The Lord's My Shepherd - A West Bromwich Albion Story

[xdannyw92]

West Bromwich Albion Transfer News

A host of players have left West Bromwich Albion this summer. Most notably; James Morrison who has joined newly promoted Blackpool for £3.5m and also Gonzalo Jara has left for Brazilian club, Vasco for £3.2m. Simon *** has left for Sheffield United for a fee of £1.3m, whilst Keith Andrews leaves Albion for Southampton for £800k.

In a surprising transfer, Marton Fulop has been signed by Valencia for £1.1m as Albion welcome Boaz Myhill back from his loan spell at Birmingham, to join Ben Foster who made his loan deal permanent. West Brom youngster Saido Berahino joins James Morrison at Blackpool for £1m.

Morrison only made 7 league appearances all season for the Baggies

Nicky Shorey, Luke Daniels and Somen Tchoyi have left the club after their contracts weren't renewed. Joe Mattock was snapped up by Southampton before his contract ended at the club and will go there on a free transfer and join Keith Andrews.

The moves come ahead of a big season for the Baggies. The side have qualified for the EUFA Champions League and there a big transfers expected to come in for the club. Many sources indicate West Brom are after a left back to replace Nicky Shorey, leaving Liam Ridgewell as the only recognizable one in the squad. Rumours are being heard of Reto Zeigler coming back to English football and also Blackburn's Martin Olsson is likely to join Albion.

In Other News

Roy Hodgson came out of retirement to manage England during Euro 2012 and will be regretting his decision to do so, as England failed to qualify from a group containing Spain, Ireland and Norway. Ireland qualified but got knocked out by Jonas Olsson's Sweden. Germany beat the Swedes on penalties in the final. Jonas Olsson and Shane Long were both named in the Euro 2012 Dream Team.

Tony Pulis has been made the new Aston Villa manager and was replaced by Alex McLeish in a straight swap. Carlo Ancelotti has been reappointed as Chelsea manager and Rafa Benitez has been made manager of Man City. Roberto Mancini is currently favourite to replace Pep Guardiola as Barcelona manager after he left to manage Spain.

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[xdannyw92]

Baggies Sign Griezmann

West Bromwich Albion have signed French winger, Antoine Griezmann from Real Sociedad for a fee believed to be £14m. The move comes after a large number of departures at the Baggies and Sociedad's relgation from La Liga. The 21 year old left winger becomes Albion's record signing, almost tripling the former record that stood at £5m for Borja Valero. Griezmann has spent his entire career at Real Socidedad, scoring 19 goals in 108 league games for the Spanish outfit.

Antoine spoke to the Express & Star newspaper stating his respect for Cyrille Regis was one of the key factors to his move. "Regis is a brilliant manager and has took a club into the Champions League surrounded by teams like Man City and Chelsea. I respect him for that and I have learnt a lot about West Brom's history and Cyrille's history there. I hope to become a part of West Brom's history."

Cyrille Regis spoke of his delight with the transfer. "Antoine is a young and promising talent. He can lead this team to glory and give us more strength on the left side of the pitch. He is an out-and-out winger so he will be something that the team has been missing and I know the fans will come to love him here."

Griezmann will wear the number 7 shirt at Albion next season


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[wbastevo13]

what a great first season mate! bringing the glory days back to the albion boing boing!!. good luck for the coming season

 

[xdannyw92]

Albion Strengthen Youth Squad

West Bromwich Albion have signed French midfielder, Jeremy Quemener from PSG on a free transfer after his contract expired at the French club. Quemener has been dubbed as the next Yousuff Mulumbu and PSG fans don't seem to be to happy about letting such a bright young talent leave the club on a free.

Albion have also signed 16 year old centre back Aaron Lock from Cheltenham for £40k. Lock made 2 appearances for Cheltenham in League 2 last season making his debut at 15 making him the youngest player to ever play in the English football league. The two youngsters join Antoine Griezmann as the other signing at the Hawthorns this summer. West Brom are still rumoured to be looking at a left back after Nicky Shorey's departure. Reto Zeigler and Didac are likely to join Albion having been transfer listed by their clubs.

Quemener captained the PSG reserves last season and captained their U17 team to win the league.

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[xdannyw92]

West Brom Announce Hawthorns Expansion

West Bromwich Albion are proud to announce that plans to expand the Hawthorns are under way. The expansion will add an extra 11,800 seats in the Hawthorns which sold out 18 of the 19 league games last season. The work will take place in the Halfords Lane, which will be expanded and have an extra tier added to it. Work will also take place at the Birmingham Road end by filling in the corners with seats.

The work is expected to be completed by the 7th December 2012, therefore the club regrets to announce the capacity of the stadium will be reduced whilst the work is being done. The club will like to apologize for any inconvenience caused by this. Whilst the work is taking place the Halfords Lane road will be closed to any traffic, please follow diversion signs for alternative routes.

West Brom would also like to announce work on the Youth Facilities is taking place. The club feel it is necessary to focus on developing its own players since the club is now looking forward to European football. The facilities should be complete in early October.

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[Klippybo]

You signed a French dwarf? He looks tiny!

 

[BeadSTARR]

Really liking this story, even though WBA aren't my faviorite of clubs. Give us Ben Foster back!! Been a while since I have been keeping an eye on a stroy. Definetely got yourself a follower from me.

 

[xdannyw92]

You signed a French dwarf? He looks tiny!

5ft7 on the game but he looks tiny on that picture haha. He's got good stats though, never heard of him before and didn't cost me a penny

 

[xdannyw92]

Pre-Season Review 2012

West Brom have won all of their games over the pre-season. Comprehensive wins against Bury and Scunthorpe and then 4 wins during the clubs tour of Belgium and France where they faced Beerschot, Lierse, Red Star 93 and Chamois Niortais. On their return home Albion beat Sevilla 2-0 in front of their own fans. Adil Nabi and Chris Wood seemed to be creating a good partnership together with 11 goals between them. The strike duo grabbed a brace each against Red Star 93. Newboy Griezmann got two goals and 4 assists over the pre-season.

Game of the Pre-Season

Regis opted to field a full strength side against the Spanish club and a first half brace from Shane Long saw off Sevilla to show that West Brom have the quality to compete in Europe. Last season Albion beat Real Madrid 3-0 at the Hawthorns and now are making it look like a tradition to face a Spanish club at the Hawthorns. Long's first goal came after a bit of skill from Antoine Griezmann who squared the ball to an unmarked Shane Long to put Albion 1 up. Chris Brunt's corner set up Long's second as the Irish striker looks to continue his great form into next season.

Player of the Pre-Season

Chris Wood

Wood grabbed 7 goals over a successful pre-season as he tries to get into Albion's first team more often this season.

West Brom Seal Loan Deals

Didac and Jamal Blackman have joined the Baggies on loan for the rest of the season. Spanish left back, Didac, joins on loan from AC Milan ahead of a permanent move at the end of the season. Jamal Blackman joins Albion on loan from Chelsea. The young, English goalkeeper gives West Brom a bit of extra depth in the goalkeeping area and is also an extra Englishman for their European campaign.

EUFA Champions League Best Placed Play-Off Draw

West Bromwich Albion v Sporting Lisbon

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[xdannyw92]

August 2012 Review

West Brom picked up a fantastic win at Villa park to kick off the new season. However, their joy in the league was short lived as a disappointing home draw against Burnley wasn't good enough for the home fans. Shane Long scored a goal 5 minutes from time to save the day. It was Shane Long who is now a cult hero at West Brom. His goal against Sporting Lisbon in the first leg was cancelled out late on as Albion conceded the away goal, but the Baggies are through into the Group Stage after 'that' night in Lisbon.

Game of the Month

Having let a lead slip at the Hawthorns and conceding an away goal, Albion knew they had to go to Lisbon and get a goal. It was the Portuguese side who drew first blood. Diego Angelo headed Lisbon ahead after 7 minutes and the floodgates seemed to have opened as Claudio Pitbull doubled the Portugeuse side's lead only 2 minutes later. West Brom set about pulling a goal back, Chris Brunt hit the cross bar and Jerome Thomas came close as he came into the squad following Antoine Griezmann's injury.

Cyrille Regis made two changes at half time, taking off Billy Jones for Gareth McAuley and Didac for Erick Torres as West Brom went out trying to achieve the impossible. And 10 minutes into the second half Peter Odemwingie smashed the ball into the back of the net after the ball fell loose from a tackle on Long. The goal spurred the Baggies on and as the Black Country side's fans 'boing boing-ed' in the rain in Lisbon West Brom surged forward.

Albion's chances took a massive blow. Jonas Olsson took down Claudio Pitbull and was judged to be the last man. The Baggies captain was shown a straight red card with 11 minutes to play. Graham Dorrans came off the bench for Ruben Yttergard Jenssen.

The Scot's fresh legs pushed Lisbon back into their own area and shortly after the 4th assistant indicated there would be 3 minutes added time Shane Long was hauled down in the Sporting area. Wolfgang Stark made no hesitation in pointing the spot to the horror of the Sporting players. Shane Long stepped up to make West Bromwich Albion history and the Irishman buried it past Rui Patricio. The West Brom players, staff and Cyrille Regis went berserk in front of their own fans and when the final whistle went the whole of the West Brom dugout ran out on to the pitch to celebrate one of the clubs most historic results as the Baggies marched into the Group Stage on away goals.

'The Lord is My Shepherd' shook Sporting's stadium after the final whistle.

EUFA Champions League Group Stage Draw
Group G

A very tough group. Albion were in the draw as 4th seeds and could have been put in Group B with Barcelona, AC Milan and Dortmund. However, they hung in their and will face Real Madrid, who they beat 3-0 last season in a friendly, Werder Bremen and Spartak Moscow in a tough group, but not as tough as Standard Liege will find in Group B.

Barclays Premier League

Each team has played 2 games and so far they're both insignificant in terms of the way the table looks. QPR, Reading and Blackpool are still after their first point whilst Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd have won both their opening games. Albion sit in 6th after Shane Long's equaliser against Burnley denied the new boys their first win.

Player of the Month

Shane Long

That penalty conversion made Albion history, as well as 3 other goals in each game during August.

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[Klippybo]

Must have been a Villa/Wolves fan in charge of Champions League draw

 

[xdannyw92]

Definitely lol it's a horrible draw. I reckon I could put up a contest with Werder Bremen and Spartak though

 

[xdannyw92]

Tamas Leave West Brom on Deadline Day

Gabriel Tamas left West Brom for Italian club, Parma for £2m on transfer deadline day. The Romanian centre back struggled for first team opportunities last season and with Craig Dawson returning to the club after a season long loan at Blackpool he has decided to leave the Hawthorns after 3 years at the club.

The transfer ends a busy window for West Brom. The club raked in £13m for sold players, James Morrison and Gonzalo Jara were the main departures. Albion broke their record transfer fee on Antoine Griezmann for £14m as the club spent £18m on transfers, the rest contributing towards Ben Foster's move and Didac's loan fee.

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[94amc94]

this is really good, love the layout. Give mines a read and comment if u have a chance mate. The don's revival. KUTGW

 

[xdannyw92]

September 2012 Review

West Brom started September brilliantly. A battling win over new-boys Reading was topped off with a brilliant performance from Graham Dorrans, who scored 1 and contributed 3 assists to Albion's win. Shane Long got a brace against his former club. It was 4 again for the Baggies as they thrashed a poor Blackpool side. 3 goals from Shane Long and 3 assists from Graham Dorrans put the Seasiders to bed. A glorious performance against Werder Bremen gave West Brom their first ever Champions League win but then the Baggies drew to a poor Swansea side andcrashed out of the Carling Cup with a weak team against Milwall. Plus a home defeat against an in-form Spurs ended the month poorly for Albion.

Game of the Month

The whole of England watched in anticipation to see how Albion would fare against the German club. Bremen finished 3rd in the Budesliga last season and were very intimidating opposition for the Black Country club, but Erick Torres had different ideas as he darted through the heart of the German defence to fire Albion 1-0 up after 27 minutes. 6 minutes later, Antoine Griezmann got his first goal for the club to double the Baggies' lead.

Bremen were resurgent in the second half. Claudio Pizarro struck twice on the 55th and 68th minute. West Brom changed tactics and pushed for a winner. Just as the board was lifted for extra time, Griezmann whipped in a cross and Shane Long smashed the ball past Tim Wiese. 3-2 to the Baggies and no one could believe it. A first win in the Champions League for West Brom and a well deserved one.

Brunt and Long celebrate Albion's victory after the final whistle.

Barclays Premier League

The top four seem to be emerging early this season. Spurs, Liverpool and both Manchester clubs appear to be pulling away, but West Brom and Newcastle could have different ideas. Arsenal have enjoyed a better start than last season, as have QPR and Norwich. Chelsea and Villa have had poor starts but not as poor as Blackpool who are still searching for their first point.

Player of the Month

Graham Dorrans

A brilliant goal against Reasding and a host of assists has pushed Chris Brunt out of Regis' starting 11.
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