Looking for back to back wins against Birmingham teams. This time against the Albion of the Black Country. They speak funny up there, so hopefully that gives us the edge. Officials and teams by others.
Edozie back in full training. Not sure ready for this game but interested to see if/how he fits in under Eckert and if, like the rest of the team he has improved. Wouldn't be surprised to see him get some game time to see if we stick or twist in the transfer window.
Another team who have a poor record away from home. They haven’t won away since a narrow win against Liam Mannings Norwich on October 1st (and Norwich were the better team in that game too). Their other 2 away wins came back in August. Hopefully having taken Scienza and Armstrong off so early yesterday they’ll be relatively fresh for this. Can imagine they might look to sit in and frustrate us so might have to find a different way to win than in recent games.
People also ask Why are West Brom called The Throstles? AI Overview West Brom are called "The Throstles" because of the song thrush (throstle) that appears on the club's crest, which originated from the Hawthorns area where the team's ground is located, as it was dense with hawthorn bushes. Another contributing factor is that an early version of the club kept a caged throstle as a mascot that was said to only sing if the team was winning. (Where the term "you only sing when you're winning" came from) Club crest: The club's official badge has featured a throstle (song thrush) on a hawthorn branch for over a century. Ground name: The club's home ground, opened in 1900, is called "The Hawthorns" because of the abundance of hawthorn bushes in the area. Mascot: A throstle was kept as a mascot in the early days, and the story goes that it would only sing if Albion was winning, further cementing the bird's association with the team. Nicknames: While the "Throstles" nickname is still used, the club is now more commonly known as "The Baggies". However, Thrush has another connotation that might explain why WBA prefer to use Baggies or Albion as their nickname, and why I've never really taken to cottage cheese. Thrush is a common fungal infection caused by an overgrowth of the Candida yeast, often leading to a white, sore rash in the mouth or a vaginal infection. Symptoms include white patches in the mouth, soreness, and a cottage cheese-like discharge in vaginal cases. It is caused by factors like a weakened immune system, taking antibiotics, diabetes, and hormonal changes, and is treated with antifungal medications. I'd like to see them get that Thrush on the club's official badge though.
Their fans seem very deflated at the moment and are very underwhelmed with Ryan Mason's style of football (or lack of). Seems they aren't very good at creating good scoring opportunities, and yet they have a clear dangerman in Heggebo, who has scored 6 goals in their last 5 games. They might be having a mini crisis between the sticks too, as Mason dropped their first choice (Griffiths) on Saturday, only for the 2nd choice (Wildsmith) to come in and have an absolute shocker. Will Mason continue with Wildsmith, or eat humble pie and go back to Griffiths? One to watch.
Tuesday 9th December 2025. Football League Championship Southampton FC v West Bromwich Albion FC 19:45 KO. Referee: Samuel Allison, Assistant Referee: Richard Woodward, Assistant Referee: Lee Venamore, Fourth Official: Alan Young,
Of course they're depressed. It's part of being an Albion fan. In the 60's I worked in Brum for two years and most of my workmates were Albion fans. Lovely bunch, but seemingly forever pissed off with their team. It was day two when a woman said to me that you could always tell if the Albion had lost. How's that? I asked. 'Cos it's quarter to five of a Saturday, she said. While i was there they lost to QPR in a League Cup Final and beat Everton to win the FA Cup. No matter. Hangdog was still the norm. We'll slaughter them and provide endless moaning chatter for their fans on the way home. We mustn't disappoint.
I don't think there's an official line. It seemed like we were happy to sell him in the summer and it got leaked (no idea who by) quite early in the summer that he had several clubs that were interested in him and it was up to him to decide which one to choose. And then it all went quiet. No idea what happened, whether he just decided he'd rather stay then go to one of the interested clubs, or we weren't happy with the fee being offered for him or what. But like Aribo, he was kept separate from the rest over the summer and although he was presumably 'keeping fit' it's not the same as a proper pre-season. Then when it became evident that we weren't going to be able to sell or loan he and Aribo were introduced back into first team training. The official line then was that like Aribo he was working his way back to fitness so that he could be an option for the first team, but then he picked up an injury and that's where we are now. He's recovered from the injury and seems to be back in contention again. I hope he can get his head right because he'd still be an excellent option off the bench for us imo.
Anyone know much about the West Brom team? Will they have many in the team that we played 2 seasons ago? Just wonder whether the 'revenge' factor might be in it for them and boost their performance after we beat them in the play off semi final.
Shows how quickly things can change when I really can't see us losing this Might not be as comfortable as recent home games though. 2-1 Saints.
It's difficult to look past us given the form of both sides. Have we faced a side that sits in a low block under Tonda? Not unusual for us to struggle to break sides down that play defensive and are happy for us to have the ball. We do now have players that are in form and can create something from nothing so hopefully that should help us break sides like that down as can see West Brom setting up that way.
Yeah the good thing now is that we have players willing to shoot from distance/a manager that encourages them too. The low block was like kryptonite to the high-possession/slow build up. Was infuriating. Hopefully now Azaz or Scienza will just curl a peach into the corner early doors so West Brom have to come out and play.
Yeah even though it is 3/1 I may not even bother with an insurance bet as it is chucking money away. Lol watch us lose now.....
I think having Scienza and Fellows who are both very direct will help with that. Key to breaking down teams who sit in is often having the ability to beat players in the wide areas forcing players in the middle to come out.
I thought exactly those two things this morning lol. "Not gonna bother" and "actually I did for the last 3 home games so I better really"
There are still a few players left there, but by and large they're a much weaker team than 18 months ago. Palmer, Furlong, Townsend, and Kipre have (bizarrely) all gone to Ipswich. Fellows has joined us, Weimann has joined Derby, Thomas-Asante has joined Coventry, Diangana and Yokuslu have moved abroad. Bartley has retired. They have made a handful of decent acquisitions - on paper Nat Phillips and Chris Mepham should be a half decent CB pairing at this level - and they are capable of beating anyone on their day, but they're not strong enough to repeat a top six finish. That ship has sailed.
I've just looked into it further, and of the 20 players who WBA named in their squad for the SF at SMS, only three of them were in either of their past two matchday squads: Mowatt, Johnston and Griffiths (and Griffiths didn't play a second at SMS due to being the sub keeper). There's then, I think, a further four who were WBA players 18 months ago, and still are today, but weren't selected both then and now. By contrast, eight of our 20 players that day have appeared in either of our past two match day squads. (With a further four still being on our books.)
