[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Bobby Cram and Denis Law go head to head as Albion face Man Utd on the opening day of the season; 20th August 1966

Our penultimate game before Christmas sees us welcome Manchester United to the Hawthorns on Sunday afternoon, four days after a hard-fought bonus point at Anfield from a much improved performance. That draw keeps us treading water, which is what we need to do until we can string a few wins together.

Sunday's game certainly won't be any easier, not least because Lukaku has a knack of scoring every single time he returns to B71, but with the same kind of effort and application from the players, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that we might take another early Christmas present.

[BaggieMan]

We always seem to play well against Man Utd and hopefully we will do so on Sunday. I well remember beiing at Fergies last game with a 5-5 draw which I believe is still a Premiership record with Lukaku getting a hat-trick.

I do think (and hope) we could get something out of this game.



(John Kaye in the background?)

[meandbrenarebaggies]

Looking at that picture of Law just gets me thinking of what teams were like in those days.
We would all know the basic week-on-week players, both of Man Utd and of The Albion by
this time in the season. Some would be having exceptional seasons; some mediocre and
sadly some poor but the team itself was an identifiable entity. Contrast that with the game
on Sunday. Who knows who will trot out to play? The certainty; the identification between
fans and players, has been eroded by the squad system and endless recruitment through
the year of more and more miraculous players who inevitably turn out to be anything but.
I admire teams that stick with a small group of players; give them a decent run and only
reluctantly drop them for genuine reasons not at the whim of owners/managers. The distance between fans and their teams is a real problem, aggravated by things like the
abandonment of 3pm kick offs. I don’t care who plays for The Albion on Sunday as long
as they all play to win; that was the essence of the Albion teams that took on the likes of Law.

[drewks]

I can see us winning this!
(Probably look a tad foolish afterwards) .

A real shame Phillips is still not fit, but hopefully a new belief is starting to emerge amongst the players.

(Dennis Law....what a player - along with Laurie Cunningham, my favourite of all time )

[Salopbaggie]

I think its time for a Burke start (assuming he is fit enough), the last thing we want is the United full backs coming forward. I suspect Burke's pace will make them think twice about venturing to far up the pitch.

[WBA-Josh]

Palace won and currently West Ham are winning. That puts us down to 19th.

---

EDIT - West Ham won 3-0.

[Beefy 1965]

Man Utd analysts actually watched our game v Liverpool and timed our time wasting
What next

#westbrom #wba Jose Mourinho Studies West Brom's Time-Wasting Antics Ahead of Man Utd'.. #baggies #wbafc #albion

[WBA-Josh]

GK - Foster

RB - Nyom
CB - Hegazi
CB - Evans
LB - Gibbs

DM - Yacob

RM - Burke
CM - Livermore
CM - Krychowiak
LM - McLean

ST - Rondon

Subs - Myhill, McAuley, Brunt, Barry, Field, Robson-Kanu, Rodriguez

[valpayne]

can only see a united win here despite the welcome point against liverpool. Why?
Because they have lukaku and we can't score 0-2 lukaku and ex villain young obvious really.

[BaggieMan]

I think a major upset is on the cards. WBA 2-1 Man Utd with Fozzie playing out of his skin and saving a penalty.

Historically we often turn it on against United and a win would be brilliant.

Nurse, nurse..... need the bedpan !!!!