WBA V SPURS PREVIEW

Keep the grumpy face on Mr. Chiles!

Spurs Odyssey Preview - West Brom v Spurs - 11.09.10 www.spursodyssey.com


No wonder ITV's new signing Adrian Chiles is reputed to be so grumpy! In between being a down-hearted England follower and a partial supporter of Croatia (where his mother was born), Chiles is one of the two best known supporters of Premier League yo-yo club West Bromwich Albion. The other well known fan is the more cheerful Frank Skinner.

Perhaps Chiles will have a soft spot for Spurs, as they do have four Croats in their squad now, with the recent addition of goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa to the established trio of Modric, Corluka and Kranjcar. Despite Heurelho Gomes' injury, Pletikosa is likely to start on the bench, as Carlo Cudicini will surely retain the goalkeeper's jersey.

There'll be no soft spots or warm welcomes from "The Baggies" fans though, who will be especially pleased to boo former Wolves star Robbie Keane, should he see action. There are mixed messages abut the fitness of Jermain Defoe, so maybe Keane will start this game.

We've only played West Brom four times at The Hawthorns in the Premier League, and most Spurs fans will tell you that it was always freezing when we played. That was the case in our last league match there on 28th December, 2008, when despite Harry Redknapp's early run as Spurs manager, we suffered a Christmas dip in form that put us right back in the relegation mix.

Roman Bednar and the little known Craig Beattie were West Brom's scorers that day in what was a repeat of an identical scoreline on the same date in 2005. Former gooner Kanu was the double scorer that day. Bednar remains with West Brom, but the Czech Republic International cannot claim to be a regular starter. Scottish International Beattie now plies his trade at Swansea.

West Brom made a number of close season signings including Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie, who scored the winning goal against Sunderland on his debut, former Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill, who provided such stiff opposition to Spurs when Hull managed a stalemate at White Hart Lane; former Blackburn midfielder Steven Reid; Wigan's Paul Scharner; and former Reading, Villa and England full back Nicky Shorey. Manager Roberto Di Matteo is certainly determined to attain Premier League survival this season, despite that opening day thrashing at Stamford Bridge. His team were more resilient at Anfield, and will offer stiff opposition for Spurs in front of their vociferous fans.

Despite the arrival of Myhill, Scott Carson retains the number one jersey for West Brom, and is likely to face us this week.

Not all recent West Brom v Spurs games have been played in freezing conditions. In April 2003, Robbie Keane teased the home fans with two goals in a 3-2 win for Spurs. Keane and King are the only two possible survivors from that game, although I suspect Ledley might be saved for our game in Bremen next Tuesday. Japanese shirt salesman Kazuyuki Toda made one of his rare starts for Spurs in this game, but was replaced at half time by Gus Poyet.

With that Champions League game on Tuesday, and injuries to Gomes, Michael Dawson and Jermain Defoe, Harry Redknapp has some juggling to do, but of course he also needs to offer stern resistance to "The Baggies" in a game that Spurs really ought to win, especially after the home shock defeat by Wigan. We all hope to see the debut of Rafael Van Der Vaart, but might have to wait till Tuesday for that too.

I'll take Spurs to edge this game by the odd goal in three, and hopefully put the shock result of last time out firmly behind them. Let's hope Mr. Chiles leaves with the grumpy face on!

my team for WBA.