West Brom Thread

[aws]

Have we got a game this weekend or what?

 

Strongest side whatever happens tomorrow. Yossi instead of riera. Maybe Insua instead of Aurelio.

 

Won't be that easy as a win sends them down so they'll be well up for it.

[Woo]

-----------------Reina----------------

 

Arbeloa----Carra-------Agger-----Insua

 

---------Mascherano----Alonso--------

 

----Kuyt-------Gerrard--------Yossi----

 

----------------Torres-----------------

[Hand Shandy]

-----------------Reina----------------

 

Arbeloa----Carra-------Agger-----Insua

 

---------Mascherano----Alonso--------

 

----Kuyt-------Gerrard--------Yossi----

 

----------------Torres-----------------

 

Yep.

[lfc123]

Sunday 17th May 2009 @ 1.30pm

The Hawthorns

FA Premier League

 

West Brom v Liverpool

 

The Baggies won't have been relegated by the time we play them, at least not mathematically. So expect them to want to go out fighting rather than a whimper. I hate these end of season dog-fight games but hopefully the reds can put in another fantastic performance.

 

If (and I do mean if) United have already won the title by the time we kick off then I can imagine the reds would be pretty dispirited ahead of this game.

 

Anyway, I'll stay positive. Hope to see Alonso back, and hope to see Gerrard bang a goal in and break his own Liverpool goalscoring record.

[Liverpool lad]

They are not clinical enough infront of goal, nor defending it. I cannot see anything other than a bumming being given out. All the fancy stuff they play will be killed off by the midfield we put out.

 

Mark predicts 0-3 and loads of people crying

[Liverpool lad]

They are not clinical enough infront of goal, nor defending it. I cannot see anything other than a bumming being given out. All the fancy stuff they play will be killed off by the midfield we put out.

 

Mark predicts 0-3 and loads of people crying

[ratcatcher]

Im just hoping for 3 points!

 

C'mon Reds!

[Wor Horse]

0-7.

[Anubis]

9 months in and Mowbray still hasn't learnt that his team need to build a defensive platform from which they can attack, and now it's too late as they absolutely have to go all out. I sense a bumming on the cards. If Torres is on song he can really fill his boots here.

[The 5th Benitel]

-----------------Reina----------------

 

Arbeloa----Carra-------Agger-----Insua

 

---------Mascherano----Alonso--------

 

----Kuyt-------Gerrard--------Yossi----

 

----------------Torres-----------------

 

 

 

Yep, maybe Aurelio instead of Insua for the set pieces.

[Sweeney287]

Woo's got the team spot on I reckon.

 

Comfortable 4-0 as they will have to attack. Torres and Gerrard with 2 each.

[tokyojoe]

0-7.

 

That's the spririt!

[ToxtethTerror]

I think we will absolutely demolish them.

[King Emlyn]

It will all be over by time we kick off but we need to finish on 86, that will show a real statement of intent to nudge ahead of them again next season.

[King Emlyn]

-----------------Reina----------------

 

Arbeloa----Carra-------Agger-----Insua

 

---------Mascherano----Alonso--------

 

----Kuyt-------Gerrard--------Yossi----

 

----------------Torres-----------------

I'd go with that, that's our best team.

[gaz181]

If Gerrard and Torres start then we'll just pick them off almost at will I think. Should be comfortable despite them fighting for their premiership lives.

[rebel23]

lets send them down

[Hyppia 4]

-----------------Reina----------------

 

Arbeloa----Carra-------Agger-----Insua

 

---------Mascherano----Alonso--------

 

----Kuyt-------Gerrard--------Yossi----

 

----------------Torres-----------------

 

Quoted in complete agreement.

 

Like to see Darby and Nemeth on the bench as well.

[Unrighteous]

Playing for pride. I think Sami should start both of these games...

[SpeedyG]

Guess Roman Bednar won't be playing.

 

A PREMIER League soccer star is caught preparing for his club's relegation battle . . . by scoring a £420 bag of COCAINE and CANNABIS from a drug dealer.

 

West Brom striker Roman Bednar is pictured brazenly buying drugs from a peddler in a Merc outside his home only hours after playing in his side's win against Wigan last weekend.

 

Just three days later - as the team was in training for today's crunch clash against Liverpool - his fiancée took delivery of MORE drugs as the same men drove up to Bednar's home again.

 

Last night when we confronted the 26-year-old Czech international with our damning evidence he sneered: "Yeah, so?" and claimed it was for a friend. He added: "It wasn't for me."

 

But as the seriousness of what he had done sank in, he gulped: "I am f****d."

 

Our revelations will infuriate West Brom fans praying their bottom-of-the-table team avoid the drop into the Championship. And they will shock football chiefs desperate to keep drugs out of the game.

 

Astonishingly, £18,000-a-week goal ace Bednar set the first deal up with a text to his dealer around 7pm last Saturday AS HE LEFT the club's Hawthorns ground following his team's 3-1 victory.

 

Shortly after he arrived back at his £500,000 home, a Mercedes SL500 AMG coupé slowly pulled up outside.

 

Within minutes, the 6ft 3in tall striker - who scored 17 goals in just 22 games last season to fire West Brom into the Premier League - strolled up to the driver's window. He pulled out a wad of notes and leaned in.

 

The driver, who was accompanied by another man, said it was the correct amount which a source later confirmed was £420 - £400 for FIVE GRAMS of cocaine and an extra £20 for cannabis. That's a party-size amount of cocaine enough for about 70 LINES.

 

Bednar was given the bag of drugs. He made no attempt to hide the illegal transaction - and he didn't seem in a hurry to dash back to his house to avoid the prying eyes of neighbours.

 

He even chatted about going away on holiday at the end of the season. The dealer asked whether he would be wanting some more of the "same good one" in the future, pointing at the drugs. Bednar said he would be interested.

 

Then he sauntered back into his semi-detached home in Sutton Coldfield as his suppliers sped away.

 

Brazen

 

The dealer later told us: "Even we couldn't believe how brazen he was just walking out into the street in daylight. We would expect him to be more discreet. A lot of footballers live in the area and he is well known. We normally charge around £40 a gram of cocaine - but for Roman we charge up to £60, sometimes £80 a gram, because basically he can afford it and doesn't complain."

 

Then on Tuesday it was the turn of Bednar's dark-haired girlfriend Deniz Askinova to emerge from the house in a quiet surburban road and pick up another stash of drugs.

 

Following the same pattern as the previous deal, the pushers pulled up in the same car.

 

Like the soccer star lover she has dated for several years, Deniz - in her mid-20s - greeted the dealers with a friendly smile and produced £360 in a roll of notes. She handed it to the driver through the door in exchange for another bag of drugs.

 

£400 for five grams of cocaine and £20 for the cannabis

 

Bednar is a hero and role model to fans of West Brom, nicknamed The Baggies. He signed from Scottish Premier club Hearts for £2.3 million and played a major part in Albion's promotion while also helping them reach the FA Cup semi finals.

 

Last night he told our reporter: "I have had three f****** drugs tests, in a year, I was clean. I am clean."

 

His girlfriend insisted: "Roman is not like that. I understand how someone can believe he bought it for himself. But he didn't."

 

It is unknown whether Bednar has ever undergone any doping tests. But his purchase from the dealers alone could lead to a lengthy ban. A source told us last night: "What he did is madness.

 

"He has shamed the game. There is no place for such behaviour. He has let the fans down who pay good money to watch him every week."

 

Later last night Bednar's agent made frantic calls to try and stop the News of the World from running the story.

 

Addict

 

Eliot Bantil, of Sport Invest, said: "You and I know the damage this can do the player's career is phenomenal. It will kill it in England. This could cost him seven figures. It is going to cost him pretty much his career."

 

"I am absolutely shocked that he has been stupid enough to get involved in this. He is completely screwing his life. I don't expect it from a professional footballer. I know how serious this is."

 

Soccer authorities - along with other sports governing bodies - have introduced new measures to clamp down on the use of illegal drugs. Players have to be available for random testing for one hour every day. In 2003 Rio Ferdinand famously missed a drugs test at Man United's training ground and was banned for eight months. Now footballers who miss three tests in 18 months without good reason may be banned for up to two years.

 

Cocaine can be detected in urine tests up to three days after being taken - but cases of soccer stars caught using drugs are rare.

 

One high profile case was former Chelsea star Adrian Mutu who was sacked after he tested positive for cocaine in the 2003-2004 season. Goalkeeper Mark Bosnich was also sacked by Chelsea in 2002 for failing a drugs test and later confessed to being a cocaine addict.

 

In November 1994, former Arsenal ace Paul Merson put his career on the line when he admitted being a cocaine addict.

 

The Football Association arranged for a rehabilitation programme and he returned to the Arsenal team in February 1995

 

Bednar's exposure adds to a week of shame for football with Spurs and England defender Ledley King spending a night in the cells after allegedly assaulting a nightclub doorman.

 

West Brom refused to comment on Bednar last night until the club has held an internal inquiry.

[Paul]

Not sure what I want to see from this match now. Second is still not assured and that is still quite psychologically important for next season in my view. Also, 86 points would be a club record from a 38 match season, I believe (makes the fall away from the 82 point finish in 2006 even more galling in a way, but I digress). However, Torres is playing in that Confederations nonsense this summer and I'm worried about his fitness. If I was Rafa, I'd be very tempted to tell him his season is over and just focus on his fitness for August and the next campaign.

 

Pepe

 

Albert Carra Danny Boy Insua

 

Xabi The Chief

 

Dirk Gerrard Yossi

 

Babel

[Herp McDerp]

I'd try out Agger and Skrtel at the back, see how they work togather. Would also give our resident matchstick man a start in place of Bob, see how he gets on. Would be nice to have some youngsters on the bench as well.

[GJM]

Hadn't realised Torres was playing with Spain this summer - that's unfortunate and almost certainly means that he will be rested for games at the start of next season. Best get used to it now.

 

To my mind, it also makes an imperative out of buying a top quality striker this summer. Not a 'Torres back up', but, as Hermes (I think) has said on another thread, somebody who allows to rely less on the Torres/Gerrard axis. One of the things that we suffered from at times this season was our inability to change our system of play when things weren't working.

 

Torres/Gerrard is by far our best attacking combination, but we would benefit greatly from having an alternative when they are not available (Torres will miss games), or when teams are set up to nullify the way we play.

[ATXRED]

Not sure what I want to see from this match now. Second is still not assured and that is still quite psychologically important for next season in my view. Also, 86 points would be a club record from a 38 match season, I believe (makes the fall away from the 82 point finish in 2006 even more galling in a way, but I digress). However, Torres is playing in that Confederations nonsense this summer and I'm worried about his fitness. If I was Rafa, I'd be very tempted to tell him his season is over and just focus on his fitness for August and the next campaign.

 

Pepe

 

Albert Carra Danny Boy Insua

 

Xabi The Chief

 

Dirk Gerrard Yossi

 

Babel

 

I'm gonna disagree Paul, in my mind we need to send out a statement of intent for next year in our last two games. The mancs are going to be celebrating and thinking they'll have 19 come the end of next season.

 

For me, the best (and only) way we can piss in their cornflakes is to go out tomorrow, and put on our best display all season. I want Fucking 8. Then, I want us to go and put 4 past those fucking London cunts next week, for that loss earlier. We need to remind the mancs that the only way they're getting to 19, is through us. We need to send a quick reminder, that we are back, and that trophy they just got, is coming back to our cabinet to stay. The only way we're going to do that, is to kick the everloving shit out of West Brom and Spurs.

 

So, for me, Torres starts as long as he's fit. It may be short sighted, but it sure as hell will make me feel better.

[GJM]

Hadn't realised Torres was playing with Spain this summer - that's unfortunate and almost certainly means that he will be rested for games at the start of next season. Best get used to it now.

 

To my mind, it also makes an imperative out of buying a top quality striker this summer. Not a 'Torres back up', but, as Hermes (I think) has said on another thread, somebody who allows to rely less on the Torres/Gerrard axis. One of the things that we suffered from at times this season was our inability to change our system of play when things weren't working.

 

Torres/Gerrard is by far our best attacking combination, but we would benefit greatly from having an alternative when they are not available (Torres will miss games), or when teams are set up to nullify the way we play.

 

Sorry, to link this to the WBA game - as per the thread theme - I should have also added that I would definitely play Torres this afternoon. We should finish as strongly as possible. I want 2nd place and 86pts. A tremendous achievement - albeit one that feels a little hollow just now.