Ade 1997©Coming back to Oxford from a great weekend out in Nottingham, listening to the West Brom - Birmingham City game on Radio Five (23/11/97), I pondered, as you do on the M42, will the Baggies make it? What happens to this WebSite when Forest go up and West Brom stay where they are for another season?
The Baggies, as I’m sure Steve will acknowledge, were lucky to get the win against Birmingham. They keep it out well at their end, but are not prolific in front of goal and lack anything exciting to come into the team.
General concern emanates from the fact that West Brom don’t have the squad to see them through. They’ve scrapped for results and got them. Credit where credits due. Passion and commitment will never be a problem for West Brom players and fans. But quality outside of the 1st XI is in short supply. 'Its a marathon not a sprint' and the Baggies have belted the first hundred meters. 'Reach for the oranges quick lads'.
Forest and Middlesborough with their Premiership set-ups are far better placed to go all the way. Whether we can afford these set-ups in a lower division is questionable, but the fact that we have strength in depth suggests to me a distinct advantage over the likes of West Brom, Swindon and Sheffield United.
The ‘squad’ is everything in Premiership football and Division One sides need to take note. If you’re going to make it out of the toughest league in England (Div. I), then those teams with the man power, in my opinion, stand a good chance. Gritty performances with the same eleven men over a season can’t be sustained.
Good luck West Brom, this site depends on it.
Come on you Reds.