not used: Carson (gk), Ibanez, Bednar, Zuiverloon.

BLACKPOOL (4-3-3): Kingson; Eardley (Ormerod 67), Cathcart, Evatt, Crainey; Vaughan, Adam, Grandin (Phillips 54); Taylor-Fletcher, Campbell, Varney (Baptiste 77). Subs not used: Rachubka (gk), Southern, Euell, Sylvestre.

Within seconds of the match beginning, Blackpool really should have taken the lead after the much talked about Charlie Adam found DJ Campbell, yet the former Blues man dragged his shot wide of the post. A let off for Albion, but soon the Seasider's early pressure paid off. A corner wasn't cleared properly and David Vaughan launched the ball into the top corner past stand in keeper Boaz Myhill. An exquisite goal, but an effort that the Baggies defence should never have allowed to happen.


This stunned the Baggies into life, realising that they were staring a sixth straight defeat in the face. Peter Odemwingie skipped past a couple of defenders down the left before crossing to the back post. Chris Brunt, unmarked, blazed over, albeit with his weaker right foot.

Brunt soon after had another chance to make amends, but again shot just wide. The Baggies had all of the running after the Tangerines had taken the lead, but early on were not able to capitalise on some sloppy defensive play.

The equaliser DID come before half time, however. James Morrison, on the edge of Blackpool's penalty area, weaved his way past a couple of orange shirts before allowing Odemwingie to net from no more than 7 yards out. For that reason, the half time whistle seemed to suit the Seasiders more than Albion, giving them the chance to regalvanise while the Throstles would have seen it as a loss of momentum.

The early stages of the second half were scrappy, a match you could now really say was a six pointer. A dogged performance in goal from Welshman Myhill was the only reason that Blackpool didn't find themselves level again, whereas West Brom were finding it tough to beat Richard Kingson in the opposite goal.

The crucial third goal came not too long after this period of end-to-end chaos: James Morrison, who incidentally was the best player on the pitch, managed to poke home after a defensive mix up between Neil Eardley and Kingson. The Hawthorns fans were now behind their team once again, as they looked to be in the points for the first time in seven matches.

But Blackpool were not to return to their nothern home without a fight. Substitute winger Matt Phillips received a ball from Charlie Adam which spilt Albion's defence, before Phillips coolly put the ball across the six yard box, where striker Gary Taylor-Fletcher couldn't miss. It looked as though a point had been rescued- and that West Brom's woes would continue.

And they may well have done, had it not been for Craig Cathcart's moment of hesitation. A long ball in the dying minutes from Gabriel Tamas saw Cathcart allow the ball to bounce, giving Peter Odemwingie the chance to nip in and nudge the ball past the helpless Kingson. A significant celebration followed, where Odemwingie went straight to the Baggie's team physio to congratulate him on his work of helping the Nigerian back from injury.

Finally, it looks as though the pressure currently upon Roberto Di Matteo may now have lifted slightly and he has his eight-goal striker to thank.

Albion 1-2 Man. United

This was considered a game where, for once, West Bromwich Albion could give themselves a chance against Premier League heavyweights Manchester United. After beating Everton and Arsenal on the road whilst picking up a point at Old Trafford in October, the Baggies could be forgiven for thinking of causing another upset, and with the Red Devils only having one away win all season (less than Roberto Di Matteo's men), a shock win would shoot West Brom out of relegation trouble.

ALBION (4-2-3-1): Carson; S Reid (Zuiverloon 64), Scharner, Ibanez (Tchoyi 71), Cech; Mulumbu (Fortuné 90+4), Dorrans; Morrison, Brunt, Thomas; Odemwingie. Subs not used: Myhill (gk), Miller, Shorey, Cox.

UNITED (4-4-2): Kuszczak; Neville (Fabio 71), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Obertan (Gibson 61), Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson; Berbatov (Hernandez 61), Rooney. Subs not used: Amos (gk), Owen, Evans, Bebe.

However it was United who took the early initiative. Patrice Evra made a run along the left hand flank where he picked the ball up from Obertan, who was filling in for the mercifully injured Nani. Evra then whipped in a cross which was met by the head of Wayne Rooney. The England striker half-heartedly (or so it seemed) knocked the ball towards goal and somehow managed to squeeze it past the diving Carson.

 0-1 with only a couple of minutes played, versus Manchester United, and heads could easily have dropped. But they didn't, and credit to Albion for making a fist of it. They pushed at the United defence, the 5-man midfield overrunning their opposition's 4. Their reward came ten minutes later, when a long ball which was contested by Nemanja Vidic and Peter Odemwingie fell to the feet of James Morrison. First time, he volleyed the ball past the helpless Tomasz Kuszcack, not unlike his first goal for the club against Blackpool three years previously. This lifted the home crowd immensely, feeling there really was a chance for them to take something from this game.

And there really should have been a chance- from the penalty spot. James Morrison caused mayhem in the United penalty area with a stunning diagonal ball right onto the chest of Graham Dorrans, who bore down on goal. Gary Neville then clearly chopped down the Scot from behind, which under any circumstances would usually resulted in a red card and a penalty. As Chris Foy claimed he saw nothing, Neville escaped and Albion rued a refereeing mistake which would have presented them with a golden opportunity to take the lead.

Albion WERE given a penalty in the second half however. Foy correctly pointed to the spot as Rio Ferdinand was adjudged to have brought down Jerome Thomas, who had looked a threat against the ageing Neville throughout the first half. However, top scorer Peter Odemwingie fired horribly wide, which cost Albion a precious point. For with only a matter of minutes to go, Rooney, by far the Red Devils' best player, whipped in a corner which was planted right on super sub Javier Hernandez's head. The Little Pea, on for the average Dimitar Berbatov, took advantage of poor marking and headed home past Scott Carson from a matter of yards. Poor defending had cost the Baggies dearly, a result which their performance had thoroughly deserved and which handed Man United only their second away win of the season.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/9332321.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_bromwich_albion/9332316.stm

Injuries, suspensions, transfers!

This really is make or break for the Albion now. Straight defeats in 6 of their last 6 matches and they will be desperate to end this streak when Blackpool arrive at the Hawthorns on Saturday. Blackpool, who were promoted via the play-offs with Albion last season, have had an overall more successful season than Albion. Expected to be relegated right from the off, enthusiastic Ian Holloway and his troops have defied all odds, reaching 28 points with plenty of matches still remaining. Nonetheless, this game starts four crunch encounters which will be witnessed by the Hawthorns crowds in the coming weeks. For Wigan, Wolves and West Ham are to come, and Roberto Di Matteo should be looking to get maximum points from each of these clashes, if his Baggies are going to give themselves a chance of avoiding this year.
    They will have to do it without Jonas Olsson though. The Swedish centre back returned as a second half substitute at the weekend in the poor show against Reading, only to receive two yellow cards within fifteen minutes of each other. This will be highly frustrating, seeing as he has been on the sidelines for nearly three months. Pablo Ibanez and Ishmael Miller are both very doubtful with hamstring injuries, but the most concerning is the doubt surrounding Peter Odemwingie's chances. Once again Albion are sweating over his fitness levels, as he continues to struggle with minor niggles, niggles that have hampered his season. It was revealed this week that he only played against Fulham after taking a pain killing injection, so slightly worrying for Head Coach Roberto Di Matteo.
Gabriel Tamas will return from a three match suspension sustained against Blackburn, a very important return to a side who played against Fulham with three natural right backs. Stephen Reid has had a successful operation, meaning his estimated absence now lies at 4, rather than 6 weeks.

With many injuries throughout the squad, a few players who didn't expect to see match action, have been playing. Gianni Zuiverloon came on against Manchester United, following this up with two starts in an unfamiliar centre back position, for which his performances should be praised. 18 year-old James Hurst played fairly well against Reading at right back, the former Portsmouth youngster mainly being credited recently for the performance against Fulham however. He now looks to contest the permanent right back slot with Gonzalo Jara.
Roman Bednar's only start this season came in the 6-0 opening day drubbing against Chelsea. Since then he was frozen out and sent to Leicester on loan. He has now returned and is in contention for a place against Blackpool, with Odemwingie and Miller injured and Marc-Antoine Fortune's inept performances not being up to standard of late.

The big question for the weekend- who will take the No. 1 jersey? Scott Carson's horror show against Fulham gave Boaz Myhill the chance to impress against Reading. Although beaten, the Welsh wizard made a few excellent saves, in the process boosting his chances of a starting berth for the first time in Albion colours.

One player on everybody's lips at the moment: John Carew. The giant Norwegian is said to have accepted a move across the Midlands from Aston Villa. But the red cards of Ashley Young and Emile Heskey in recent matches has left Gerard Houllier short of attacking options. Although the French man and Carew do not have the best relationship, Villa may be in need of their number 10 shortly. Hopefully for Di Matteo, this will not end their chances of signing Carew, singling him out to be the one transfer he expects to happen.

Albion 1-3 Blackburn Rovers

This was a game both clubs would have looked at and believed a win was realistic, thus leading to a step further to safety. As it resulted, Blackburn took the points back to Lancashire after a scrappy affair. The Baggies were strong favourites initially, after a sterling performance against Bolton two days earlier when they created chance after chance, but to no avail, and were punished by two sucker punches at the end of each half. On the other hand, Blackburn were in disarray; the new foreign owners had inexplicably sacked Sam Allardyce and had put assistant Steve Kean in charge for the remainder of the season, however they lost at home on Boxing Day to Stoke, 0-2.
        Albion kept the same team that lost to Bolton, except the suspended Chris Brunt missed out and was replaced by Youssouf Mulumbu. Rovers started Nicola Kalinic alongside Mama Biram Diouf in a 4-4-2 formation.
      And it was the £6 million Croat who coolly slotted home after a few minutes to give the visitors a surprising early lead.
    This woke Albion up, and they immediately started to move the ball around with the same charisma as was usually witnessed by the Albion faithful. This led to a superb equaliser ten or so minutes later. Graham Dorrans appeared to be surrounded by black and red shirts, but managed to squeeze the ball through to the impressive James Morrison. He took on a couple of Blackburn players before laying the ball out wide to Somen Tchoyi. First time, the giant Cameroon winger side-footed the ball across goal, beating two defenders and the move was completed when Thomas brushed home for his second of the season.

 For the remainder of the half, the Baggies looked a revitalised team, in search of three valuable points against fellow relegation candidates. The Lancashire defence, however, remained firm.
   The second half was not one that Albion fans will remember- and if they do so, it will not be remembered in a positive way. Two quick goals- both headers from corners- from Kalinic (his 2nd of the match) and Mama Diouf sealed an unlikely victory to send the Rovers fans behind the goal into raptures.

Things turned sour not long after, as Kalinic lunged in on Paul Scharner to earn himself a straight red card. The situation was not helped by El Hadji Diouf's contribution, the Senegalese hitman widely known as a wind up merchant. The numbers were even again soon after, however, when Gabriel Tamas was beaten to the ball by Mama Diouf, and he had no choice but to chop his opponent down when he was clear through- thus, resulting in another sending off. This capped of a miserable week for the Baggies, who lost to Bolton recently. On the other hand, things may now turn around for Blackburn, who play Sunderland next, but they will have to do the job without their suspended top scorer.