Season Preview - West Bromwich Albion

Quick Reminder, Real Life

The two most important words on any West Brom fan’s lips last season must surely have been: Peter Odemwingie. What a breath of fresh air in the Premier League. Odemwingie arrived at The Hawthorns and was an instant hit. The club dismissed manager Roberto Di Matteo half-way through the year in the thick of a relegation battle, and Roy Hodgson came in, steadied the shape, and guided the Baggies to a mid-table (11th) finish, but it was all Odemwingie all the time. The Nigerian scored 15 goals in 32 league games. Chris Brunt scored twice (both penalties) in the memorable 2-1 win over Liverpool as Roy Hodgson took down his old club in April, and ended the season in form as he supported Odemwingie from wide attacking and central positions. Yussuf Mulumbu was also a consistent newcomer to the Premier League and steadied the ship in midfield throughout the ups and downs while former England international GK Scott Carson (now playing in Turkey) saw a majority of the action between the sticks.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

Peter Odemwingie was so consistent, racking up 5+ points per game in the Official PL game and giving the likes of Tevez, Bent, RVP, and Rooney a run for their money on a consistent basis as the league’s highest scoring weekly striker. Brunt, Jerome Thomas, and Mulumbu took turns chipping in with reasonable scoring from midfield positions - West Brom were solid last year in the middle of the pitch - and Somen Tchoyi even got in on the scoring fun, managing 6 league goals in just 800+ minutes of action, a superb return. James Morrison scored 4 goals from midfield - a typical return for the Scotland international who is a pacy right winger and productive in ‘real life’ but never seems to have that 5+ or 6+ goal breakthrough from a fantasy perspective to set him apart from his colleagues.

Summer Changes

Gera hoping for wing role

Gear back in the good old days, on the right wing for West Brom

Sky Sports | Football | Premier League | News | Gera hoping for wing role

Fulham forward Zoltan Gera is hoping to play out wide more under Mark Hughes, rather than in an advanced position.

Gera does not believe his style of play is suited to a striker role which Hughes demands, whereas he does enjoy operating out wide.

The talented schemer believes that with a little patience and hard work he can become a regular under Hughes.

"I really enjoy training but (Hughes') tactics differ from Roy Hodgson's," he told skysports.com. "Hughes wants a strong striker who can run into the space and hold the ball, but I'm not that kind of player.

Evidence, from the horse's mouth, what fantasy managers could have told you years ago. Gera doesn't enjoy playing through the middle. That's why, despite the attraction of a relatively cheap midfielder lining un "in the hole" as a second striker, the move never paid off for Fulham or fantasy managers.

Fulham striker Moussa Dembele out for two weeks

Fulham striker Moussa Dembele out for two weeks following challenge from Stoke City's Andy Wilkinson - report - Goal.com

Fulham manager Mark Hughes has received some good news as striker Moussa Dembele is only set to be out of action for two weeks following a horror challenge by Stoke City's Andy Wilkinson in the League Cup tie on Tuesday night, according to the Daily Mail.

The Cottagers had already seen striker Bobby Zamora ruled out for a considerable length of time with a leg-break and Hughes will be relieved to know that his forward line is not as depleted as first thought.

There were initial fears Dembele could be facing a lengthy spell out of action, but the £5 million summer signing from Dutch club AZ Alkmaar is set to return to the fold within two weeks

Hosting a desperate Everton side this weekend, do we see an all-USA frontline of Dempsey and Eddie Johnson? Or does Zoltan Gera move into the hole where he's always promised so much but delivered so little?

Bobby Zamora suffers broken leg

Premier League - Zamora suffers broken leg - Yahoo! Eurosport

Fulham striker Bobby Zamora suffered a broken leg in Saturday's 2-1 Premier League victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, manager Mark Hughes confirmed.

The forward suffered the injury in a challenge with Wolves midfielder Karl Henry after 27 minutes and left the pitch on a stretcher after receiving oxygen.

"He has broken his leg just above the ankle," Hughes told the BBC.

"He will have an operation tomorrow. He's out for a minimum of four months but if it's worse it could be longer. It's a big loss."

Zamora is the fulcrum of what Fulham do, so this is a big loss. But perhaps it's tempered by the arrival of Neal's latest soccer crush, Mousa Dembele. Dembele has hit two goals and two assists in his first two Premier League games and seems the real deal. It will also provide a chance for Zoltan Gera or Clint Dempsey to claim a place as second striker. Gera has always looked better on paper than he does on the field, and Dempsey is still relatively expensive. So at the moment, Dembele is probably the way to go.

Just ask Neal.

Late Fitness Test

DJ please... pick up your phone. I'm on the request line.

Just feel the need for a quick post. Spent the whole day going down every conceivable 2-match rabbit hole I could find. Really the worst of all possible Friday trading. I had been leaning towards getting the "sure" 2-gamers on my team. Cech. Ivanovic. Lampard. I even had Baird and Barmby for that reason. But I started trading... Lamps to Elk. Baird to Garcia. Baird to Fagan to move Barmby to O'Hara. Back and forth. Forth and back. But in the end it was deck chairs, as we like to call it. Just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

So I've canceled all those possible trades and I'm back to a saner place. Cech. Ivanovic. Lampard. Baird. They'll get two matches. Hopefully they'll give me a steady points return for the week.

But.

So tonight... so tonight I'm deciding that there's no upside to Barmby. I'm in a 4-4-2. The least I can do is fail upwards. So I'm switching to a 4-3-3 and trading Barmby for Kamara. I don't know if Kamara starts. He's just coming back from injury and Gera is more likely to take the second/support striker role, playing off Zamora. But I can't afford Gera. So maybe Kamara gets 50 minutes over the course of two games. Maybe he gets a start. But how much am I going to miss from Barmby? On average, 4 points over 2 matches. I'm clearly willing to leave points on the table if I'm not selling Vermaelen this week. So maybe, just maybe Kamara comes up with a goal. Hey, it worked for everyone who took a gamble on Kalinic last week. (And yes, I'm looking at you, Y!AM!)

So my line-up for this week:

Cech

Vermaelen Bale Baird Ivanovic

Malouda Utaka Lampard

Kamara Tevez Donovan

I still don't like the team, but I think I can live with it.  At least, I'm not sure I can significantly improve it at this point without running the risk - even the likelihood - of making some really stupid decisions.  I mean, I already have Utaka and Kamara... how much dumber do I need to be?

Good luck to all of you.  See you on the Barn Door Live chat... daughters permitting.