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 Friday 15th July 2005, Pre Season Friendly, Alexandra Stadium, Kick-Off 7:45pm
Crewe Alexandra: Williams (Tomlinson 68), Moss (Bignot 68), Moses, Walker (M Roberts 68), Tonkin (Morris 68), B Jones (Bell HT), Lunt (G Roberts HT), Vaughan (Varney HT), Boulding (E Johnson 68), S Jones (Rivers HT), Suhaj (Rix HT). Subs not used: Bailey, Higdon Albion: Kirkland, Watson, Moore, Gaardsoe, Robinson, Chaplow, A Johnson (Inamoto HT), Carter, Dyer, Campbell, Earnshaw. Subs not used: Kuszczak (gk), Nicholson, Forsyth, Hodgkiss, Smikle
Referee: Andy Penn (West Midlands)
Half-Time:
Crewe Alexandra 3-0 Albion
Attendance: 3,202 Conditions: Pleasant sunny
evening
MATCH REPORT
BY: Mark Thomas After witnessing a poor performance at Milton Keynes two days previous I travelled to Crewe with expectation that I would see a much improved performance from on paper a much stronger Albion team. How wrong I was. Crewe started the brighter of the two teams and should have opened the scoring when defender Moss wasted a free header from a corner but Albion were not so lucky just minutes later when Andy Johnson headed a Crewe free-kick past his own keeper. That was to be Johnson’s only meaningful contribution during the 45 minutes he was on the pitch. New signing Darren Carter also showed little to suggest that he is worthy of a first team place. Rob Earnshaw was faring little better, posing no threat and generally looking poor on the ball. He was responsible for Crewe’s second goal after losing possession in his own half whilst Kevin Campbell did similar for Crewe’s third. It was an utterly dreadful first half performance, the only enjoyable moments coming from a number of Albion fans that had spotted a Peter Kay ‘lookalike’ Crewe steward. They proceeded to give him an enormous amount of stick which to his credit he took well, even signing his autograph on an empty chip carton! The referee Andy Penn, an Albion fan was also on the end of a few priceless jibes from those same fans. With Junichi Inamoto on for Johnson at half-time Albion at last had a midfielder that could pass and run with the ball. He was easily the best Albion player on show and unless we resign Kieran Richardson I for one believe the Japanese international is more than worthy of a first team chance. A central midfield pairing of Wallwork and either Carter or Johnson just doesn’t bear thinking about. Albion did slightly improve after half-time although the hosts had taken off a number of their better players at the break which no doubt helped Albion. The highlight of the second half was Thomas Gaardsoe's audacious Beckham style lob from fully 60 yards which the Crewe keeper just about managed to tip over the bar. The night saw my first glimpse of Chris Kirkland, I was impressed, his kicking was excellent throughout and he looks a big improvement on Hoult, although after making one save he did appear to put his hand on his spine leading to a few worrying looks from the fans around me. With the club now heading off to the Algarve for an eight day training camp the hope of all Albion fans is that when they return they will have at least two or three new signings in, preferably strikers. Without them we could well be in for something of a struggle once more. MAN OF THE MATCH: Junichi Inamoto
PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN
Teamtalk: West
Brom suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat against Championship side Crewe
at Gresty Road. The Railwaymen, who like the Baggies had survived a
relegation fight last season, scored all three goals before half-time on
their way to an impressive win.
crewealex.co.uk baggies.com
Nigel Pearson: "We were miles off the pace in the first half. You always want to try and get results in pre-season but performances are what you're looking for and we didn't get either.” "It is disappointing but in one sense if you're going to get a reality check, you're better off getting it now. All credit to Crewe because I thought they were excellent. They passed the ball better than us and it showed we've got work to do.” "We've tried to structure this first part of pre-season so everybody has played two full games. That's panned out the way we thought it would and at this stage some people are naturally fitter than others. It also takes time for the touch to come. Generally speaking, we've been delighted with the players in pre-season but against Crewe, especially in the first-half, we were poor." "We go to the training camp now and have time to put things right. We have some decent games coming up and our ultimate goal is to make sure we're ready for the start of the season. It is important we begin the season like we ended the last one and we're not going to let one performance like this knock any sort of momentum we've had. The spirit is excellent within the club and all this has done is highlight the things we need to work on." Source: wba.co.uk
Dario Gradi: "We thought it was going to be interesting and it was. I thought the players played the new shape really well. It was very encouraging because the wide men were intelligent and diligent with their defending but also caused problems with the positions they took up.” "But the players are buzzing in training because there is so much competition for places. In a way Neil Sorvel going has given the kids an injection and the second bunch of midfield players that went on were all good.” "We have good competition up front as well, but the big bonus was the two centre halves. I don't think I have seen Richard Walker play so well and against quality opposition as well. They have set the standard now and we have to see if they can live up to it. Adie looks as though he has accepted the responsibility as well and I think that comes with him turning down more money elsewhere to really test himself." Source: crewealex.co.uk
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