[santasabaggie]

To-day we had another friendly,Northampton Town Varela played very well Ideye scored 2, Roofe scored 2 and Nabi got one.The new boys seemed to gel nicely Varela and Blanco were providers,Does this mean we ma see a different line up on Sat against the Vile i'm not holding my breath lads but you neverv know.

[silverbaggie]

Can any of them DEFEND??????

[WBA-Josh]

A good run out for them.

I think that Varela will start against Villa but I don't think that Ideye will because Anichebe did fine against Hull and his strength should give Okore and Clark a tough challenge. Ideye should be brought off the bench when he is needed though, maybe in place of Anichebe when he tires at the 65th-70th minute mark. I also hope to see Blanco back on the bench.

[Baggie_One]

http://www.wba.co.uk/news/article/west-b...kHwATDm.99

[Foxman_WBA]

Im not getting too exited yet, it was only Northampton and it was only a friendy BUT they we're all given an opportunity and appear to have played well and so hopefully will give AI something to think about!

If nothing else, this may spark a plan B!

[wba_1996]

If AI doesn't change the team positively for Villa I honestly have to ask if he is our most incompetent manager/head coach of all time? What were Gould etc. like as I wasn't around in those dark days?

Defence conceding 2 is still a bit of a worry though

[Zinman]

What were the players thinking? A "delightful pass" from Varela, a "terrific individual goal" from Ideye, an assist from Blanco? Don't they realise that such actions will be enough to keep them out of Irvine's plans for weeks? They should keep working on passing the ball sideways or backwards, tracking back (slowly) and keeping a good defensive shape.

---

[Squirrel Regis]

Bobby Gould v Alan Irvine that's a tight one to call.
Nope Irvine has got a long way to go to be hated as much as Gould !
I remember an away game possibly Shrewsbury when the fans were carrying a coffin with his name on it !!!!

[wba_1996]

We all know Irvine's excuse not to play them against Villa, don't we? "They were tired because they had a midweek friendly behind closed doors".

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Yep, the coffin was Shrewsbury away.

Gould was a die-hard hoofball-merchant who was completely unsuited to the situation at Albion. He managed to court one of the directors into championing his cause when the club was searching for a new boss, and thus he ended up as a shoo-in. There was no social media meltdown in those days; instead, the Brummie Road took to singing we don't want you, Bobby Gould even before he'd officially been given the job. It made me laugh to see a post recently about how the Premier League has supposedly spoilt fans and made us all short-sighted; believe me, in January 1991 no one was exactly a beacon of patience and positivity, and that was before Sky stuck their oar in.

Gould maintains to this day that it was all the board's fault, and that if they'd let him keep Don Goodman as well as signing Bob Taylor that we'd have finished top of the Third Division the year he bottled it. The board deserve their fair share of blame, but Gould can't duck the fact that his management style was eccentric to the point of lunacy, his tactics were awful and the results weren't good enough.

That said, I'll never forget the time there was a sit-in protest up the Brummie Road after one home match we lost, and Gould actually went up to the terraces to talk to the fans who were protesting. Given the atmosphere and the anger that was directed at him personally that day, it took balls to do that. It didn't make anyone like him and it didn't change the fact he was a shite manager, but it was a brave gesture.