The Diary

12 February 2008: Rotherham Was Agony: Hawthorns Ecstasy Tomorrow, Albion?

Greetings, once more. Now, before we get properly going on tomorrow night?s clash with Sheffield United, what about a little game of ?compare and contrast? for a bit? Ironically enough, on a day when both Mogga and his planetary sidekick (average temperature 800 Centigrade, and subjected to constant showers of sulphuric acid courtesy the enormous amount of cloud-cover above, which is enough to get most people ratty, away defeat or not!) were given extended contracts, we were still trying to come to terms with what must have been our most underwhelming performance of the season.

That?s four times almost on the bounce we?ve been humbled on other people?s grounds, which might not have assumed the importance it did, save for the fact that the sides doing the humbling were all stuck firmly to the basement of this division. The bottom line? As Mogga so rightly said in his latest post-match chinwag-cum-funeral-oration with the press, ?We got what we deserved?.?

Continuing, he then said: ?Let?s give Barnsley credit, because they worked hard and did well. But we had too many players off form today, and well below the standards they set themselves each week. We could have been a goal down after two minutes, and it was an unacceptable first-half performance. I made two changes at half-time, but let?s be honest, I could have made a lot more. There was a lack of quality from us, today, which is unlike us. It was a shame for the fans. We brought a great following, and didn?t repay their support?..?

A pretty succinct summing-up regarding what happened at Oakwell, but for me, there are much wider issues starting to press their snotty little noses at the window, and demanding admission to the ball. When you sit back and think about how we?ve lost each of those four away games, one thing becomes as clear as crystal: we can no longer overwhelm inferior sides with the style and panache we did just a few short months ago.

And, for me, that can mean only one thing. Sides at that level have watched us play others in the same boat, and it didn?t need the tactical genius of General Montgomery for them to work out what to do about our attacking style of play. As we?ve seen many, many times this season, all they have to do is:

a) Adopt an ?in yer face? attitude to everything we do.

b) Kick everything bearing an Albion badge on the shirt into almost geosynchronous Earth orbit.

c) Descend like a Stuka dive-bomber onto any of our players foolish enough to hang onto the ball for longer than they should, then introduce boot to flesh, as per Rule B!

d) Get our people thoroughly rattled by careful use of all the above ploys: rile some of ours sufficiently well, and they may just get provoked into committing an offence that would rate as Hammer Horror material in the real world. Do that to some of ours several times, and always on the blind side of the match officials ? we all know who?s more likely to fall victim to this type of ?sucker punch? approach, don?t we? ? and a yellow/red carding is almost guaranteed.

e) (And, most important of all): Show they want it far more than our dilettante crew!

The thing that concerns me, above all other, right now, is the awful thought that what has happened these past few weeks might run far deeper than is initially apparent. As I see it, our last few away performances have lacked the solidity, the cohesiveness, the plain honest-to-goodness team spirit we saw in earlier games. Does this indicate that there?s been a serious rift of some sort in the matchday relationship between some players and others? Or could the problem be a rift between Mogga/Venus/A.N.Other? Could it possibly be that, as per last season, some of our performers are once more starting to believe their own hype?

As we no longer have such close links with the club, official or unofficial, that we had in former times, I wouldn?t like to form a definitive opinion either way, based upon the few scraps of evidence we have. But one thing I do know: if we don?t start to pull up our collective socks, we?re going to be facing the end of the season going into the play-offs, again. Which is fine and dandy for the bean-counters, what with all the additional revenue, and everything, but not so peachy for we blue-and-white-striped cannon-fodder. Our nerves won?t stand the strain, for one thing!

While our finest were most certainly last out of the stalls at Rotherham, this weekend just gone, and most certainly elsewhere, one of our people, farmed out to League Two promotion hopefuls Hereford United only a day or so before, was certainly making his presence felt at Edgar Street. That?s where the rampant, promotion-seeking Bulls faced strugglers Dagenham and Redbridge, and what?s more, managed to pot four with only one by way of reply from surely-doomed Daggers.

Having seen all four goals on the Sky Sports programme dedicated to the Football League, earlier tonight, it?s fair to say that the brace scored by our loanee ?exile?, Sherjill McDonald (usually answers to the nickname ?Shergar?, of course), was the end product of some chronically bad marking on the part of the visitors. But that shouldn?t detract from a performance which, for most Bulls fans, was most definitely the proverbial ?canine?s testicles?. In view of Saturday, the monicker we saddled the lad with on his arrival at our place, that of a horse that disappeared without trace, and in very dodgy circumstances indeed, might well turn out to be one of football?s bigger ironies: anonymous, at Edgar Street, he most certainly wasn?t.

?He'a an intelligent player," said delighted coach, former Baggie John Trewick (who, having graduated from the ranks at a time when the name ?West Bromwich Albion? was synonymous with football at its very best, knows a thing or two about classy players, and maximising potential), to BBC Hereford and Worcester, after the final whistle. "He knows what he is doing. You just hope for a little bit of invention. He's got good pace, very quick. Great to score two on his debut, and he linked very well with Gary Hooper."

Bulls boss Graham Turner also came over all orgasmic at his post-match press conference. "He's (MacDonald) combined well with Gary Hooper. He'll get fitter. He's only been playing reserve team football, and there hasn't been a lot of that for him," said the Hereford United manager. "We were told he was fit, but not match fit, and he will get sharper than that, I'm sure of that. But he knows where the goal is. He's got pace, he's got good technique. There will be a lot more to come from him."

It really is great to see someone we?d all pretty much consigned to the dustbin of history come good, at long last. From what?s been said by various Baggie people at Supporters Club meetings and elsewhere, we ?regulars? were given a mental picture of Shergar as a player who could really ?wow? colleagues and coaching staff on the training pitch, but couldn?t quite turn it on to the same level of excellence when the action was for real.

Amazingly enough, Saturday was the first time Shergar had clapped serious eyes on his fellow-professionals at Edgar Street, so nothing whatsoever about his game could have been anticipated by anyone in that side. Or the opposition?s, either. United?s Richard Rose, who thought Shergar?s debut was 'brilliant', echoed this amazing piece of news during their post-match pow-wow with the press.

"He hasn't trained with the lads yet. We saw him for the first time today. He seemed to be everywhere in the game. Looks like a very good signing."

A ?very good signing?? Until some of the division?s less-cultured opposition defences start to make things much harder for him ? once he?s sailed aloft several times, courtesy some defensive pea-brain?s Size Nine, or other, he may well have a completely different attitude to life in the Football League?s basement division - and given the fact hardly anyone could have known anything about the lad at Second Division level in the first place, if he can successfully adapt to, then rise above, the Neanderthal mindset prevalent amongst an awful lot of players down there, he could well prove to be the cider slurpers? secret (promotion?) weapon!

Bulls News, the United official e-organ for supporters, had this to say about Shergar: ?All eyes were, of course, on MacDonald. Was he to be the new golden boy? Well, his first touch after a couple of minutes was truly dreadful, but from there on, he grew in confidence and showed plenty of neat play and pace.

It was, however, the visitors who had the first real chance when Baidoo missed a fairly straightforward tap-in from 6 or 7 yards out. MacDonald did not make the same mistake on 10 minutes though. A lovely move down the right flank involving fine interplay between Hooper and Johnson resulted in Hooper delivering a perfect cutback for the debutant MacDonald to finish from close range.?

Great start from both The Bulls and Shergar, and there was more?. ?On 25 minutes, MacDonald met another Hooper cross with a thunderbolt from 20 yards, which was inches off target?.. Early in the second period, Ben Smith put MacDonald in only for his effort to be blocked on the goal-line?..? Simon Johnson, who it has to be said must be a nightmare to mark, turned the Dagenham left sided defenders inside out before sending over a perfect cross, which MacDonald met with a thumping header beyond Roberts?..?

And there?s this little rider to their match report: apropos their naughty reference to ?some higher-graded fans?, who on earth could they mean, I wonder? ?The 4-1 result will have pleased the somewhat disappointing attendees who numbered 2594 (inc.81 away) and a two goal debut for someone who, according to some higher graded fans, couldn't hit a barn if he was inside it with the door shut, will hopefully encourage a few more to venture through the turnstiles for the next home game.?

Oooh, you leetle teenkers; just wait until the next time I see you lot! Scratch yer eyes out, I will! Unsurprisingly, after that excellent home debut, MacDonald told the Western Daily Press (Bristol, and the immediate area?s local rag) that he?s looking forward to playing plenty of games during his time at Edgar Street.

"The reason I have come to Hereford was to play lots of games and I am looking forward to the challenge," he said. "It was nice to play up front but normally I play on the left. There is a good spirit here and I felt it in the first minute when I walked into the dressing room, so I am happy. I think Hereford can win promotion, as they are a good passing team, and I am looking forward to the next month?.."

And so are they, baby, so are they??

That?s the score with Shergar, then: no doubt, we?ll be making the 50 mile journey to that market town before too long, so when we do, we?ll make a point of running the rule over the lad, then letting you lot know afterwards precisely what we think about his performances for the Bulls.

And another thing: should he continue in the same vein for them, it might even behove Mogga well to recall him, if only to give our normal strikeforce more than a little food for thought. Now we?ve dipped so often away from home, we?re fast running out of ?slack? i.e. away games we can afford to lose or draw: stuff up in many more, and that Championship title might well prove to be naught but the figment of an unusually wet dream for us. And, should the downward trend spread to our home form also (we?ve come pretty close to it, these last few games), we might have to kiss ?bye bye? to automatic promotion, too.

Having seemingly found the way to opposition goalmouths once more, could Shergar ultimately prove Mogga?s unexpected adjunct to Baggie salvation? With strikers of whatever persuasion, the knack of finding the opposition net successfully largely stems from having the confidence to do so in the first place. That?s the principal reason why Shergar?s not been able to grab onto, and hold down, a first team berth for Mogga: a distinct lack of goals bringing on a bad case of confidence?leakage.

Bring him back after having done the Bulls a power of good, mind, and the situation might prove dramatically different. But there?s a long way to go, and, as we all know, two debut goals do not promotions make. But I?ll certainly be keeping my eye on things down there, both in person, and via TV, and will keep everyone up to date as and when.

Tomorrow evening brings former Baggies manager Bryan Robson back to these here parts, but in his new managerial incarnation with Sheffield United, who have under-achieved really badly after relegation from the top flight last season. They certainly had a raw deal ?up there?: it must have been so galling for their followers to see West Ham escape virtually scot-free after fielding ineligible players, an offence that should have led to the London side being docked points aplenty, and them occupying the space currently taken up by the Blades.

But the Premiership ?old boys brigade? didn?t see fit to apply the ultimate sanction, so The Blades dropped, not The Hammers. Oh ? and that final-day relegation also led to the rapid exit of Neil Warnock from the club, a move that swiftly paved the way for the plonking of Bryan Robson?s bum on the managerial hot-seat instead.

And there lies the issue upon which tomorrow?s game might well stand or fall: having failed to set the Championship alight, Robson now stands upon a very sticky wicket indeed. United?s followers were calling for his resignation, last Saturday, the after-match protests including a sit-down demo outside the club?s main stand, where all the nobs hang out on matchdays.

Without having heard anything specific, my guess is that should United lose at our place tomorrow night, the letter ?P?, followed by the numbers 4 and 5, will be featuring very prominently indeed in the life of our former leader, so there won?t be too much love lost, will there? And you can bet anything you want to on the surmise that Robbo has had us watched these last four or so games: what with his existing knowledge of life on Planet Albion, and our serial failure to put potential relegation-fodder to the sword, and we could be in for something of a fractious time. There?s nothing like sheer desperation to concentrate the minds of players wonderfully.

Unless the blame for United?s current plight lays squarely at the feet of their very own players, possibly as anxious as their board to see the back of the former England international and Man United star. If that should be the case, then we might just get the whole thing presented on a silver platter for us ? but somehow, I doubt it.

According to the Setanta Sports website, we may be looking for a radical solution to our match-winning problems, by signing one of Villa?s strikers, currently surplus to requirements, a la Shergar being farmed out to Bulls pastures for the duration. His name? Luke Moore. Mogga?s trying to put off the actual signing until next week, they reckon. Why? Apparently, if we sign the lad then, we get him for a 93-day period, which would encompass the play-off finals, as well. (Play-off finals? Please, God ? NO!) We?d tried to get him in part-exchange for Curtis Davies last summer, but Moore wanted to have a crack at becoming a Villa Park first-team regular, instead.

While I?m instinctively dubious about the merits of bringing anyone from Seal Park to our place - would cost us a fortune in fish, for starters, and in any case, isn?t there supposed to be an EEC embargo on landing cod, a known endangered species, these days? ? it can?t be denied that we could have serious problems in the making. Setanta state that Kev Phillips is still experiencing trouble with his knee (could explain an awful lot, that, if what they say is correct), while Roman Bednar ?pulled his groin? on Saturday, a mishap that led to his subbing at half time on Saturday, and defender Bostjan Cesar getting subbed at the same time, and for precisely the same reason!

Slight digression: looking at my handy fount of knowledge regarding such ailments, it would seem that the correct diagnosis of groin problems can present medical staff with a number of difficulties: contrary to popular belief, the term doesn?t just encompass the ?obvious bit?, but can also incorporate boundaries between pelvis and thigh, and hip joint and femur (thigh bone), as well.

The problem, quite simply, is this: because of this all-encompassing scope, what?s brought under the same ?umbrella? as ?groin injury? these days, can also involve an amazing number of other organs: e.g. muscles, backbone, nerves, and blood vessels serving these areas, and the surrounding bits, too. The resultant pain and stiffness can affect motion, speed and flexibility considerably.

As more than one of these structures can be involved in any groin injury at any one time, correct diagnosis and treatment can prove to be an absolute sod. Simple actions like stretching when going for a ball, the actual kicking of the thing once won, and fatigue, even, can turn out to be the root cause of the problem, and, if really unlucky, there can be more than one predisposing cause.

When such an injury occurs, most players report ?something going? on the inside of the thigh, and that?s considered pretty diagnostic: the extent of other tissue involvement, if any, can be accurately assessed courtesy the football medic?s best friend, the MRI scan, the advent of which in recent years has totally revolutionised football medicine.

One quick whooftie under one of those things, and the true extent of most problems should become more apparent, but even so, each groin problem still has to be taken and treated individually, for the reasons outlined above. Ultrasound, as per what your missus has done when 12 or so weeks gone, can prove a very handy adjunct to further assessment as well.

Time taken to heal? Depends upon the precise cause of the problem: as I said earlier, groin injuries can prove to be far more extensive than is actually made apparent by the symptoms. Hopefully, the damage will prove muscular only, in which case a little rest etc. should put it right, but if it?s found that other structures are involved (one such complication, a nasty one, involves what?s called the ?pubic symphisis? which is where the two pelvic bones meet, just above where your ?naughty bits? are located - and, yes, you can feel ?em for yourself by having a good grope down there ? but not on the corporation bus taking you to work, please!), in which case, a much longer lay-off can result.

Modern thinking is to treat each groin problem ?holistically?: in other words, taking into account every single factor involved in the injury, blood vessels, muscles, nerves, the works. But as yer man Bednar isn?t all that ancient and decrepit, as yet, I would anticipate he won?t be left in ?dry dock? for too long. As far as Cesar?s concerned, the problem?s been described as a ?tight groin?, which our gaffer clearly regards as the lesser of the two evils. Mind you, football can chuck up some pretty horrendous sequels to what first appear to be relatively trivial complaints, so I won?t be about to put away my lucky rabbit?s foot, not just yet.

But back to the action. Bednar might be OK, but I doubt it, ditto Mister Cesar, and as for Kev Phillips, it might go either way: once you?ve reached the ?veteran? stage, even minor injuries can land you with unexpected consequences. I just hope that they haven?t been shoving Kev into the side, injury or no injury. Robert Koren?s bruised calf is still troubling him, apparently, even though he?s been out for quite some time: ?Robert did not even travel to Barnsley so he wasn't even close for that one, but hopefully he will be okay.? That was the word from Mogga. Strange, wasn?t it, how a player more or less described as hale and hearty, and likely to travel, just a few days earlier, could instantaneously revert back to having a nasty problem. Just what the hell is going on?

And, while we?ve been deep in the throes of anatomical and physiological debate, what of tomorrow evening?s opponents, Sheffield United? According to their website, they?ll be without ex-Baggie central defender Ugo Ehiogu (poached from us by Villa when a kid, remember?), and striker Jon Stead. Ugo?s problem is not terminal brain damage caused by an extended stay with our blubbery friends two miles up the road, but a hamstring strain. Stead?s is a hip injury.

Matt Kilgallon is likely to full the hole left by the absence of Ugo, alongside Chris Morgan, while ?their Beattie? will partner Rob Hulse (getting to be quite a ?regimental reunion?, this game!), and they should have winger David Carney available, now he?s returned from international duties elsewhere.

Our chances of atoning for what was a truly disappointing defeat at Barnsley? It all depends upon two things, really. First off, how much will our people actually want it? Put it another way, how much do they want to see their gaffer get to reach the top flight? In the ultimate analysis, it?s their futures they?re playing for, but over the course of recent games, you wouldn?t have guessed it. We?ve been knocked off the top perch by Watford, who I?d thought had ?blown up? just a few weeks back, so we badly need to regain pole position, if only for the sake of improved morale. Which brings me nicely to another point: the Barnsley thing was particularly noticeable for the fact we appeared to be playing once more as individuals, and not a cohesive force, much as we had done last season. It all started to go pear-shaped at about the same time, if my memory serves me correctly. Time to get everyone singing from the same hymn-sheet, Mogga!

The other factor, of course, hinges very much upon what United?s lads think of Robbo as a gaffer. Do they really want to see the last of him, after tomorrow night? Should they stuff up, it?s as sure as dammit that our former gaffer will be getting the big ?heave-ho? from Bramall Lane. One naughty thought ? if we do put them to the sword, and Robbo then falls upon his, Sheffield United ? who ya gonna call? Neil Warnock? Surely not?

And Finally?. One. Ooooo ? I nearly forgot, didn?t I. Why didn?t you lot remind me? Tomorrow?s referee: who have we got, I wonder? Hang on a mo while I tap a few keys, here? Aha! Man with the whistle is one L. Probert, and his sidekicks are, respectively, G. Stott and M. Murphy, fourth official P. Joslin. As for our old chum Mister Miller, you lot ready for this?

Whisper it quietly (just in case someone in charge of match official allocation sees sense, and changes their minds at the very last minute!) but he?s been dumped on the Britannia Stadium, where Tony Pulis?s mob are due to do battle, in more than one sense of the word, of course, with Southampton! You don?t suppose that he could have the same kind of brainstorm he had when reffing our game, do you? Oh, go on, Mister Miller, you know you want to!

 - Glynis Wright

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