Robert Martinez’s sagacity in affording Ben Watson his first game of the season for Wigan Athletic yesterday was repaid in shovelfuls as the midfielder engineered a football club-defining performance to help Latics defeat the Arsenal. The Londoner was recalled from a loan at West Bromwich Albion at the start of April and those who have remained faithful to the Spanish manager’s romanticism will be feeling warm inside this morning.But does this signal a new beginning for Watson, or should he expect to continue his picaresque Championship journeyings next term?I have seen Watson in the hoops of QPR and the stripes…
All posts tagged WBA
Once more unto the breach…
So here we are again. A fourth promotion for West Bromwich Albion in nine seasons, though most people quote that stat as if it’s a bad thing; obviously they were not following Albion during the 1990s.But will it be a matching fourth relegation, or is there reason to expect survival? And if so, how, and with who, will it be achieved?Firstly, hats off to the gaffer. Despite arriving at the Hawthorns last summer with only a year’s experience in management behind him, Robert Di Matteo has more than matched the expectations.It is easy to get carried away with success –…
The Bandwagon Rolls On
Without wishing to put a hex on tonight’s result, it looks like it’s when rather than if for Newcastle and West Brom at the top of the table. With nine points and a commodious goal difference separating the Albion and Forest, it seems that it’ll be as you are for the rest of the season unless the Reds can recapture the form that briefly made it a three horse race.Even then, Forest would have to rely on a serious downturn in fortune for either of the top two, and I don’t see that happening. Newcastle show no sign whatsoever of…
The Cost of Ambition
Of the three divisions in the Football League, the Championship is possibly the most fragmented both in terms of the relative sizes of its member clubs and, by extension, their ambitions. Whilst, with four or five exceptions, there is not a huge difference between the size of the clubs in Leagues 1 and 2, there exists great inequality within the Championship in this respect. There are, of course, many parameters dictating how big a club is – history, budget, stadium – but if we take attendance as a barometer, we can see that Newcastle get over five times the average…
Eight Out of Work Managers
Paul Hart’s instalment at Crystal Palace last week continued the trend for this 2009-10 Championship season to resemble an episode of Swap Shop. We have remarked more than once in recent months how Chairmen have spent a minimum of time over their re-staffing decisions: the first name that springs to mind has become the main axiom. Hence, the newly sacked have been deemed the most suitable to take clubs forward - current experience has been valued above all and we have Darren at Preston, Brian at Burnley, Alan at Hillsborough and now Paul at the Palace.There is no doubt that…
P Squires: Interesting read, but '...which by train is comfortably further from L...
Lloyd: An enjoyable, snappy piece of writing Will.
Going through Worcester...
Frank Heaven: LR - yes, that's right, with Albion and Wolves being in Staffordshire....
Lanterne Rouge: Great piece Will. Of course country boundary changes do tend to confus...
Eoghan Darbyshire: Quality player, could see he was head and shoulders above the rest of...
