[Albion] Our victories this season

[Weststander]

Get your money on us going down now as insurance. Sure as Ali J, Locadia and Andone ain’t PL players, this team simply doesn’t score enough goals and eventually our amazing defence won’t be able to keep the score down to conceding just a single goal or so. Which means that without goals you’ve no chance. Our droughts are becoming so seasonal we ought to sign El Niño on loan.

One proviso - Bloom might bring in a quality striker or more on loan this month, which could hugely improve our prospects.

 

[nicko31]

Spent a couple of hours driving earlier and my thoughts turned to our season to date, and it dawned on me that we've not really beaten anyone of note this season. By that, I mean...

Watford - basketcase at the time.
Spurs - basketcase at the time.
Everton - basketcase at the time.
Norwich - the sole shit team in the division.
Arsenal - basketcase at the time.
Bournemouth - maybe not in basketcase territory, but injury-plagued and in dreadful form.

...which is worrying.

Trying to look on the bright side, our next two games are against sides that are very much in shocking form and on the fast track to basketcase-ville, as after that, it's looking tricky for a while.

Hell man, talk about glass half empty.

 

[portlock seagull]

One proviso - Bloom might bring in a quality striker or more on loan this month, which could hugely improve our prospects.

I’m not confident just because nothing seems to happen in January anymore. It’s tinkering at best in the PL, usually a recall month or send out reserves to lower leagues. Let’s hope we buck the current trend.

 

[Taybha]

Most other clubs in the division would've seen us as a basket case club after letting 2 of our 4 strikers go out on loan , we have amassed the points we have on merit , and in the main through quality enjoyable to watch football , i think from MY memory the only league games where we've been poor were on Saturday v Everton Man Utd and Southampton , i would add Sheff Utd but they did a job on us restricting the way we play rather than us failing to create , so all in all we are where we are fair and square i think .

 

[Farehamseagull]

I feel that’s harsh and needlessly searching for negatives. You can only play against what’s in front of you and in every single season you will play a number of teams going through difficult times.

On the flip side, we’ve been much the better side and with a little more luck could have also won or picked up points in games against: West Ham, Burnley, Newcastle, Southampton, Villa and Palace.

 

[blue-shifted]

I feel that’s harsh and needlessly searching for negatives. You can only play against what’s in front of you and in every single season you will play a number of teams going through difficult times.

On the flip side, we’ve been much the better side and with a little more luck could have also won or picked up points in games against: West Ham, Burnley, Newcastle, Southampton, Villa and Palace.

Yes, most of the above games we've been cursing that we somehow didn't pick up more points given the dominant performance. We could also have easily nicked one or two more points in games like Spurs and Liverpool away or Chelsea home, where we pressed hard for a late goal but couldn't quite find one.

Only Everton at home did I think we've possibly skanked one. That's about 10 points net we would have more had we been a bit more clinical (or lucky depending on your view)

 

[Stat Brother]

I feel that’s harsh and needlessly searching for negatives. You can only play against what’s in front of you and in every single season you will play a number of teams going through difficult times.

On the flip side, we’ve been much the better side and with a little more luck could have also won or picked up points in games against: West Ham, Burnley, Newcastle, Southampton, Villa and Palace.

Seemingly a Dunk hat-trick at Anfield would have been fortunate as we probably played there at just the right time.

 

[studio150]

My brain is now melting, according to this thread we have only beaten teams that were basket cases, but for the last 50 years, it's always been a given that if a team haven't won for ages when they play us it's guaranteed they will win.

So what is the new normal.

 

[Wellesley]

We played Newcastle, West Ham, and Burnley off the park. Same too with Saints and Villa until we went a man down. All we need is a couple of lethal strikers, two more central midfielders like Mooy that can put them through, a winger or two to provide the crosses, another centre half as good as Dunk and a right back, oh and a keeper over 5'4" and then I'm sure the wins will come. Certainly no need to panic.

 

[Bozza]

I feel that’s harsh and needlessly searching for negatives.

It's really not. I've been endlessly positive about what I've seen from Albion this year and, largely, remain so - I'm a founding member of Club WeShouldHaveSoMuchMore.

I was merely sharing my thoughts from a couple of hours driving.

You can only play against what’s in front of you and in every single season you will play a number of teams going through difficult times

On the flip side, we’ve been much the better side and with a little more luck could have also won or picked up points in games against: West Ham, Burnley, Newcastle, Southampton, Villa and Palace.

Agreed - something I've said many times to anyone who'd listen.

And maybe it's just that - it's the old "it all evens out over a season" thing.

 

[Bozza]

We played Newcastle, West Ham, Burnley and Palace off the park. Same too with Saints and Villa until we went a man down. All we need is a couple of lethal strikers, two more central midfielders like Mooy that can put them through, a winger or two to provide the crosses, another centre half as good as Dunk and a right back, oh and a keeper over 5'4" and then I'm sure the wins will come. Certainly no need to panic.

Fixed for you.

 

[Stat Brother]

So what is the new normal.

Screaming for a policeman because your bed is a little damp.

 

[Wellesley]

...

 

[Stat Brother]

And maybe it's just that - it's the old "it all evens out over a season" thing.

The fact that the team now has 4 'basketcases' in a row and palace slightly further round that corner would suggest, by your metric, that things are looking very positive indeed.

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

Hasn't it always been this way? If teams are not at their best, we can beat them. If we are not at our best we can get beaten. Any team "of note" that we beat, will invariably be seen in the context of their poor performance, rather than our good one. The difference I hope to see this season vs. last (Jan - May at least) is that we beat the teams around us and so far, in my opinion, we have looked much more capable of doing that, but I cannot think of one team in the league that I would be confident of beating on any given day..
Bournemouth and Norwich look to be in trouble - but everyone else is also in trouble, until they're not! Watford, Everton and Southampton are now performing at levels which were expected at the beginning of the season, and really only Sheffield United and Newcastle are performing above where I expected them to be. All of them, plus West Ham, Villa and ourselves will be fine with a couple of wins, or right in the mire with a couple of losses. Plenty of surprises to come, but I would be very surprised if we put in a second half of a season that is as bad as the last one.
I think we will be fine, but it will be close. I think we may get something vs. Bournemouth and Villa, but don't expect us to beat Watford or West Ham, although on any given day we could!

 

[schmunk]

My brain is now melting, according to this thread we have only beaten teams that were basket cases, but for the last 50 years, it's always been a given that if a team haven't won for ages when they play us it's guaranteed they will win.

So what is the new normal.

These are no longer good sides...?

 

[Wellesley]

...

 

[CheeseRolls]

I honestly cannot be arsed to go through my post history. Feel free to help yourself. It's there somewhere.

Good - this is the point.

Say something controversial and there will be plenty of people who don't agree with you. Maybe add a couple of replies to make your point clearer, but if you feel the need to argue every point, with everyone who disagrees with you, please do us all a favour.

For the record, I think Bozza has highlighted an interesting pattern, but it doesn't really stand up to much scrutiny. We were many people's favourites to finish bottom, so were Watford in crisis before the season started? They may have had a hangover from a cup final thrashing and some mild concerns over recruitment activity, it was hardly a crisis. Same goes for Spurs, they may have had a euro thrashing, but the crisis was bought on by a pasting at the Amex, chicken or egg?

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Good - this is the point.

Say something controversial and there will be plenty of people who don't agree with you. Maybe add a couple of replies to make your point clearer, but if you feel the need to argue every point, with everyone who disagrees with you, please do us all a favour.

For the record, I think Bozza has highlighted an interesting pattern, but it doesn't really stand up to much scrutiny. We were many people's favourites to finish bottom, so were Watford in crisis before the season started? They may have had a hangover from a cup final thrashing and some mild concerns over recruitment activity, it was hardly a crisis. Same goes for Spurs, they may have had a euro thrashing, but the crisis was bought on by a pasting at the Amex, chicken or egg?

Of course our (or maybe my) misplaced optimism after the Watford game - ten points before the end of August I was thinking - was tempered by the subsequent form of Watford who as it turns out definitely were a basket case when we played them.

And the space given to us by Spurs - highlighted on MOTD - and thanks very much lads showed there was a lot wrong with them that night - and it wasn't just our brilliance.

The "basket-case" theory stands up to that scrutiny. It's not negative. It is just a pattern. And it may happen to most cubs in our position and most seasons. It is just that this season it stands out sufficiently to be reported by our leader.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

I think we will be fine, but it will be close. I think we may get something vs. Bournemouth and Villa, but don't expect us to beat Watford or West Ham, although on any given day we could!

Bournemouth - basket case.
Aston Villa - borderline basket case.
Watford - no longer a basket case.
West Ham - who knows.

Just looked up the origins:

"By 'basket case' is meant a soldier who has lost both arms and legs and therefore must be carried in a basket." Might need a new term.