Championship - Countdown: West Bromwich Albion

Eurosport - Thu, 06 Aug 10:33:00 2009

Eurosport-Yahoo! continues its countdown to the Championship season with a look at West Brom.

2009-2010 West Bromwich Albion Roberto Di Matteo - 0

Manager: Roberto Di Matteo

Last 10 Seasons in Championship (1999/2000 to 2008/2009): -/-/2/-/2/-/-/4/1/-

POSSIBLE STARTING XI:

Scott Carson

Gianni Zuiverloon - Abdoulaye Meite - Jonas Olsson - Marek Cech

Robert Koren - Jonathan Greening - Chris Brunt - James Morrison

Ishmael Miller - Simon Cox

BACK-UPS FROM: Dean Kiely, Leon Barnett, Neil Clement, Shelton Martis, Paul Downing, Graham Dorrans, Filipe Teixeira, Borja Valero, Youssouf Mulumbu, Romaine Sawyers, Craig Beattie, Luke Moore, Chris Wood, Reuben Reid, Roman Bednar.

TRANSFERS:

In Simon Cox (Swindon Town, £1.5m), Reuben Reid (Rotherham, undisclosed), Youssuf Mulumbu (Paris-SG, £175,000)

Out Paul Robinson (Bolton, loan), Luke Daniels (Tranmere, loan), Joss Labadie (Shrewsbury, loan), Sherjill MacDonald (Germinal Beerschot, £650,000), Do-Heon Kim (Suwon Bluewings, £360,000), Juan Carlos Menseguez (San Lorenzo, free)

POSITIVES: The Baggies have an impressive record in the Championship, not finishing below fourth in their last four seasons in the division. Although they have become something of a yo-yo club, they have kept the bulk of their squad together and resisted interest from Fulham in skipper Jonathan Greening,

NEGATIVES: The great unknown is how they will fare following the departure of Tony Mowbray for Celtic. Few at the Hawthorns were happy to see him go, despite last season's relegation from the Premier League, and his replacement Roberto Di Matteo is untested at this level. Losing experienced defender Paul Robinson could also prove a big loss.

VERDICT: West Brom have gained automatic promotion at three of the last four times of asking, but the Di Matteo era has begun with some worrying pre-season performances. While the squad is too good not to be part of the promotion shake-up, a slow start could cost them a place in the top two. 3rd.

Mario Hajiloizis / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 8 of 8

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  1. LMAO HELLO?????????? SIMON COX IS RUBBISH!!! 4TH I­ PREDICT. IPSWICH TOWN TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP.

    From Rich S, on Thu 6 Aug 10:13AM
  2. Paul C making spelling mistakes ... surely not !
    Seems­ fairly likely Pageys team of available fit players
    BUT­ YES the write up was VERY poorly written
    Shame we­ couldnt have got Mesenguez id have preferred him to­ some of the other midfielders, im sure HAD Morrison­ been fit he'd have been sold
    I DO wonder about Cech­ and his determination to succeed in the championship ?­ hes had a few in and outs in pre season, though a bit­ like Moore too, sometimes still got that chip on his­ shoulder saying 'im only a premiership­ player'
    Anyways nothing we fans can do, its all­ controlled by ONE man in his boardroom, and a very­ TIGHT purse string, i'd have liked Lita here BUT HE­ wouldnt pay him 20k a week in the championship
    lets­ hope our walks to and from the ground are more happy­ than last season !
    BOING BOING
    you all joined the­ texaco championship fantasy league ... online ?

    From Drew W, on Wed 5 Aug 2:18PM
  3. Who is writing these things and when? They are not only­ badly written and researched, but way out of date. Like­ some guy wrote them 3 months ago with very little­ knowledge of each club then went on his hols. And­ they've saved them up till 2 weeks before kick off.­ Very very poor Eurosport or whoever.

    From KEVIN P, on Wed 5 Aug 2:18PM
  4. Totally agree with the other posters. My 12 year old­ grandaughter could have written a better researched­ artlicle.
    Everyone knows Miller has been injured for­ ages, just returned and out again long term. Morrison­ has also been
    out and played no part pre season,­ neither has Bednar for different reasons. Menseguez­ was not given a free to
    San Lorenzo, he was only on­ loan to the Baggies to start with, he had the chance­ to join us, but said no.

    As far as this article goes,­ the research factor is total c**p, utter garbage !

    From Anthony, on Wed 5 Aug 12:44PM
  5. I agree with the comments above. This article is poor­ considering we're supposedly one of the favourites­ to go straight back up.

    Menseguez was only on loan­ last season as was Fortune (who rightly is missed off­ this list). Paul Robinson is definitely NOT a big loss­ for the coming campaign... his time had come about 2­ years ago when he only stayed with us due to failing a­ medical at Wigan or wherever it was. The chances of­ Ishmael Miller being in the starting lineup are between­ nil and zero due to him aggravating his knee ligament­ injury and Roman Bednar is going to be several months­ away from being ready to return to action in the first­ team also. Add to this Morrison being injured and­ Meite being useless the proposed starting lineup­ described here shows someone who doesn't have a­ clue about the baggies. For me the starting lineup for­ Newcastle will be...

    1. Carson
    2. Zuiverloon
    3.­ Cech
    4. Olsson
    5. Martis
    6. Greening
    7. Koren
    8.­ Mulumbu
    9. Brunt
    10. Moore
    11. Cox

    From Pagey, on Wed 5 Aug 12:17PM
  6. i think theyll win not come third and im an ipswich­ supporter

    From simon.block10, on Wed 5 Aug 12:03PM
  7. My word this articule is poor.

    Where to start?

    1:­ Meite will not be picked, Martis will.

    2: Morrisson­ has a busted heel

    3: Bednar has a drug problem and­ hasn't kicked a ball with the 1st team in 6­ months.

    Paul Robinson a BIG LOSS!!! 99% of Albion­ fans knew his time had come last year, no pace and a­ liability to the team, cech is 100 times better,­ i'd say we were happy when he went.

    Juan Carlos­ Menseguez was never our player. Only on Loan

    Poor­ Research + Poor Writers = Poor Articule

    From Paul C, on Wed 5 Aug 10:41AM
  8. Simon Cox in their starting line up lolllll - they­ won't get too far

    From Rich S, on Wed 5 Aug 10:36AM
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