Darren Moore Ramblings

It has been a long time since I last posted a blog. After the last few days, however, I have a lot of pent-up frustration that I just need to release here.

The last few years following West Bromwich Albion under the likes of Alan Irvine, Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew have been enough to drive even the most laid back football fan up the wall. Albion fans are known for being miserable and moaning at anything they can put their mind to. Many have been driven away from the Hawthorns, including those who have followed us up and down the country for decades. These three managerial appointments, and those above who made the decision to employ them, shunned loyal supporters.

Then came a shining light of hope in April last year. Following Pardew's departure (finally), Albion "legend" Darren 'Big Dave' Moore began his duties as caretaker of the first team. The best way to describe the man is a large teddy bear. I have met the man many times and I am being honest in saying that, like the late, great Cyrille Regis, you could not wish to meet a nicer bloke. Always took time to speak to and have photos with supporters, even on the day he was sacked. He attended charity 'dos put on my fans without being asked! Never will you meet a more genuine human being.

But as well as this, it must be said what a remarkable job he did to save a sorry season when he took over at the end of 2017/18. We were effectively relegated when he took the reins, but managed some impressive results, which included beating Jose Mourinho's Manchester United and Rafa Benitez's Newcastle United on their own soil, picking up a very good point against current title contenders Liverpool and THAT goal against Tottenham Hotspur, that gave us real hope of staying up. Southampton, however, ruined that dream for us days later.

Moore was appointed full time in the summer, and rightly so. I had my reservations at first, as I knew that if things went wrong I would hate to see a wonderful man be treated so terribly by both fans and his employers. However, that feeling soon subsided and I backed our new manager as I would anyone else, if not more, as I wanted him to succeed like no other.

For me, Moore has done a magnificent job. It must be remembered that this is his first job as a full time first team manager. To put Albion in contention for promotion after the sorry state our club has been in the previous years, uniting a very divided fanbase at the same time, should be commended.

I am very angry that the board have not let him see through the rest of the campaign. I truly believe he could turn things around given time. Yes, we have had a pretty poor home record since Boxing Day, but our away record more than makes up for it. We have lost to Leeds (comfortably) and Sheffield United (narrowly), who are two very good teams also vying for promotion, and drawn against bottom of the league Ipswich at home. Whilst the latter is obviously a team we should be beating, we know that the Championship is a very difficult league and no result is guaranteed. Ipswich maybe wanted it more than we did, were less complacent and are fighting to stay in this division.

This is only an opinion of mine, but I feel that Albion's away support is much more understanding towards Moore than the home support. When we went 1-0 up through Stefan Johanson's free kick on Saturday the atmosphere was very flat, as if waiting for someone to make a mistake so that the moaning, complaining and the boos could ring out. This is not the Albion I began loving. Our away following is much happier, positive (on the whole) and patient when playing from the back. Our fans do not like us playing out from the back but, whilst it can be frustrating at times, I can see why they do it and it does work. It won't work if fans are constantly abusing Sam Johnstone and the defence and make them nervous.

I was, and still am, appalled at the club's decision to sack Darren Moore. As mentioned above, I felt he deserved time to turn it round ad believed he would. However, some of our supporters believe we have some divine right to be top of the league, winning week in week out, playing Barcelona-style football. We don't. We knew this league would be tough, and given this is his first full time managerial role, to be in play off position, still with a slim chance of the automatics, he deserved time. I fully believe that fans' impatience, as well as our money-hungry chief executive/owner, are at fault.

As much as the hierarchy at the club frustrates me and has questioned my love for Albion now, the defamatory comments from the media and ex-players/pundits calling the dismissal "racist" is outrageous. In no way, shape, nor form is this anything to do with race nor colour. As pioneers of bringing black footballers into the game I find it very insulting that the likes of Adrian Durham, Troy Townsend and Kevin Campbell are explicitly saying this, dragging the history of our great club through the mud. Moore himself would probably have a few words to say to them himself if he was confrontational.

I disagree with the club's dismissal of Darren Moore. But I at least know the reason why it was done, as do the majority of Albion fans. People outside of West Bromwich Albion can merely speculate and get the wrong end of the stick. Instead of taking the word of a "journalist", do the research.

Farewell Tony Pulis

At last, Tony Pulis has departed West Bromwich Albion.

In my opinion, it is over two years too late, but many will argue against that. My belief was that, as a survival specialist, he would do the job in saving us from the inevitable drop Alan Irvine had unfortunately led us to, and that he did brilliantly, and we would say "thank you and goodbye" to him along with the likes of Youssouf Mulumbu and Graham Dorrans.

Pulis would have left the club a hero of sorts. But he didn't.

After a run of only three victories since picking up 40 points in March of last season, the majority of fans had become restless and realised that time was up for the Welshman. In reality, losing to Huddersfield before international break should have been the end, giving the club two full weeks to find a replacement. However, if it wasn't for supporters' discontent, he would probably still be here now.

Although I was pleased with results and the odd performance in his first half-season as Albion Head Coach, I have never really taken to Pulis at the helm. I have often had debates with friends who are/were pro-Pulis, who believe he did his best with limited resources, kept us in the top flight and brought in quality players, but those points never swayed my feelings.

I could counter all those; the last two seasons he has had more quality in this side than previous managers in our Premier League era and we arguably underachieved (we certainly are now with the big names.

We all knew his football wasn't pretty to watch but it was effective. As it was at Stoke and we saw in his first half-season, although at times in the latter we produced some great performances (Chelsea and Swansea in the league, West Ham in the FA Cup and beating Manchester United at Old Trafford heroically). Even last season between November and February we picked up some outstanding results with the occasional performance to match. But more often than not people forget that it was also quite difficult to stomach. I recall Watford, Swansea, Hull and Bournemouth at home where, even though we won, they were dreadful games of football. We got the results though.

His style of football aside, the treatment of some of the players under his stewardship was quite appalling. Whilst we will never really know the ins and outs, his arrival pushed out players such as Silvestre Varela, Sebastian Blanco and Georgios Samaras, who, even though many say weren't ever good enough for Albion, we never saw enough of any of them to judge. Varela looked particularly promising. Sebastien Pocognoli, Cristian Gamboa and Jason Davidson were originally benched. Davidson left in the summer, but the other two were simply frozen out.

Players who Pulis even brought in himself found themselves in the same boat; Callum McManaman, James Chester, Serge Gnabry, Alex Pritchard and Brendan Galloway, and more recently James McClean, Nacer Chadli and Matt Phillips have all fallen victim to Pulis' "dungeon".

Even our beloved stalwarts James Morrison and Chris Brunt are now suffering on the sidelines!

After Saturday and the outcry from every corner of the Albion fanbase calling for Pulis' head, much of the media and pundits have begun to finally realise what many of us have been saying for a long time.

Yes, Pulis had a reputation of keeping teams up and outsiders are still mocking us saying we should "be careful what we wish for". But you know what I wish for? Our fans to be united behind the team again (which, in fairness, hasn't wavered even in the last couple of games), to enjoy going to games again and to be at least respected.

Ever since Pulis arrived at the club we have been known as "Tony Pulis' West Bromwich Albion" or "Tony Pulis and his West Brom team", known for being "organised", "solid" and "a typical Pulis side". I want us to just be West Bromwich Albion again.

The Price of Modern Football... and I don't mean money

If Sky Sports had a pound for the amount of times Twitter users tweeted "football wasn't invented in 1992" they would probably have enough to double the amount of unnecessary channels they already have.

However, it seems that not only do Sky not seem to listen to this statement, neither do football clubs. In particular the elite of English football.

The sad reality is that football is a business, most clubs being foreign-owned, where most owners have little to no affiliation with their "investment" other than that it will give them more personal wealth. 

As the Premier League becomes richer with every season due to TV rights and high wage demands from players, supporters are becoming more and more disillusioned with the "product". With the league now seen as a "brand" sold to overseas customers, it is no surprise.

My beloved West Bromwich Albion try their best to engage with supporters. As a member of the fans group, the Albion Assembly, I see and hear the frustration at times from the club hierarchy that the Hawthorns never seems to sell out. Just last week, for the Watford game, the club launched its inaugural Diversity Day, celebrating fans from all walks of life who come together to follow the Baggies; whether they be white or black, gay or straight, male or female, able or disabled. It was a proud day for the club.

So, on a day where the fans and club were celebrating togetherness, it is quite ironic that, as ever, manager Tony Pulis continued to divide the fanbase with his philosophy.

Tony Pulis, for me, a product of the modern game, despite his "old-school" way. His way is all about getting the result he wants no matter how he gets it. The Watford game was a perfect example of how divisive the Welshman can be. A very ugly performance yet Albion were 2-0 up in less than half an hour. Two goals coming from five minutes of the only attractive piece of play from the home side. The other 85 consisted of 10 men behind the ball and a time-wasting goalkeeper. The game finished 2-2, where Watford's second came in the NINETY FIFTH minute of the game.

Pulis "apologists" will still say "we got a point from a Watford side who haven't lost away from home". Is that the point? 2-0 up before the half hour mark and had we continued with our positive mindset and our squad of quality, we could have had more goals or at least seen the game out comfortably.

After an angry tirade aimed at the Albion head coach, my dad turned to me and said "well, that's me done with Albion."

The club are trying their hardest to attract fans to the Hawthorns, mainly children (using revamped membership), but what are they doing to keep the longstanding supporters onside? My dad, as well as my older brother, have been season ticket holders in their same East Stand seats for over 15 years and in the past couple of years they have both said they are bored of it all. Pulis is a huge factor, but modern football in general where entertainment comes second, and sometimes nowhere near that!

You can use the argument "you should support your team through thick and thin". But on the flipside, why should they give, give, give when they aren't getting anything back? Clubs, players, managers, agents, Sky may all have the money, but what about us fans who pay more than we can afford to watch our team on a Monday night at the Emirates, just waiting for a Chris Brunt corner and a Gareth header, when we all know we will barely even cross the opposition half? Not only are us fans subjected to misery, but the team are humiliated to the world.

Many fans are simply happy to just dine at the top table of English football. That is fair enough and their opinion. However, "sold our souls for a Premier League point" rings very true to myself and others. I still enjoy going to games with my friends and family, seeing my favourite players and hope to see a good game of football from my team followed by a win. But there are many reasons still why I feel slightly let down by my football club in what they prioritise (caution over risk despite a quality squad and time spent in the top flight), as well how the Premier League are ruining football for its homegrown supporters. 

WBA vs Watford

When celebrating diversity and a landmark appearance of one of our longest serving players, it is only natural that the showing on the pitch takes the shine away.

Despite taking a 2-0 lead early on through long-suffering Salomon Rondon and captain Jonny Evans within a short space of time, Albion never really looked as comfortable throughout as opponents, Watford.

Granted, Watford have made a great start to the 2017/18 campaign, but they are still a team that would be in and around us over the course of the season. Yet, we all know Tony Pulis will never change. Whether it be Manchester United or Brighton and Hove Albion, he will want his players to keep the game tight and maybe nick it by the odd goal.

This is our seventh consecutive Premier League campaign, yet we are still acting as underdogs. Watford are into their third, with a forward-thinking, ambitious manager, but we still have to be cautious.

Arguably, with our new recruits, we now have the best squad we have had in the Premier League, so why do they play in such a rigid and restricted manner?

Supporters should not have to pay their hard-earned wages just in hope of an uneventful 1-0. As someone tweeted me a few weeks ago, "if football is only about results, we might as well all stop at home and watch Final Score."

The enjoyment is being sucked out of watching our beloved Albion. A Pulis team struggling to defend says it all.

Craig Dawson Appreciation Post

Yesterday West Bromwich Albion's centre back/right back, Craig Dawson, signed a contract extension that would keep him at B71 until the summer of 2020. Brought to the club in 2010 by Dan Ashworth, 'Daws' could well follow in the footsteps of fellow Albion teammates James Morrison and Chris Brunt by making it to a testimonial. That in itself, considering how patchy his Baggies career has been until the last couple of years, is an impressive feat.

Now I know virtually everyone reading this knows how much I adore Craig, and no doubt you'll think of this as a very biased post.

Dawson has many critics, especially from his own supporters (I sit in front of some of them at the Hawthorns and have to bite my tongue!) and it has to be said that ever since the despicable abuse for Brunt has faded poor Daws has become the latest scapegoat.

Granted, he may not be a world-class player. He wouldn't be a West Brom player if he was! But he has been at this football club for seven years, bided his time in breaking into the first team with the likes of Jonas Olsson, Gareth McAuley, Joleon Lescott and Jonny Evans as mentors and, when called upon, has done his job and, more often than not, done it well. At times he has even outshone his more experienced partner at the centre of defence.

After brief spells in the first team under the stewardship of Roy Hodgson, Steve Clarke and Pepe Mel, as well as loan spells at Rochdale and Bolton, it was when the much maligned Alan Irvine arrived at the club where Dawson really started to prove his worth. Having handed in a transfer request after three years of playing understudy to others and with Burnley interested, Irvine convinced Dawson that he was very much in his plans and, alongside Lescott, was a rock for the early stages of the season and gained valuable experience along the way.

Under Tony Pulis, and for once I will give credit where it is due, Daws has largely played at right back in the Welshman's standard tall and solid. Albeit unfamiliar and even to this day not quite looking the part Pulis has nurtured and drilled our promising centre half into a good Premier League defender.

Having done some research, in the games Dawson has played for Albion at both centre half and right back, we have kept 35 clean sheets in total and he has chipped in with ten goals. He may be seen as a "typical Pulis player" but if Pulis is what we have to put up with I'm glad he has been able to get the best out of a player who always puts in 100%, never causes trouble and is an all round nice person.

I hope that he will one day get a call up to the national squad. If others don't agree with that, fair enough, but I struggle to think of many others more deserving.

Jonny Evans to City?

For the past 12 months us Albion fans have been biting our nails over the possible departure of one of our best players in Jonny Evans. Last season Arsenal had been courting him for the summer; this time round Everton and Leicester had been strongly linked. This afternoon, however, it has been reported that Manchester City have had (in Baggies supporters' view) an insulting and derisory bid rejected.

£18m may seem like a huge amount, especially to a club like ours, but in the current outrageous market where City themselves have already spent over £200m to shore up their backline, we would want much more than that to not only replace a very good centre half, but also an influential player and our newly appointed captain.

On social media, where Sky Sports have reported the story, many "top six" fans have been laughing at City's move for Evans. The fact that 1. he has been in the running for our Player of the Season both times since his arrival at Albion and 2. he is constantly linked with the best teams in the elite of English football, shows to us that these "fans" don't actually pay attention to the "irrelevant" teams lower down the league.

Yesterday, Evans' fellow Northern Irishman, Chris Brunt, celebrated his 10th year anniversary as a West Bromwich Albion player, a mere couple of weeks after James Morrison celebrated the same feat. Whilst it would have been most unlikely that Evans himself would have reached the same achievement with us there is a feeling about the place that it may be a long time before we will see this again, if we ever will.

With the departure of Darren Fletcher back in June, Evans was handed the captaincy in a possible ploy to persuade him to stay with us, but with the signing of Gareth Barry from Everton and now the news of interest from the North West, it now seems likely that it will be a case of how much we will sell him for. Gylfi Sigurdsson's arrival at Goodison Park paves the way for Nacer Chadli to head to Wales, so Albion could be looking at an influx of cash that should be spent on strengthening the squad. However, it may take a lot of work to convince supporters with quality when Evans and Chadli, both considered quality acquisitions, could be on the way out.

Personally, I hope we are able to hold onto Jonny Evans, as he is a very classy player whom many of us at Albion consider too good to be at B71. The sad reality is, however, that even though he will most likely be further down the pecking order at Manchester City, and their supporters may not deem him good enough, we have to face the fact that all we'll ever be is a stop-gap for players wanting to better themselves or a retirement home.

As is the way of the Premier League and lack of loyalty in football.

Let's talk mental health

The devastating news that Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington has taken his own life is particularly hard-hitting to anyone who has had experiences of depression and feelings of self-loathing.

In the past couple of years the discussion of mental health has become much more open and accepting, as more are coming forward to share their stories. I have shared my own experience on here and on my social network pages, although this tragic death has sparked a memory I had in my own dark times.

A couple of years ago I was at the peak of my anxiety, where I had been made redundant from one job and felt I wasn't good enough for my next venture, I really doubted myself. Although I had, and still have, a very loving and close family, I had no friends - only acquaintances - and was attending therapy sessions I felt were going nowhere. I was stuck in a dark hole I thought I'd never get out of.

One question that had been posed to me by my GP, CBT counsellor and therapist quite often was "have you ever had thoughts of taking your own life?" My immediate response would always be no with a slightly nervous laugh to suggest I'd never imagine doing that to myself.

However, in the mindset I was in at the time and how hopeless I felt, it could have been a possibility had something tipped me over the edge so much. I recall one particular evening I have mentioned in the past when Albion played Manchester City first game of the season on a Monday night. I had never felt so sick and overwhelmed in my life and I just wanted it to stop. Even something as trivial as that can feed anxiety or depression.

It scares me to think I had gotten to a stage where I was so unhappy with everything, all accumulated into a night which should have been fun, and for some reason my anxiety chose the moment I was with people I loved, and with people who loved me, to make me feel my worst.

Ever since that night I can't say I'd had that feeling as badly again but i was still feeling pretty worthless. However, my life has been on the up on the whole with me making some very good friends through many means, getting a full time job I enjoy and having a nice connection with the football club I adore.

Our recently departed captain of said football club, Darren Fletcher, played a part in helping me with my progression unwittingly with his story on his debilitating illness. He talked about how he felt when he was suffering and then recovering from ulcerative colitis and how he has become stronger in his fight against it. At the club's end of season supporters club dinner I talked to him at length about how inspirational he had been to me in my own battle.

The fact that mental illness can hit anyone at any time is extremely terrifying. I never thought it would happen to me. But no one should be afraid to talk to someone if they are suffering. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed that I had even the slightest thought of the worst case scenario eating away at me. But without support I probably wouldn't be where I am now.

IT'S NOT ATTENTION SEEKING. IT'S RAISING AWARENESS.