West Bromwich Albion

[Talldarkandransome]

I don't share your love of the smellies, the sooner the they are gone the better.

Just my personal opinion though

[wishywashy]

Just now, Talldarkandransome said:

I don't share your love of the smellies, the sooner the they are gone the better.

Just my personal opinion though

Hah, I'd hardly call it love. I just want to keep beating them forever and ever. Can't do that if they go under 

[Talldarkandransome]

Just now, wishywashy said:

Hah, I'd hardly call it love. I just want to keep beating them forever and ever. Can't do that if they go under 

Suppose, it's a hard choice really. Plus I don't see either of them being promoted any time soon

[wishywashy]

Just now, Talldarkandransome said:

Suppose, it's a hard choice really. Plus I don't see either of them being promoted any time soon

Yeah, the reality is that if West Brom don't get promoted they're screwed for at least a decade at this point. Fire sale, owner not selling up any time soon and end of parachute payments. Notoriously difficult to get out of the Championship, and they're about to lose the only advantages that they had. As for Small Heath, they're at very high risk of imploding next season imo. Their buildings are either on fire or falling apart, there's no buyer in sight, and they've been circling the drain for almost a decade. Their luck is going to run out sooner than later, and they are genuinely going to do a Bury if/when that happens.

[The Fun Factory]

14 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

I've kinda got mixed feelings towards the rapid downturn of clubs like the Baggies and Small Heath. This sort of stuff does offer Villa a huge opportunity, especially at staffing and academy level. There's a real opportunity for Villa to have a genuine stronghold over the region in terms of academy recruitment over the coming years.

It's like going back to the 90s. Sounds good to me.

[villa4europe]

Would have felt some sympathy for them 10-15 years ago as I didn't mind them but their fans turned in to utter **** dickheads the last time we were both in the PL and then relegated, guys I'd known for years giving it the big un like they'd actually done something of note rather than just won the finished above villa cup

Seems like a younger generation of their lot tried to reignite something from the 70s and it'll bite them on the ass

[wict01]

4 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Would have felt some sympathy for them 10-15 years ago as I didn't mind them but their fans turned in to utter **** dickheads the last time we were both in the PL and then relegated, guys I'd known for years giving it the big un like they'd actually done something of note rather than just won the finished above villa cup

Seems like a younger generation of their lot tried to reignite something from the 70s and it'll bite them on the ass

Yeah I agree, **** these guys and blues too. Hope they both rot. 

[fruitvilla]

25 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

I've kinda got mixed feelings towards the rapid downturn of clubs like the Baggies and Small Heath. This sort of stuff does offer Villa a huge opportunity, especially at staffing and academy level. There's a real opportunity for Villa to have a genuine stronghold over the region in terms of academy recruitment over the coming years. Instability and incompetence at the upper echelons always trickles down: Blues almost closed their academy and made it a B team a few years ago, only reversing when they were told by virtually everyone how insane an idea it was. What sort of message does incompetent ownership send to parents, kids and staff? With the huge financial holes at both Small Heath and the Tesco Bags, and Villa's initiatives such as the closer partnerships with schools FAs (often at the expense of pre-existing partnerships with the blues and baggies!) and the inner-city academy, and there's an almost perfect environment for Villa to increase their dominance over the region at an operational level for years.

On the other hand (this is probably one of my hotter takes) I'd genuinely prefer the likes of West Brom and Small Heath in the Prem (as long as we finished above them, of course). The prospect of never playing Small Heath/Baggies again (particularly blues) just feels kind of.. sad. Not only is it a guaranteed 12 points a season, but beating them feels so good. It'd also mean that we'd be a one-club city like Leeds, and that's just wrong. And that our proper rivalries would have to be with Wolverhampton/Leicester, which feels doubly wrong.

I dunno, really. Clearly head vs heart 

For me, it is having competitive local teams is an indicator of a strong and vibrant city/region.

[VillaJ100]

Look forward to watching the SOTV cup in League 2

[mottaloo]

40 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

 

On the other hand (this is probably one of my hotter takes) I'd genuinely prefer the likes of West Brom and Small Heath in the Prem (as long as we finished above them, of course). The prospect of never playing Small Heath/Baggies again (particularly blues) just feels kind of.. sad. Not only is it a guaranteed 12 points a season, but beating them feels so good. It'd also mean that we'd be a one-club city like Leeds, and that's just wrong. And that our proper rivalries would have to be with Wolverhampton/Leicester, which feels doubly wrong.

I dunno, really. Clearly head vs heart 

Whilst in one way, giving them both a good thrashing every season it would have to be by at least 6 or 7 clear goals each time.....then again, I would hope never to play Small Heath ever again as the atmosphere is very toxic with idiots on both sides spoiling it for the rest of us. 

On reflection, I would like to see small heath go to the wall and the phoenix club only ever get as far as the vanarama league at very best. As for ollbeeyun....the next forty years in the old div 3.

[Mark Albrighton]

I think if I were given the option of having baggies in the prem (as continual also-rans), but in return sha would playing (and struggling) in the 12th tier, I believe I would take that deal.

[HKP90]

4 hours ago, wishywashy said:

Yeah, the reality is that if West Brom don't get promoted they're screwed for at least a decade at this point. Fire sale, owner not selling up any time soon and end of parachute payments. Notoriously difficult to get out of the Championship, and they're about to lose the only advantages that they had. As for Small Heath, they're at very high risk of imploding next season imo. Their buildings are either on fire or falling apart, there's no buyer in sight, and they've been circling the drain for almost a decade. Their luck is going to run out sooner than later, and they are genuinely going to do a Bury if/when that happens.

F**k 'em.

[Xela]

4 hours ago, wishywashy said:

As for Small Heath, they're at very high risk of imploding next season imo. Their buildings are either on fire or falling apart, there's no buyer in sight, and they've been circling the drain for almost a decade. Their luck is going to run out sooner than later, and they are genuinely going to do a Bury if/when that happens.

 

[mikeyp102]

Being a Halesowen man and having a lot of Albion fans drink locally. I dislike them more than blues. 
They are just an insufferable bunch. 
 

I remember one such odious gimp who I knew, trying to tell me that Villa wouldn’t ever get out of championship. Then on our first game back in prem (which I think was a late KO), he left the hawthorns early to rush back to the pub to watch us play. He then proceeded to try and call me out by saying he never saw me in the pub when we were in the championship. When I pointed out that home games I was at, and so away games when on tv, he’d be at the hawthorns, his head nearly exploded. 

[Talldarkandransome]

7 hours ago, wishywashy said:

Yeah, the reality is that if West Brom don't get promoted they're screwed for at least a decade at this point. Fire sale, owner not selling up any time soon and end of parachute payments. Notoriously difficult to get out of the Championship, and they're about to lose the only advantages that they had. As for Small Heath, they're at very high risk of imploding next season imo. Their buildings are either on fire or falling apart, there's no buyer in sight, and they've been circling the drain for almost a decade. Their luck is going to run out sooner than later, and they are genuinely going to do a Bury if/when that happens.

It's like Christmas

[mjmooney]

13 hours ago, mikeyp102 said:

Being a Halesowen man and having a lot of Albion fans drink locally. I dislike them more than blues. 
They are just an insufferable bunch

I think this is the sort of factor that affects attitudes to other clubs. Obviously, I no longer live in the midlands, so I don't have that sort of exposure. But two of my oldest and closest friends are WBA fans. Back in the 1970s we would go to all the derby games - and (perhaps unlike today), there was a healthy rivalry, quite different from the naked hatred where small heath were involved. We still wind each other up over our respective results, but I'm with @Mark Albrighton - I'd happily take six points off the Albion every season in the Premier League, while the 'noses plummet to oblivion. 

[Davkaus]

Agreed with that. There's a healthy sense of local rivalry at the games against the Albion, but the chants of "**** the Albion" are always a bit more lighthearted than the raw hatred at the small heath games. It helps they don't run onto the pitch to confront or attack our players. I've never had coins or bottles thrown at me on my way to the ground among baggies fans either, which is more than I can say for the other lot.

I'd happily see Small Heath go bust and I'd book the day off so I could go and watch when they started to bulldoze the shithole. 

[rjw63]

Olbiyun? 

[MachoFantastico]

They looked awful today, and their season is all but over. Personally, I wouldn't want to see them go under, I have a lot of friends who are Baggies fans and they know how bad the situation is, with an owner who by all accounts, couldn't care less about the club or its fans. 

[calcifer]

Personally I would just love it if them and Small Heath went bump. Both sets of fans are absolute weapons. Blues and Albion would wish the same on us, they would probably tug each other off over it as well.