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West
Bromwich Albion v Chelsea
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 30th October 2004, 3.00pm. |
| 27th October 2004 |
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|
 |
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| Position |
16th |
2nd |
| Form |
D L L W D L |
W W L W W W |
| Last Match |
Crystal
Palace (A) 0-3 |
West Ham United (H) 1-0 |
Last Meeting
16th March 2003 |
West Bromwich Albion 0
Chelsea 2 (Stanic 38, Zola 55) |
Last Baggies win in this fixture
was 1-0 on 14th March 1979
A goal from Ally Brown won the match for Albion
who went on to finish 3rd in the First Division whereas Chelsea
were relegated. Albion won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the League
Cup in November 1983, Garry Thompson getting the goal. |
For the first time
since March 2000, Albion are preparing for a game without a permanent
manager. Frank Burrows is in temporary charge of the team and he's
got one of the toughest tasks possible as his first, and perhaps
only, game. Assuming, of course, that no appointment is made between
now and Saturday.....
If we think Albion's £10 million in transfer spending in the summer
is a lot, it is dwarfed by the massive £90 million spent by Chelsea.
Thankfully for Albion, their biggest signing, Didier Drogba, is
injured and highly unlikely to figure. But with Eidur Gudjohnsen
hitting form with a hat-trick last weekend, Drogba's absence is
little comfort.
Let's face it, Chelsea have an outstanding squad. The "weakened"
team that was fielded against West Ham in the Carling Cup cost £90
million to assemble which is a remarkable statistic. Whatever side
is put out at the Hawthorns will be packed full of international
players of the highest quality and Albion will do extremely well
to get anything from the game. One of Chelsea's new signings is
striker Mateja Kezman, who was perhaps highlighted to Chelsea when
the Baggies made an offer. The Croat has failed to impress too much
however, only grabbing his first Chelsea goal in midweek.
One man who has outshone all the big money players is the new Chelsea
manager, Jose Mourinho. He is a true character that has brightened
up post-match press conferences and certainly seems to be doing
the business on the pitch as well.
The only thing that is in Albion's favour is the lack of any expectation.
However, with the new manager potentially in attendance, the players
will be wanting to impress - if they were unhappy playing for Megson,
they must show what they are made of to grab the new manager's attention.
I could never predict Megson's starting line-up, so I've got little
chance of reading Frank Burrows' mind. But if he's thinking the
same way as me, the following would be the starting line-up:
Hoult; Contra, Moore, Gaardsoe, Albrechtsen; Gera, Scimeca, Greening,
Koumas; Kanu, Earnshaw.
It may seem to be a rather attacking midfield, but I think Greening
can control the game in midfield. Although, if Inamoto is fit enough,
I'd probably choose him in place of Gera or Koumas. Clement is eligible
again, but I would leave him on the bench, and would include Sakiri
with him.
But whether Frank has his own mind or has been too conditioned by
Megson, I'm not sure. We'll have to wait and see.
Any sort of result would be a bonus, but let's put on a good show,
Baggies!
Jon Want, 27th October 2004.
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