Match Day Thread West Bromwich Albion v Preston North End The Hawthorns 26/1/2022

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West Bromwich Albion Football Club are an English football club based in West Bromwich. The club's history dates back to its formation in 1878 as West Bromwich Strollers by workers from Salter's Spring Works in West Bromwich. The team was renamed West Bromwich Albion in 1880. Albion have played their home games at The Hawthorns since 1900.

Albion were one of the founding members of The Football League in 1888 and have spent the majority of their league history in English football's top division. They have won the league title once, in 1919–20, and been runners-up twice. The club has had more success in the FA Cup, with five wins. The first came in 1888, the year the league was founded, and the most recent in 1968, their last major trophy. They also won the Football League Cup at the first attempt in 1966. The club's longest consecutive period in the top division was between 1949 and 1973, and from 1986 to 2002 they spent their longest ever spell out of the top division. There has been something of a revival in recent years, with eleven seasons spent in the Premier League since 2002.


LAST TIME OUT

FORM GUIDE

WBA 6 PNE 10

FAMOUS WEST BROMWICH FOLK

Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life to ministry, traveling on horseback and by carriage thousands of miles to those living on the frontier.

Asbury spread Methodism in British colonial America as part of the Second Great Awakening. He also founded several schools during his lifetime, although his own formal education was limited. His journal is valuable to scholars for its account of frontier society, with references to many towns and villages in Colonial America.[1]

 

Don't forget the great and late Jeff Astle. Could sing as well.

 

New signing Cameron Archer, who joined on loan from Aston Villa on Monday, is in contention to make his North End debut.

Andrew Hughes could return to the squad following his suspension, while Brad Potts and Josh Earl may also be available after returning to training following injuries.

Those unavailable for selection include Tom Barkhuizen, who could miss the next few weeks with a calf injury picked up in Swansea, while Daniel Johnson is unavailable for the next three fixtures due to international duties with Jamaica.

The Opposition

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Following a fantastic start to the Championship season, West Brom’s form has been slightly more indifferent of late.

In the early stages of the campaign, it appeared the Baggies and Fulham could run away with the division, but three league victories in their last 11 games has seen them drop to fifth.

With Valerien Ismael in the dugout, they have a man with experience of reaching the Play-Offs – given his impressive journey there with Barnsley last season – and there is certainly plenty of quality in his West Brom squad, although they have just suffered a blow with striker Daryl Dike ruled out for around eight weeks through injury.

Key Stats

The Hawthorns hasn’t proven a happy hunting ground for PNE in recent years, as they’ve gone almost 50 years without a victory there.

It’s been ten consecutive league visits there without a win, with goals from Alex Bruce and Doug Holden giving North End their last victory at the stadium in 1973.

West Brom have averaged 16.3 shots per game so far this season, with only Fulham averaging more, however they sit just tenth in the division in terms of goals scored, having bagged 34.

Our Last Meeting





PNE were made to settle for a point when West Brom came to Deepdale in September 2021.

Ben Whiteman opened the scoring for his side on 26 minutes as he saw his effort deflect past Sam Johnstone, but Matt Phillips drew level in first-half stoppage time.

Man In The Middle

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Experienced EFL referee Keith Stroud will take charge of this fixture.

Stroud’s last time in the middle of a North End game was actually Ryan Lowe’s first as PNE boss, the 2-1 victory at Deepdale against Barnsley.

So far this season, the official has refereed 20 games so far this season, showing 78 yellow cards and two reds.

MACS VIEW

Cold night in prospect at one of the highest ground in the country against an Albion side who play what can be considered to be a type of game a la John Beck, they have had an inability to hit the net this season although they did bag three on Saturday although it was Peterborough who have rthe defending ability of a sieve
Hughes back which is a bonus, new forward in da house as the yoof say frostbite awaits

 

****ING COME ON

 

West Bromwich Albion 0 Preston North End 2 Riis Archer

West Brom line-up: Button; Kipre (Gardner-Hickman, 45), Bartley, Townsend; Furlong, Livermore (Molumby, 72), Mowatt, Reach; Diangana, Phillips (Robinson, 56), Grant. Subs not used: Palmer, Clarke, Faal, Fellows.

PNE line-up: Iversen; van den Berg, Bauer, Hughes; Potts, Ledson (McCann, 83), Browne, Whiteman, Cunningham; Riis (Archer, 65), Evans (Maguire, 74). Subs not used: Ripley, Lindsay, Rafferty, Sinclair.

Attendance: 20,776

Referee: Mr K Stroud

Getting towards the end of the game with us 2 up young substitute Gardner-Hickman hit a 60 yard pass to an empty seat behind the Birmingham Road goal it summed Albion's night up, they were woeful even worse than when they had played the reverse fixture. Thoroughly deserved win. Thing about Albion is they have some decent players however the manager's style of play is certainly not bringing the best out of them and on last nights showing there is zero chance of them going up. Looks like Johnstone wants away as he was not in the match day squad.
Hughes returned, Ledson started and new boy Archer was on the bench. The first 20 minutes or so were soporific one shot by Riis and Phillips got in a decent position which he failed to take advantage of.. As it was kicking off a tad in the away end the game started to improve, a Riis effort which was hammered over the bar and a couple of half chances for Albion, Ledson's tackle on Mowatt in the area was top notch. Down either flank we were getting some joy, Potts showing his worth at wing back and on the other side Cunningham getting acres of space.
Four minutes before the break we scored although he will not get an assist Hughes was the main instigator in the goal a run down the right wing created problems the ball was not properly cleared and eventually fell to teh Ched who fed Cunningham his cross was deflected upwards and there was Riis to tear them apart again.
Halftime led to a chorus of dissent from the home fans and they got the same when they re entered the pitch, obviously had a bollocking at half time Albion were on the front foot but without troubling Iversen.
Riis should probably have done better when screwing a shot which eventually went out foir a throw in, the Dane had a mixed night.
Once the early pressure subsided Albion ran out of ideas and a second was ample reward for the team.
Browne powered his way down the left hand side played in Cunningham whose shot went upward and there was Archer to seal the points.
Limbs in the away end from then on in gamwe management was truly brilliant the six minutes of injury time was basically played at the corner flag in Albion's half.
A goood team performance but the Ched gets the honours must be a nightmare to play against.

West Bromwich Albion boss Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio WM:

"We deserve all the criticism for that. It was a poor team performance. I agree with all the boos.

"We have no excuses. We were never in the game. We deserved to lose. When you put in a performance like that, you have to accept it.

"We didn't put in the energy or effort to win that game."

On Sam Johnstone's absence:

"We had an issue internally. It is solved now but that is the reason he wasn't in the squad and won't be on Saturday, but after that he will be back."

Preston boss Ryan Lowe told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"It's been coming. Some of our performances have been 60%. That was definitely 70-75%. I made a few changes to make us more solid and resolute and we got our just rewards.

"We had a game plan and the lads stuck to it fantastically well. We knew what we had to do in terms of silencing their crowd. You can't fear these sorts of sides. You have to go toe-to-toe with them.

"Cameron Archer is a goalscorer. We know what he give us. He gets in the right positions at the right times and, if he continues to do that, he will score more goals."

LAST TIME WE WON THERE, THIS WAS NUMBER 1

 

Though the Baggies were awful, by the looks of it on clips NE won because the were in essence the better team with Ledson, Whiteman, Browne, Cunningham, Evans and even the much criticised Potts. Plenty of craft and graft in that lot going forward. Riis is erratic but he does score and may reach 20 goals in 21/22. Also some good players on the bench: McCann, Seani Maquire with DJ to come back. NE beat The Cherries at Liberty stopping their unbeaten run. Now NE have a passionate manager.

 

Out of interest does “Barnet” refer to the Barnet in North London?

 

Yes. Used to live in Chipping Barnet and worked there.