[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

As much as I'm sure we all enjoy a Saturday 3pm kick-off, there's something I enjoy about weeknight games at this time of year.  Many a spring evening has turned into a night to remember for Albion; beating Man United 6-3 in 1968, Swansea and Wolves play-off semis in 1993 and 2007, getting promoted against Southampton in 2008, and a lot more besides.  Next Monday's fixture seems a bit of a dead rubber, with Chelsea having sealed their league title and Albion assured survival for another year, but there's a chance that may make things a little more interesting; with nothing to play for and nothing to fear, both teams are free to experiment.

Jose Mourinho's certainly looking to do that, reinforcing his position as the biggest WUM in football by hinting he'll field the shamelessly-poached ex-Baggies youngster Izzy Brown against us.  Though we don't really have any psychological tricks to play in return, it'd be great if we could have the last laugh, and recent history is very much on our side; Chelsea haven't left the Hawthorns with three points since April 2011.  They may have ground out a few 1-0 wins this season, but there's very little they can teach Tony Pulis on that subject.  With that in mind, let's hope we can add another memorable spring night to our long and proud list.

Classic Match

West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Chelsea

Football League Cup, Second Round: 22nd September 1993

Another weeknight game when a humble Albion side nearly pulled off a giant-killing against a Chelsea side featuring the likes of Glenn Hoddle and a certain Steve Clarke...

[betterthanbaird]

I'd like to think we have a decent chance of winning, since they'll make some changes and we're at home, I'll be very interested to see Izzy Brown back.

[Beefy 1965]

As the result does not matter i hope we "have a go" with Sess, Mcmanaman, etc playing some part.

Oh izzy who ?

[Dingle-Dingle]

As the result does not matter i hope we "have a go" with Sess, Mcmanaman, etc playing some part.

Oh izzy who ?

Izzy Car. Don`t you know anything?? DD 

[Beefy 1965]

Well forget Sess playing

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/773344461?-11200:789

[Squirrel Regis]

Not sure how I feel about Brown returning.
Was gutted when he left but who's head wouldn't be turned by a move to Chelsea ?
Says everything that he hasn't played for them and he could quite easily be in Berahinos position as an established premier league player now. On paper £1 million isn't bad but just sticks in the throat that the big clubs can just cherry pick our best academy players and we wonder why English players and the England team struggles ! Yan Dhanda is another poached by Liverpool so why do we bother ?

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Might have to check my facts but Jerome Sinclair tauted by some media as a possible loan move to us was also poached by Liverpool from our academy ?

[betterthanbaird]

Not sure how I feel about Brown returning.
Was gutted when he left but who's head wouldn't be turned by a move to Chelsea ?
Says everything that he hasn't played for them and he could quite easily be in Berahinos position as an established premier league player now. On paper £1 million isn't bad but just sticks in the throat that the big clubs can just cherry pick our best academy players and we wonder why English players and the England team struggles ! Yan Dhanda is another poached by Liverpool so why do we bother ?

---

Might have to check my facts but Jerome Sinclair tauted by some media as a possible loan move to us was also poached by Liverpool from our academy ?

Yes Jerome was stolen from our academy.

[Squirrel Regis]

Villa getting thrashed ! Means we will finish top dogs. Not a bad start to the weekend.
C O Y B

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Pride of the Midlands

[valpayne]

Ah ha squirrel you beat me to it lol! I was going to say we're going to finish above the villa unless they win their last game and we lose both of ours and a 12 goal deficit is turned over