[Bierzo Baggie]

Well, looks like I’ll be seeing Albion in Europe for the first time tomorrow, a unique opportunity for me as I explained to the wife!

Anyway, 2 and a half hours up the motorway from where I live, a half-decent stadium near the beac h and no excuse for not going really… Pepe Mel’s Deportivo la Coruña will be using the game as a warm up for their first game of the season against Real Madrid so they’ll be taking it seriously.

Also, the game is in fact one of the longest running pre-season friendly tournaments in Europe. It’s called the Teresa Herrera and there’s a very nice trophy for the winners.
Albion played this tournament back in 1979 when it was a 4 team contest. The teams involved were Sporting Gijon, Albion, Deportivo and Real Madrid with Laurie Cunningham playing his first match for them I believe.

Anybody else going?

---

And it's a big 'n

[Baggievicar]

The bloke on the right doesn't look very happy about winning it, does he? Perhaps he's got to find room for it on his mantelpiece.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, that trophy is a representation of the old Iron Tower of Hercules, a massive lighthouse near Coruna. By the look of it, it's almost a scale model

[Bierzo Baggie]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, that trophy is a representation of the old Iron Tower of Hercules, a massive lighthouse near Coruna.  By the look of it, it's almost a scale model

Well spotted, UNESCO World heritage site and oldest working lighthouse in the world!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hercules

[BridgwaterBaggie]

Half Time 0- 0
Livermore sent off after 41 mins

Anyone know any details ?

[Beefy 1965]

Jake Livermore reacts to a challenge on Jay Rodriguez and is shown a red card, which was preceded by a yellow seconds earlier. Albion are down to ten men. Rodriguez was almost through on goal before being pulled back by a Depor centre-half.
So Rodriguez through on goal gets pulled back should have had a red,
Yet Livermore complains and he gets the red,
Craig Dawson is cautioned for winning a 50/50 header.
Who's the Fookin REF !!!!!!!!!!!!
Also Evans Injured in warm up WTF !!
So just when you thought it couldn't get any worse ...........................
https://www.wba.co.uk/fixtures-results/f...ch-albion/

[WBA-Josh]

Finished 2-0 to Depor in the end.

Poor end to a poor pre-season and worrying signs for the upcoming season if we don't strengthen properly.

[Beefy 1965]

Finished 2-0 to Depor in the end.

Poor end to a poor pre-season and worrying signs for the upcoming season if we don't strengthen properly.

I say we will get relegated at this rate
Down to god knows how many fit players
If Livermore's red is reported to the FA he gets a ban
The Pre season has been a disaster.......

Glad our pre season of embarrassing ourselves in as many countries as possible is over.

[Arcane Astral Aeons]

i really don`t know why our lack of new faces comes as a shock to anyone anymore
its a case of been there waited...and..waited=end result players that are just not good enough...thats if we even buy any.
i understand we can`t go splashing the cash because we don`t have it....or do we?
we have run a very tight ship for almost our entire premier league tenure.
but sooner or later our premier league life will run out.
and if that happens it may take a while to recover
again a strict wages policy don`t help
but what are the financial repercussions of relegation?
we as supporters all know we aint going to sign top top class players
we aint a big draw to them
strikers?....we have them but dont play to their strengths
midfield?....we are crying out for at least 2 or three of them creative ones at least

but no
we aint going to attract them

im like the rest of you
i really do feel this season will be a struggle
i hope not i really do
i love this club as we all do

season starts a week today
IF and thats a big IF we sign anyone
not much chance of fitting in before the Bournemouth game

[Bierzo Baggie]

First half; Deportivo had most of the play but they weren’t really threatening. The sending off on 40 minutes spoilt the game really and it was related to the shirt pulling tactic that they used to break down any rare Albion counter attack. Livermore reacted and the ref showed him a second yellow, unnecessarily so, especially for a friendly. Noticed that Pulis went livid and went across for a chat with Pepe Mel. But in Spain, sneaky shirt pulling is considered to be a tactical foul and even a legitimate part of the game. Barcelona have been doing it for years!

Second half; Albion hardly progressed out of their own half. The first goal was a nicely taken first time shot, and the second I’d say Myhill was at fault.

Any positives? Not really. I liked the new fellow Hegazi. He looks like the Egyptian version of Jonas Olsson of a few years ago.
Also, we finished the game with 9 outfield players and 6 of them were teenagers… Leko, Field, Wilson, Roberts, Harper and O’Shea, the last two I hadn’t heard of before.

But Albion clearly lack a creative midfielder and somebody to score goals. No point in relying on set pieces if we can’t even get a corner!

Another observation. There was obviously a big contrast between the two styles of play. Albion looked big, physical and often lumbering against some of the small and tricky Spanish players. Bakkali with his devilish dribbling was deservedly man of the match and I also liked the Turkish playmaker Colak. Neither player reaches 5 foot 7 with their socks on.

Just a final comment, Pepe Mel was chatting and posing for photos with Albion fans after the game. Great bloke and in many ways harshly treated by the club. He will put a team together at Deportivo with limitations and vulnerabilities for sure, but I suspect that they’re gonna have a lot more fun than we will.

And yes, that trophy was massive.