West Bromwich Albion v Reading Saturday 22nd September 2012 - Kick off 3.00 pm The Hawthorns Premier League FORM GUIDE Table Positions: W.B.A. - 6th - 7 points (played 4 games) Reading 19th - 1 point (played 3 games) West Brom Recent form: Albion began the Clarke era with a 3–0 home win against Liverpool on the opening day of the Premier League season. Clarke then followed that result up with a 1-1 away draw against Tottenham Hotspur, and a 2-0 win at home to Everton. However, last weekend they were humbled 0-3 away at Fulham. Reading Recent form: A stop-start to the season. Just to remind everyone if it were needed: an iffy’ pre-season including a small Portugal tour, a point on the off at home to Stoke, a loss 2-4 away to Chelsea where we gave as good as we got, and the biggest wake-up reality call has been the last match – a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Spurs 1-3 at home (only alleviated by having the highest attendance ever at the Madejski Stadium – see current season Stats on RR). THE BOSS – the current manager of West Brom: Stephen "Steve" Clarke (born 29th August 1963) is a Scottish former footballer and manager of West Bromwich Albion. He played for St. Mirren, Chelsea and Scotland, winning three major trophies with Chelsea towards the end of his career. After retiring as a player he moved into coaching and has worked for Newcastle United, Chelsea, West Ham United and Liverpool. On 8 June 2012, Clarke was announced as the new manager of West Bromwich Albion having signed a two year contract. The job is Clarke's first senior management role for any club (see WBA current form ...) Official West Bromwich Albion Web Site: http://www.wba.co.uk Rivalries: Wolves, Aston Villa and Birmingham ... However, in more recent times a lesser rivalry has also developed with Stoke City, following many years in the same divisions and the fact that Stoke have become something of a bogey team to Albion. Fans: Most of the West Brom fans come from the Black Country, though many are from nearby Birmingham. The club also has many Scottish fans. The West Bromwich Albion Supporters Club has branches throughout the United Kingdom, as well as in Ireland, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Malta and Thailand. Albion's "club anthem" is The Lord's my Shepherd, a setting of Psalm 23. Supporters of the team celebrate goals by bouncing up and down and chanting "Boing Boing". This dates back to the 1992–93 season, when the team was promoted from the new Second Division. Famous Fans: I haven’t got too many, but undoubtedly there are more – Adrian Chiles - TV presenter, Frank Skinner – comedian, Eric Clapton - guitar legend, Lenny Henry – comedian, Goran Ivanisevic - retired Tennis player, Cat Deeley - SMTV, Fame Academy Attendances: WBA had an average 24,798 crowd at home last season, which only suffered some 4,000 difference between maximum and minimum attendances. This season it stands at 25,711 – some 91% of capacity rate. Away fans – If you’re going and want to know more, see this great link about the stadium, travelling and food – http://www.footballgroundguide.com/west_bromwich_albion SCORE PREDICTIONS My own verdict: I feel we’ll nick a draw (1-1); I don’t think our confidence will allow us any more than that ... What do others say? The Oddschecker site, listing nearly all the major betting companies, shows Reading are underdogs again at 7-2, it’s a big change from the championship! WBA have very low odds of 10/11 for a home win, and you’ll get nearly 3/1 for a draw. Last Encounter: Saturday 8th January, 2011 - Madejski Stadium F.A. Cup 3rd Round Match Reading 1 W.B.A. 0 Head-to-head Reading and W.B.A. Played in total 37 times: 11 Reading wins / 17 WBA wins / 9 draws Best Reading victory: October 1995 – WBA 2 Reading 4 (League Cup) // November 1928 – Reading 5 WBA 3 Best WBA victory: March 1929 – WBA 5 Reading 0 Also interesting: Jan 1928 – WBA 5 Reading 3 // September 1992 – WBA 3 Reading 0 // Sept 1996 – WBA 3 Reading 2 // Jan 2006 – Reading 3 WBA 2 (FA Cup) THIS DATE in history: Reading FC on this day? Not bad, of 18 games played we have a W9 D5 L4 record, the best of which was a 5-1 win (H) against Southend in 1965. Most recent match was in 2007 and a 2-1 victory (H) in the Premier over Wigan Athletic. West Brom? Their showing reads W8 D5 L10; most entertaining being a 5-1 win (H) v Swansea in 1928, and a 5-4 win (H) v Bolton in 1962. Last match was a cup victory 2-1 (H) v Man City in 2010. For those who’d like to read a really detailed match presentation please pop over to the specialist Reading FC forum ‘Royals Rendezvous’ where you have even more sections covered (this present article is simply a resume) and many a photo up too … http://royalsrendezvous.co.uk/topic/9708819/1 Daib0
Really tough one this. The Baggies are decent at home. Our boys will need a drastic improvement on the Spurs performance. I'm hoping we can nick a point or three!
