Best & Worst: West Brom

Nathan Powell, of the Baggies Bible website, reminisces about Pards, Popeye and the Barcelona taxi fiasco

XI

BEST: Ben Foster, Steven Reid, Jonny Evans, Gareth Mcauley, Kieran Gibbs, Zoltan Gera, Youssouf Mulumbu, Chris Brunt, Matheus Pereira, Romelu Lukaku, Peter Odemwingie.

WORST: Lee Camp, Goran Popov, Diego Lugano, Darren Purse, Jason Davidson, Oliver Burke, Sebastian Blanco, Andy Townsend, Silvestre Varela, Georgios Samaras, Markus Rosenberg.

PLAYER

B: For a lot of older fans it would be Cyrille Regis, Jeff Astle or Tony Brown. For a younger fan like me, it could be no one else but Brunt. He’s left after 13 years and will go down as a club legend. We’ve had more talented players, but none more committed than Brunty. We’ll always love him.

W: Diego Lugano.

SEASON

B: 2012- 13 under Steve Clarke. We finished 8th in the Premier League and played some quality football.

W: 2017- 18 was a mess from start to finish. Alan Pardew was appointed midway through the campaign and took the boys on a trip to Barcelona – Gareth Barry & Co. were accused of stealing a taxi, before Pardew got sacked a few games later. Shambles.

GAME

B: Sir Alex Ferguson’s last match in charge of Manchester United. The game finished 5- 5 at The Hawthorns, the atmosphere was unreal, and both sets of fans came together to celebrate a legend of the game.

W: Losing away to Norwich in the League Cup under Tony Pulis. Victor Anichebe played in holding midfield…

HARD MAN

B: Jonas Olsson – tall and Swedish. You don’t want to mess with blokes who are tall and Swedish.

W: Claudio Yacob – small and Argentine. Doesn’t really have the same fearsome ring to it.

MANAGER

B: A controversial choice, but Roy Hodgson. Gave us some stability, and Steve Clarke was able to build on those excellent foundations he left behind. Hodgson also led us to a 5- 1 victory at Wolves.

W: Pardew. Need I say any more?

SIGNING

B: Romelu Lukaku on loan. Scored 17 goals for us in 2012- 13 and was an absolute machine up top. Matheus Pereira is a very close second. W: Tininho. Impressed on trial and earned a two- year contract. Offloaded the next summer after one game.

MOMENT

B: Brunt’s late leveller against Southampton to secure Premier League promotion in 2008.

W: Losing to Villa twice in one week in 2015 – first in the league, then in an FA Cup quarter- final. Grim.

KIT

B: Any yellow and green away kit, as I’m sure most fans will agree. W: Those infamous ‘ pinstripes’ of 2014- 15. I still feel sick about them.

GOAL

B: Gera against Liverpool in 2012. I can still hear the Match of the Day commentary: “Gera can hit them... AND DOES! WHAT A GOAL BY ZOLTAN GERA!”

W: Jay Rodriguez against Villa in 2018. Blatant handball, but it rescued a point for us late on.

OPPONENT

B: Wolves. Not sure I’ll be saying that this time next year, when they’ve probably beaten us home and away, but we’ve missed a derby. W: Villa. Lots of hype around the game, then it’s usually a bore draw.

AWAY TRIP

B: Brighton. Good enough nightlife to make you forget a dire performance. W: Middlesbrough. Three changes on the train from Birmingham. When you arrive, there’s just a Wetherspoons.

CHANT

B: The whole ground singing ‘ Allez Allez Allez’ during our 2019 play- off semi- final against Villa. Goosebumps.

W: Goran Popov had a song to the tune of Popeye. Thankfully he didn’t play too often for it to get an airing.