*** West Brom v City - Official Match Thread ***

[Wonderwall]

I was relaxed last night and never thought we would be in danger, it was a very good performance all around, you could tell they were up for it and they didnt disappoint. Sterlings 1st game nerves played a part and so they should for a kid that has had the summer he has had at 20 yrs old. I see the WBA fans were trying to rattle him, but he was confident and played some nice stuff too.

Biggest PLUS for me was Sagna, he had a very effective game.

Biggest MINUS was Mike Dean allowing Silva to get GBH all game and not daring to send Yacob off.

[phips]

good to see that Mangala's passing is still just as shit as it was last season.

Oh ffs! He had a couple of loose ones but no more than any of our other defenders.

Edit: Just checked, 89.1% pass accuracy, same as Vinnie.

Are you surprised by his post mate?

Not at all. It just annoys me that he'd single out Mangala for criticism after he put in such a solid performance, there again if the commentators specifically highlight his errors in particular I guess people will pick up on it.

so im not allowed to criticize players but everyone else is?

yes, Mangala did okay. nothing great. he still looks unbelievably shaky and is lucky to get away with some many fouls.
but i made a conscious effort to watch his distribution and it was woeful. i don't care if its 89.1%. when you're knocking the ball around between the center halves its easier to get that number up. there were so many times he tried a pass forward to start play and it went straight to West Brom. that can't happen as frequently as it does especially with how high up the fullbacks play; it could set up a quick counter for the opposition.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

good to see that Mangala's passing is still just as shit as it was last season.

Oh ffs! He had a couple of loose ones but no more than any of our other defenders.

Edit: Just checked, 89.1% pass accuracy, same as Vinnie.

Are you surprised by his post mate?

Not at all. It just annoys me that he'd single out Mangala for criticism after he put in such a solid performance, there again if the commentators specifically highlight his errors in particular I guess people will pick up on it.

so im not allowed to criticize players but everyone else is?

yes, Mangala did okay. nothing great. he still looks unbelievably shaky and is lucky to get away with some many fouls.
but i made a conscious effort to watch his distribution and it was woeful. i don't care if its 89.1%. when you're knocking the ball around between the center halves its easier to get that number up. there were so many times he tried a pass forward to start play and it went straight to West Brom. that can't happen as frequently as it does especially with how high up the fullbacks play; it could set up a quick counter for the opposition.

I never said anything of the sort. My gripe is with you singling Mangala out. Criticise his distribution, fine, but at least be fair and criticise others that were equally as guilty.

[bobby brows]

HI Chaps,

You've read my preview (hopefully) please visit my new website on my thoughts on last night's game as well as Sunday's City Women's game.

http://stealingfiveyards.com/2015/08/11 ... al-ladies/

Don't worry I've saved my best for Sunday's Chelsea, any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[mr_nool]

HI Chaps,

You've read my preview (hopefully) please visit my new website on my thoughts on last night's game as well as Sunday's City Women's game.

http://stealingfiveyards.com/2015/08/11 ... al-ladies/

Don't worry I've saved my best for Sunday's Chelsea, any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Great analysis mate! Lokoing forward to reading your thoughts on Sterling as well.
Personally I think he struggled with 1) not being the main focal point and 2) not being used to play against team that park the bus.
It was clear that he had instructions to stay wide, which he mostly did very well. There was a period, though, when he got very little ball and you could see that he got frustrated and started to drift. I think he got told off by one of the more senior players on the pitch or by the gaffer, cause it only lasted for five minutes or so, before he went back to his position.

[kinkylola]

yes, Mangala did okay. nothing great. he still looks unbelievably shaky and is lucky to get away with some many fouls.
but i made a conscious effort to watch his distribution and it was woeful. i don't care if its 89.1%. when you're knocking the ball around between the center halves its easier to get that number up. there were so many times he tried a pass forward to start play and it went straight to West Brom. that can't happen as frequently as it does especially with how high up the fullbacks play; it could set up a quick counter for the opposition.

I never said anything of the sort. My gripe is with you singling Mangala out. Criticise his distribution, fine, but at least be fair and criticise others that were equally as guilty.

I just don't agree with the opinion ... incredibly shakey? Never did he look like gifting them anything. He had a few miscontrolled balls ... but he looked a different player to last season. There was one time he tried a pass on the ground and it went to west brom ... there were other times where I thought his distribution was good. He had several passes that sliced through 2 or 3 west brom players when he didn't have an option to pass to in midfield, and another very incisive pass that was lost due to the forward player mis-controlling. I have no qualms about him starting vs. Chelsea, he bossed Lambert and I think he'll boss whatever whining diver the chavs send out too.

[City64]

Mangala was excellent , the whole team was excellent .

Why do we have a dumb fuck poster slagging one of our players off after last nights sublime team performance ???? Fucking unreal and embarrassing !

[Foreverinbluedreams]

yes, Mangala did okay. nothing great. he still looks unbelievably shaky and is lucky to get away with some many fouls.
but i made a conscious effort to watch his distribution and it was woeful. i don't care if its 89.1%. when you're knocking the ball around between the center halves its easier to get that number up. there were so many times he tried a pass forward to start play and it went straight to West Brom. that can't happen as frequently as it does especially with how high up the fullbacks play; it could set up a quick counter for the opposition.

I never said anything of the sort. My gripe is with you singling Mangala out. Criticise his distribution, fine, but at least be fair and criticise others that were equally as guilty.

I just don't agree with the opinion ... incredibly shakey? Never did he look like gifting them anything. He had a few miscontrolled balls ... but he looked a different player to last season. There was one time he tried a pass on the ground and it went to west brom ... there were other times where I thought his distribution was good. He had several passes that sliced through 2 or 3 west brom players when he didn't have an option to pass to in midfield, and another very incisive pass that was lost due to the forward player mis-controlling. I have no qualms about him starting vs. Chelsea, he bossed Lambert and I think he'll boss whatever whining diver the chavs send out too.

Well there is that, there is also the so many fouls comment which I don't agree with either considering he gave away just two and one of them was debatable considering Lambert backed into him as he went to jump, but I didn't want to mention it because I don't want to be accused of picking on our phips.

[South Stand Balti]

So, Yaya picked up a slight groin strain but should be ok for our upcoming victory over the Chavs. Aguero for Bony, but other than that keep the same team? I think I would prefer an extra body in centre mid?

[Hutch's Shoulder]

So, Yaya picked up a slight groin strain but should be ok for our upcoming victory over the Chavs. Aguero for Bony, but other than that keep the same team? I think I would prefer an extra body in centre mid?

I think Kun will start but probably only do 60 minutes. I don't expect Denayer or Nacho to feature until this game is out if the way and the Argies have some game and training time.

[zuricity]

I was relaxed last night and never thought we would be in danger, it was a very good performance all around, you could tell they were up for it and they didnt disappoint. Sterlings 1st game nerves played a part and so they should for a kid that has had the summer he has had at 20 yrs old. I see the WBA fans were trying to rattle him, but he was confident and played some nice stuff too.

Biggest PLUS for me was Sagna, he had a very effective game.

Biggest MINUS was Mike Dean allowing Silva to get GBH all game and not daring to send Yacob off.

Indeed. Mike Dean was very poor yesterday. The fact that we played so well gave him no chance to stop us. What about the lunge at Sterling that didn't even get a card? Deliberate attack , could see a Red for that.

Some weak fouls given by Dean and he simply let Brom players foul as they like.

[edge275]

Tyler indeed spoke as if someone had fucked his dad once the first goal went in. The bias is real as summerbee found out.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

I was relaxed last night and never thought we would be in danger, it was a very good performance all around, you could tell they were up for it and they didnt disappoint. Sterlings 1st game nerves played a part and so they should for a kid that has had the summer he has had at 20 yrs old. I see the WBA fans were trying to rattle him, but he was confident and played some nice stuff too.

Biggest PLUS for me was Sagna, he had a very effective game.

Biggest MINUS was Mike Dean allowing Silva to get GBH all game and not daring to send Yacob off.

Indeed. Mike Dean was very poor yesterday. The fact that we played so well gave him no chance to stop us. What about the lunge at Sterling that didn't even get a card? Deliberate attack , could see a Red for that.

Some weak fouls given by Dean and he simply let Brom players foul as they like.

Can't fully agree with that, he missed a pen and let silva get hacked too often, but fk and card count went our way despite infuriating home fans and letting one of ours off between wba bookings. If he was poor it was even imo

[dazby]

Tyler indeed spoke as if someone had fucked his dad once the first goal went in. The bias is real as summerbee found out.

I thought he was very complimentary. More than I'm used to hearing from him.

[bayblue]

As a bit of balance we've also had some fantastic coverage in the press about our performance.

It might be a bit fanciful but you could see the heat getting pretty much turned up for Mourinho and Van Gaal if the quality of performances doesn't improve; and that's not forgetting the high likelihood that Rodgers will mess up and the precedent that Arsenal often screw up.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Tyler indeed spoke as if someone had fucked his dad once the first goal went in. The bias is real as summerbee found out.

I thought he was very complimentary. More than I'm used to hearing from him.

There was a notable lack of enthusiasm when we scored but I agree he was a bit better than usual. I put that in part down to Zinedine Kilbane who was completely impartial in his commentary, gave Tyler nothing to feed off.

[lets all have a disco]

When Sterling lifts a shot over Begovic on Sunday the press will be fucking gutted.

[Slim]

I was relaxed last night and never thought we would be in danger, it was a very good performance all around, you could tell they were up for it and they didnt disappoint. Sterlings 1st game nerves played a part and so they should for a kid that has had the summer he has had at 20 yrs old. I see the WBA fans were trying to rattle him, but he was confident and played some nice stuff too.

Biggest PLUS for me was Sagna, he had a very effective game.

Biggest MINUS was Mike Dean allowing Silva to get GBH all game and not daring to send Yacob off.

Indeed. Mike Dean was very poor yesterday. The fact that we played so well gave him no chance to stop us. What about the lunge at Sterling that didn't even get a card? Deliberate attack , could see a Red for that.

Some weak fouls given by Dean and he simply let Brom players foul as they like.

Can't fully agree with that, he missed a pen and let silva get hacked too often, but fk and card count went our way despite infuriating home fans and letting one of ours off between wba bookings. If he was poor it was even imo

That's why Dean is my favourite ref. He might be a cunt, but he's a cunt to every team, so I think that's the best we can hope for.

[CuteMancs]

Apparently Mike Dean will be taking charge of the rags at Villa Park on Friday night

[CTID Hants]

Apparently Mike Dean will be taking charge of the rags at Villa Park on Friday night

Fuck i forgot there are to be Friday night games this season and glad to see they're using the rags as guinea pigs :-)

Off the top of anyone's head have we got any of the Friday night games at all? (saves me from having to trawl fixtures sticky)