City take on the side I’ve often seen described, particularly pre season, as the Championship’s most talented when West Brom come to Cardiff City Stadium tomorrow evening. The Baggies have had a strange season, they were definite relegation candidates throughout the autumn, turned things around under a new manager to the extent that they were considered top six certs in January, but, while they remain formidable at home, they’ve lost their last five away games in all competitions and so have now dropped outside the Play Off places.
Despite, their travails on their travels, I would have had this down as a banker away win a month ago, but two successive home victories for City in games where we’ve played well mean I have a bit more optimism. Causes for pessimism include the fact that Cedric Kipre, despite his error which played a part in Preston’s first goal on Saturday, will be a big miss as the terms of his loan stipulate that he cannot play against his parent club, but we will have Ryan Allsop back in goal following his one game suspension just as his deputy Jac Alnwick begins what I assume will be a three match ban for his red card on the weekend.
Here’s the usual quiz about upcoming opponents with the answers to be posted on here on Wednesday morning.
60s. With a surname you’d associate more with another sport, this midfielder’s career appeared to be going nowhere when he only made nine league appearances for both of his first two clubs. He started off with West Brom and, as it turned out, two of the nine appearances he made for them were against City. A move east to lower division metal workers wasn’t a success and it was only when he moved to the big city to the south that he began to prosper. He was a regular in a team which began just trying to hold on to their Second Division status, but when he left them after four years in which he’d been a regular selection, they were on the brink of promotion. He then spent two years with a club that went up and then were chasing a second promotion, but this time, they didn’t make it and he left for Football League new boys where he found it hard to establish himself during his three years with them. His final club were non leaguers who gave a game (two actually) to George Best and also included a genuine West Brom legend in their ranks for a season, but who is the player I’m describing?
70s. Starting off as an eccentric arty type, this defender then wore hoops to good effect, shining in European competition and then when his team represented an American city as “guests”. His form earned him a move to a team of veterans where he played quite often without ever being able to make the transition to first team regular. He next made a short journey to a club where his finest moment probably came as an unlikely scoring hero in a very famous win over, falling, giants. West Brom were his next club and he played more matches for them than anyone else in a stay of four years. His career moved into a third decade with a return to wearing hoops and there was then a brief spell with Tribesmen to finish. Internationally, he made it to exactly fifty caps, but can you name him?
80s. Mid February specialist on the wing?
90s. Drab nerd arrives early! (6.7)
00s. During 2004, West Brom had eight players on their books who had played for or would play for City, name them.
10s. What links the ruler of the Squamata, one of Gareth Bale’s finest nights in a Wales shirt and a West Brom midfielder from this decade?
20s. Name the current West Brom player who has fifty plus caps for his country, has also played international Futsal, and has sixteen winners’ medals from his time with a previous club
Answers
60s. Jack Bannister played for West Brom against City in Division One in 60/61 and 61/62, but moved on to Scunthorpe having failed to establish himself at the Hawthorns. After again finding it hard to break into the first team, Bannister signed for Crystal Palace and by the time he left them in 1969, they were on their way to the First Division. Bannister was a regular in Luton’s 69/70 Third Division promotion team and they were strong challengers to go up again the following season. Moving on to Cambridge United, Bannister was only a bit part player over the next three seasons and finished his playing days with Barry Fry’s Dunstable who had Jeff Astle leading their attack for a season in the early seventies.
70s. Paddy Mulligan began his career with Bohemians and then Shamrock Rovers who represented Boston USA with teams called the Rovers and, latterly, the Beacons. Mulligan moved to London and the First Division when he signed for Chelsea and then Crystal Palace. He only scored twice for Palace and both of them came in a famous 5-0 win over Manchester United in 1972. Mulligan joined his international team mate Johnny Giles at West Brom and played over a hundred times for them in a four year stay before returning to Ireland to play for Shamrock Rovers, again, and Galway United.
80s. Carl Valentine.
90s. Darren Bradley.
00s. Jason Koumas, Riccardo Scimeca, Darren Purse, James Chambers, Robert Earnshaw, Junichi Inamoto, Kevin Campbell and Keiran Richardson.
10s. James (Jim) Morrison was the singer with the American band The Doors. Morrison had the nickname the Lizard King (Squamata is the order of reptiles which includes lizards). James Morrison played in midfield for West Brom between 2007 and 2019 and scored three times in forty six appearances for Scotland. One of Morrison’s international goals came at Cardiff City Stadium in October 2012 when he put Scotland one up in a World Cup qualifying game, but Gareth Bale scored two second half goals to turn the game around – the one which sealed Wales’ 2-1 win was a screamer from twenty five yards with two minutes left.
20s.Australian midfielder Tom Rogic won six SPL title winners’ medals, five Scottish Cup winners’ medals and five Scottish League Cup winners’ medals during his time with Celtic.
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