What's the difference between Birmingham City and West Brom?
What's the difference between West Brom and Birmingham City?
That's the very question asked by Bluenose 68 on our forum... he comments;
"Given that Albion got relegated to a standing ovation what are the fundamental reasons to the way they reacted to their relegation to how we did?
"Both of us are run on a tight ship, both have similar fan bases from similar back grounds but what makes some clap a team off rather than swinging on goal posts?
"Is it purely down the the style of football?"
There were quite a few responses to this post - here's what they were...
Reesa: Expectations, We set our expectations too high and some believe we have divine rights to beat teams, when we don't.
Possibly also the style of Football, WBA are known for decent football under Moanbrat (as well as poor defending) Where we expect to be fluent passers of the ball and play other teams off the park.
Well done Baggies fans for being gracious in defeat, as opposed to some of our lot.
Harborne1: Yes IMO it is purely down to style of football. I would rather watch a team go down having a real go and trying to win games then a team all at sea and seemingly not knowing what to do.
In the Albion camp everyone can see there is a togetherness and a willingness to win for their manager and I think this season they can consider themselves slightly unlucky to go down on at least 7 occasions I have watched then on MOTD and said to myself, how the hell have they not got something out of that game?
Their board need to take some blame because if they would of released a decent amount of money for a forward instead of loan money then they would be sitting where Stoke are now.
Tony Mowbray is a top manager and all Albion fans can see it!!! KRO!!!
Bubba Blue: Good question, but I think the style of football is merely the cherry on the cake. Recent boardroom activity or lack thereof in the transfer market, at least to a required as much as desired extent is the real root of unrest. Promises made and broken, expectations raised, the shambolic takeover fiasco and the idea that the fans are being taken for mugs real or imagined have driven a wedge between the board and it's customers.
Throw in the odd lambasting of fans by one of the owners and the criminally negligent failure in securing a cb of premier quality 18 months ago that would almost certainly have meant retaining our premiership status and it isn't difficult to see why there has been and still is mistrust and resentment.
We were told last time, "We've learnt our lesson" on the previous relegation and promised not to make the same mistakes. Well we did and invented a few new ones along the way. Actions speak louder than words, we've sold 7,000 season tickets, which I think clearly illustrates that fans are waiting to see the true nature of investment before parting with their cash.
Albion in contrast have been promised nothing and although relegated each time are not forced into wholesale changes due to their unambitious wage structure and some considerable profits on players they have sold - Davies, Koumas, Kamara to name a few.
Basically they know their place and are not hindered by delusions of grandeur. When relegated they can be virtually assured of a top six finish, whereas with us it feels as though we're a hairs breath from doing a Charlton, Southampton. Sully said had we not gone up we'd have been forced to sell players, not to generate transfer funds but to balance the books.
At the end of the day, fans don't storm the pitch in protest because they've been relegated as a rule, nor because the football played wasn't of the highest calibre. No the reason is our boards' conduct of the last 3-4 seasons and the fact that we as fans feel cheated.
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