Sportblog | The Guardian – Tagged "West Bromwich Albion" – Page 8

Mar 01, 2018

Premier League relegation scrap: who will survive and who faces the drop?

With around half the division in danger of falling into the Championship, we analyse which clubs have the most to fear Continue reading...

Feb 19, 2018

FA Cup fifth round: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Connor Goldson and Ethan Ampadu showed their worth, Mauricio Pellegrino’s taxigate sympathy and Coventry must not be forgottenThe Dozen: the weekend’s best FA Cup photosAmid the focus on Brighton’s first quarter-final appearance for 32 years and an impressive first outing for Jürgen Locadia, Chis Hughton was keen to hail one of his team’s more unsung heroes. Connor Goldson scored a well-directed header in the first half and it was the centre-back’s first goal since returning from surgery on a heart defect, which ruled him out of the closing months of their promotion season. This was Goldson’s sixth appearance of this campaign; Hughton hoped to loan him to Ipswich in August but could not source appropriate cover and the 25-year-old, far...

Feb 14, 2018

What difference do West Brom think sacking boardroom suits will make?

West Brom’s chairman and chief executive have apparently paid for dumping Pulis and replacing him with Pardew without the desired effect, but a new CEO is not going to win matchesWest Bromwich Albion supporters are arguing among themselves over whether it was a good idea to sack Tony Pulis, two wins in 12 games from the start of the season, and replace him with Alan Pardew, one win in 13 games since.Putting aside for a moment the image that springs to mind of bald men fighting over a comb, this is a genuinely unsolvable dilemma, and one that has just led to the dismissal of John Williams and Martin Goodman, respectively the Albion chairman and chief executive. Operating from the...

Feb 12, 2018

Olivier Giroud the well-groomed, half-speed Costa, looks an ideal fit | Barney Ronay

The striker, signed by Chelsea from Arsenal last month, has a physical presence and is a good foil for Eden HazardSquint a little as Chelsea dispatched West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge and at times it was as though the champions’ attack was doing a slightly rattly impersonation of its old self, regenerated around a really handsome, well-groomed half-speed Diego Costa.There has been a degree of scoffing at the last-ditch harpooning of Olivier Giroud during the January transfer window. The suggestion has been that Arsenal’s reserve striker is in some sense a sub-Chelsea signing, a gloss on otherwise stalled ambition. This is, of course, unfair on Giroud, who is still France’s number one No 9 and who provided an illuminating...

Feb 05, 2018

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Sam Allardyce looks to next season, Swansea find belief under Carlos Carvalhal and Liverpool’s defence worthy of praiseGet The Recap, the best of the Guardian’s sport coverageLiverpool’s oft-maligned defence deserved a little credit here. For almost the entire game they kept Spurs at bay, with Dejan Lovren and Virgil van Dijk making important blocks and Loris Karius looking a decisive shot‑stopper. Perhaps Liverpool could have been slightly quicker to close down Victor Wanyama when the Spurs substitute equalised but when Karius stood tall to deny Harry Kane from the penalty spot it appeared the home side had answered most of the criticisms of their defensive solidity. When Mohamed Salah scored at the other end in the 91st minute Anfield was...