13th September 2004: In two short
weeks, the press have decided that Albion have gone from a side who've
had a promising start without picking up the points they've deserved,
to one who've had a disastrous start and whose manager is about to
be sacked.
And what has caused such a dramatic turnaround? The manager honestly
answered a question regarding his contract, Albion lost a game they
were expected to lose and there was an unsavoury incident on the team
bus. Although I believe the latter incident did not really have an
impact as the press reaction was already well underway.
The cause of all these problems? Gary Megson was asked if he had been
offered a new contract given that his current deal is due to expire
at the end of this season. He answered honestly saying that he had
not yet had any discussions regarding a new contract. He didn't say
that this was a problem, merely a fact. Jeremy Peace's only comment
was that contractual discussions were confidential. Suddenly, this
meant that Megson was about to be sacked. A 3-0 defeat at Liverpool
and suddenly it is only a matter of time.
Admittedly, it seems that an insider at the club has been feeding
the press stories about a rift between Megson and Peace, citing comments
that Megson made regarding his frustration at the speed at which players
were being signed in the summer. Let's face it, we were all frustrated
but, by and large, the deals did get done with a few exceptions due
to various other clubs intrangisence and, ultimately, running out
of time at the end. We were not alone in this, many other clubs had
similar problems and few clubs invested to the extent that Albion
did this summer.
Megson's comments were understandable and not necessarily a criticism
of the board, although they could obviously be take as such. Megson
did issue a denial of any rift and has done so again in the past week.
Megson does have a history regarding clashes with the board, and it
remains a possibility, but there is little evidence to support that
view.
Looking at Mr Peace's actions, he has certainly been quiet on the
subject which could obviously be a sign of guilt. Then again, he is
a novice in dealing with this level of media attention although you
would expect him to have some good advisors. It is entirely understandable
that a new contract for Megson would have taken a back seat behind
building a squad capable of competing at this level before the closure
of the transfer window. And although there have been recent examples,
it is ridiculous for a chairman to ask a manager to recommend players
to buy, and then get rid of him before the ink on those players' contracts
is barely dry.
While it is not entirely impossible, I believe it is highly unlikely
that Peace is about to show Megson the door. Obviously, I am not party
to what is going on behind closed doors at the club, and Megson and
Peace could've had an almighty bust up with no possibility of reconciliation,
but I see little reason for either side to have a problem. Megson,
in my opinion at least, has not overtly criticised the board and Peace
has largely delivered in terms of bringing players in.
What is possible is that Peace will wait and see how Megson gets on
over the next few months before offering him a new contract. While
this may not be comfortable for Lord Gary, or indeed completely fair
given his achievements so far, but this is Megson's big test. In his
last Premiership campaign, he did not have the resources to make a
real fist of it - this time he has been given the support. And from
the club's point of view, it is reasonable for them to say that Megson
is unproven at this level and he may fail - why should they give him
a new long contract now, when there is the possibility that they will
want to get rid of him at Christmas should the club be struggling.
One thing that can be said about Jeremy Peace is that he is an astute
businessman and, for the club, that is a sensible business policy.
Should the club be in a comfortable mid-table position in December,
Megson will have every right to expect a new contract. Until then,
perhaps not.
As for the decent/disastrous start, the performances have probably
deserved a win against Villa and, perhaps, a point at Everton. Comparisons
with the last Premiership campaign can point to the fact that we had
six points from the first five games, whereas we now have three. Another
comparison is that, if you consider the corresponding fixtures from
last time, we're actually a point better off - the one against Spurs.
It just proves that you can use statistics to prove almost anything.
In my opinion, it is far to early to judge the performance of the
team. The next two home games are crucial to get the season going.
Fulham and Bolton are two sides that we need to get points from, particularly
at home, although Bolton are a much more difficult prospect than they
were two years ago. Following that are games at home to Norwich and
away to Palace - the other two promoted clubs and teams we need to
beat.
And as for the performance of the manager, I would've picked different
sides to Megson, but that's always been the case and GM has won promotion
twice! He has rarely brought new players straight into the team mid-season
(I think Horsfield is the one of the few exceptions and he took three
or four games to get going), and although I predicted he may start
Contra and Earnshaw, I was not that surprised when he didn't.
Ten points or more from the next five games would be excellent; any
less than nine could give cause for concern, or would at least put
pressure on as we move into a tough looking November.
Finally, a word on the team bus incident. It seems like it was a big
fuss over very little - another headline for the papers. If anything,
it shows that the players were upset about the defeat, which is exactly
what they should be.
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