A 5-star Albion display, but still looks like too Big a job for Sam
TWO tales of the unexpected happened at the weekend – West Bromwich Albion beating Chelsea 5-2 at Stamford Bridge while the previous evening Birmingham City beat high-flying Swansea with a stoppage-time penalty.
Both the struggling West Midlands teams had a bit of good fortune – but both definitely deserved to win.
The Baggies still have it all to do and more to stay in the Premier League. They need five wins from their remaining eight games.
Do-able? Hardly! They have only won six of their 30 to date and their fixture list includes visits to Leicester, Aston Villa, and all seeking a European spot next season and home games with local rivals Wolves, high-flying West Ham and Liverpool.
That is also assuming Fulham, Newcastle, Brighton and Burnley keep losing. Good very late effort by the Baggies, but too late.
So dream on Sam, but if the owners have any ambition then they must back Allardyce heavily in the transfer market next season or he will pack it in.
Big Sam is their best bet to bounce back and hopefully the club will be sold to those with more ambition than the present owners who quite frankly have been a disappointment.
Birmingham’s late winner against fourth-place Swansea means new manager/head coach Lee Bowyer has two wins out of three games to date that have been against highly-placed Championship teams.
He has galvanised the team and they closed down Swansea with great effect.
The fitness and attitude was spot on but they still lack quality particularly in attack.
Scott Hogan’s dramatic late penalty came after Swansea substitute Yan Dhanda slipped on the deteriorating St Andrew’s pitch and brought down Ivan Sunjic.
In the first half, Hogan’s fellow striker Lucas Jutkiewicz had his penalty saved.
The win briefly lifted Birmingham above their tenants Coventry City, but only until yesterday when the Sky Blues won their game in hand 3-1 against Bristol City. Rotherham have three games in hand but keep losing. Are they blowing it? Tonight, Birmingham are at Brentford who are third. Will the Blues really do it again?
After this, the Blues host Stoke before playing fellow bottom-half
teams Rotherham, Nottingham Forest, Derby County and then Cardiff and Blackburn. Intriguing... still plenty to do.
Coventry have been hovering above the drop zone for some time too. They now go to Bournemouth on Saturday before they too play at Rotherham where they are in a position to do both their landlords and themselves a big favour. After that the Sky Blues have a mixed bag of fixtures. One thing is for sure – both the Blues and the Sky Blues are in squeaky bum territory.
n Warwickshire’s Skelton family are quite remarkable in the world of horse sports.
Father Nick is a double Olympic gold medallist showjumper while his two sons Dan (trainer) and Harry (jockey) are great operators in National Hunt racing.
Harry is having a real go to fulfil his dream of being a jump jockey champion when the season finishes.
He was level pegging with northern jockey Brian Hughes going into the weekend with 130 winners each.
Hughes then had four winners over the weekend to Skelton’s one.
Yesterday they were at Chepstow and Plumpton respectively. Hughes drew a blank while Skelton had one winner.
Hughes now leads 134 winners to Skelton’s 132 but only Skelton rides today – five scheduled for Exeter.
The jockey’s championship ,runs from April 26, 2020 to April 24, 2021.
Harry told me: “This title would mean the world to me. It something I have always dreamed off since riding aged 16. It’s a massive ambition.
“I am picking up other rides at present beside being stable jockey to my brother thanks to friends, owners, other trainers and my agent Ian Popham.”
Harry is 31 and has been fortunate with the lack of injuries compared with many jump jockeys.
“Just broken my collar bone a few times,” he added.
Dan Skelton is coming up on 36 years of age and with 150 racehorses in the Skelton modern stables at Lodge Hill, Shelfield Green, near Alcester, he has been in great form and is second in the British jump trainers championship which is led by Paul Nicholls (Dan was formerly his assistant).
Both have well over a hundred winners.
The Skeltons would have even more winners had it not been for Covid.
Harry’s best tally of winners is 187 when he was second in the table to Richard Johnson who announced his retirement on Saturday.
Harry is married to the stable’s other jockey, Bridget Andrews.
The Skeltons have one Grand National runner at Aintree on Saturday, the 12-year-old Blaklion, who will be carrying 10st 2lbs. The bay gelding has won at Aintree – the Beecher’s Chase – when with previous trainer Nigel Twiston-davies.
This will be Harry’s seventh ride in the famous race and he will be aiming to improve on his best placing of fifth on Niche Market, the horse that carried Harry to victory in 2009 Irish Grand National. Harry is still the youngest jockey to win that race.
Yes a winning family all-round – fingers crossed for the Grand National.
Dream on Sam, but if the owners have any ambition then they must back Allardyce heavily in the transfer market next season or he will pack it in.
Please join me in the Sunday Mercury when in association with All Electric I will reveal more inside stories of my professional relationship with world boxing champion Chris Eubank.