[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Having spent the spring of 2021 in the Premier League and the spring of 2020 in lockdown, this is the first time in three years that the Baggies have enjoyed a Good Friday/Easter Monday Championship double-header, and the spirit of the season is palpable. Indeed, there's nothing quite like the prospect of two Albion matches in one weekend to bring home the real meaning of Easter: namely, the formidable appeal of spending three days sealed inside a cave.

Blackpool are up first at 3pm on Good Friday at the Hawthorns; our first encounter on home turf since the ding-dong 3-2 win in the days of Di Matteo and Ian Holloway. We have a solid home league record against them stretching back to 1964, and though our Good Fridays seldom live up to the name - we've won just five out of thirty-six played on this fateful day - two of those five wins have been in our last couple of Easter outings, in 2010 and 2019. (It's perhaps better to gloss over the fact that Blackpool have the second-best Good Friday record of any team in the history of the Football League, with thirty-eight victories, and just pray that their indifferent away form has the final say in this tussle.)

Conversely, we ride high on the list of teams with an imperious Easter Monday record - our forty-six wins are second only to Derby's fifty - though for their part, this year's opponents Nottingham Forest have lost just two since the 1980s (against Walsall in 2002 and Cardiff in 2017), and are also coming into this on the back of a winning streak of six. That said, they haven't taken three points from Albion since their big night at the Hawthorns in early January 2010, and haven't done so at the City Ground since August 2000. Steve Cooper's men are playoff-bound, and clear favourites to win this one on form, but all the same, Albion have a recent habit of delivering against teams who take victory for granted.

The playoffs may well be out of grasp by this time next week, but for the time being, there are still good reasons to egg the boys on this Easter.

[talkSAFT]

Woo-hoo
Andy Carroll puts us 1-0 up 44 mins

---

Shit. 1-1. 52 mins

[talkSAFT]

2-1 last minute!!!!!!!!!
Karlan Grant

[drewks]

I (think!) that I honestly want us to lose now in order to put that 7-10% of play off possibly mathematically beyond us.
We're honestly barely good enough for THIS league - to somehow fluke promotion in the state we're currently in would be a disaster.

(Good win today though!)

[baggietrousers]

I don't want to put a dampner on a win, but to call that underwhelming would be too generous.
Should have realised from the line up that this would be pretty awful, and if ever there was proof needed that Bruce is not the right man for the job then his selections today surely provide that proof.
Regardless of the result today what man in their right mind drops the only shining light this season to the bench and picks someone purely on his ability to take a throw in. Not only that, in what world do Molumby, Reach and Livermore warrant selection over TGH.
This season was over long ago and planning for next should be a priority. Build a team around the exciting young players we have, blood the kids, bin the dross. I agree with the Johnston decision, at least that shows some forward planning, but why not play Palmer who is more the future than Button.
Our academy is already pillaged on a regular basis, but to be fair, the way our most promising youngsters are treated who can blame them for jumping ship.

[Salopbaggie]

Has anyone else noticed whether Mossa has been on the touchline, I have not seen him there for some weeks now home or away?

[Baggiebob(BBB)]

I've got a sneaky feeling we can beat Notts Forest, though a 1-1 draw is more likely.

[Baggie_One]

Long 70 minutes ahead
Bye bye Darnell

---

Losing

[4evaabaggie]

Promotion playoffs .. Long shot now No shot.
Two yellows inside 17 mins, he is a liability, has been all season. Penalty conceded.
It's the hope that kills you.
1 - 0 forest

[baggietrousers]

WTF does mr. Potatoe head expect!!
You pick the f#$king useless donkey and look what he does. Even before the two bookings and giving away a penalty all he did was give the ball away. What complete dickhead picks a player who's only attribute is a throw in.