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West
Bromwich Albion v Norwich City
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 16th October 2004, 3.00pm. |
| 11th October 2004 |
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| Position |
16th |
20th |
| Form |
L L D L L W |
L D D W L D |
| Last Match |
Bolton
Wanderers (H) 2-1 |
Portsmouth (H) 2-2 |
Last Meeting
2nd March 2004 |
Norwich City 0
West Bromwich Albion 0 |
Last Baggies win in this fixture
was 1-0 on 18th October 2003
A goal from Jason Koumas gave the Baggies the
three points, and sparked Norwich into an impressive run of form
that eventually took them to the First Division title. |
After a vital win against
Bolton, the Baggies have another crucial home game against last
season's Division One champions, Norwich, who are now the only team
in the Premiership without a league win.
This is obviously one of the games all Albion fans will look at
as a must win. We all know points will be hard to come by, so it
is vital to pick up as many as possible against the other promoted
sides. Last time around, we picked up just four from a possible
twelve against Man City and Blues - we cannot afford to do the same
again this season.
The Canaries have put in some solid performances this season and
with trips to Newcastle, Man Utd, Liverpool and Tottenham, plus
a home game against Arsenal, they will be rightly pleased with two
points from those games. What has let them down has been home draws
against Crystal Palace and, more recently, Portsmouth which are
both games they would look to have won.
Norwich's dealings in the transfer market have reflected their financial
clout. Having spent big on the likes of Darren Huckerby to get promoted,
they have been very cautious in the summer, at least in terms of
transfer fees. Mattias Jonson and Darren Ward both joined for undisclosed
fees from Brondby and Forest respectively, leaving Gary Doherty
as the biggest money signing joining from Spurs for a mere £750,000.
Perhaps their most high profile signing was the loan capture of
the promising Arsenal youngster, David Bentley, although he has
failed to really sparkle and the free signing of Thomas Helveg from
Inter Milan certainly brought some much needed experience. Personally,
I believe their best buy was Simon Charlton for £250,000 from Bolton
- he's a solid defender with good crossing ability and plenty of
experience of winning a battle against relegation. Their other signings
of the summer were Youssef Safri for £500,000 from Coventry and
Paul Gallacher on a free from Dundee United.
Baggies fans will be glad to know that Iwan Roberts, many times
a thorn in our sides, was one of six players who left Carrow Road
in the summer, a group which also included former Baggies 'keeper
Paul Crichton.
So where does that leave the squad?
Darren Huckerby is the obvious danger man. He was superbly marshalled
by James Chambers when the sides met at Carrow Road in March, but
it will be different this time around. Not only has James departed
for Watford, but Albion are at home and looking for three points,
not the point they were happy with in Division One. Megson may opt
for a man-marker as it did work so well, although I don't see an
obvious choice for the role in the new look Albion squad.
Up front alongside Huckerby we may see Leon McKenzie with Bentley
playing just behind. McKenzie has an impressive goalscoring record
averaging more than a goal every two league games in his time at
Peterborough and Norwich before this season. His first start was
against Portsmouth and, with seven appearances as sub, he has yet
to net this season. It is a problem that has affected the whole
Norwich side. They have scored just seven goals in their eight Premiership
matches (Albion have a mighty eight to their name!!) with only Huckerby
scoring more than once.
Norwich do have some other good players like Mulryne, Holt, McVeigh
and Svensson, but with Huckerby yet to really prove himself consistently
at Premiership level, there is really only Robert Green that can
be said to be truly at home in the top flight.
Having said all that, Norwich are a side that you underestimate
at your peril. Newcastle were cruising at 2-0 and found to their
cost that Norwich will battle hard and will not give up - it is
something that Albion must take heed of. We all remember a 2-0 lead
against Sunderland just before Christmas 2002!
Albion must approach this game in the same manner that they did
against Bolton, and if Zoltan can come up with another couple of
magic moments, we'll all be happy. I truly believe that we are capable
of getting nine points from the next four games and if we can, mid-table
obscurity will no longer be a dream!
So what of the starting line-up - here's my latest selection that
Gary will not choose:
Hoult; Contra, Gaardsoe, Albrechtsen, Robinson; Gera, Scimeca, Johnson,
Greening; Kanu, Earnshaw.
Obviously, that is dependent on Johnson and Robinson recovering
from injury. If they do not, I would expect to see Big Dave in defence
with Albrechtsen at left back. As for the midfield, who knows -
Megson has said he won't play Gera and Koumas together, which I
believe is wrong when you have a four-man midfield, and I would
assume that would mean that Sakiri and Gera will not play together
either. So who does that leave? Dyer on the left perhaps, O'Connor
in the middle?
With the suspensions and injuries, this is proving a test of the
squad, and of Megson's principles. We can hope that the first will
prove strong enough, and maybe the second will take a little bending
that could lead to a changes, perhaps?
Whatever the team that is put out, it is capable of winning this
match, and win it we must!
Jon Want, 11th October 2004.
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