As part of our 'Views From The Opposition' feature, a further three West Brom fans have answered our series of questions ahead of Evertons upcoming Premiership encounter with West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns.
More opinions from West Brom fans will be published in the run up to Saturdays match.
Matthew Bullock, Oxford
1) Not a bad performance against Arsenal, especially defensively. What are your expectations for this season? (Where do you think you will finish in the league?)
I personally think we'll be around 13/14th. The defence is getting stronger, and one lapse against Arsenal early on cost us. Scoring goals will be our biggest problem.
2) Has your clubs summer activities lived up to your expectations?
Most of our signings were premanent moves for players on loan last season. We haven't replaced the goal-scoring threat of Kevn Phillips, and I think we'll suffer for this, and the sale of Zoltan Gera was disappointing if inevitable. New signings of Cech, Zuiverloon and now hopefully Borja Valero from Mallorca are promising and a step in the right direction.
3) Who do you think is your most important player(s)?
Jon Greening in the centre of midfield - if he plays well, the team performs.
4) Your worst player(s)?
On last week's evidence, right-back Carl Hoefkens - we have a Duthch U21 international just returned from Beijing (Zuiverloon) waiting in the wings. He may play on Saturday.
5) A club record fee of £4.75m for Borja Valero? Whats your opinion? Is he worth it? He's not going to play against us is he!?
If he has signed in time, probably on the bench, though last week we played Cech out of position on the right of midfield, so there's a definite vacancy for him. Missed our pre-season friendly against Mallorca so have not seen Valero in the flesh. Bus £4.75m!!! Takes us into a whole different league.
6) Are there any exciting young prospects that we wouldn't know about?
Leon Barnett at central defence is a bright hope for the future. On the evidence of Saturday, he looks better than Curtis Davies, who came the same route from Luton and we've now flogged off to the Villa.
7) Do you have any chants that require an explanation?
Probably the "Boing Boing" (you'll hear this one when we score!), and our anthem "The Lord is my Shepherd", but I can't explain either of them...
8) £40 a ticket? Thats a bit steep isnt it?
Yes, agreed. I presume you'll return this favour later in the season!
9) Could you give any advice such as suggesting an appropriate pub for away fans?
Not near the ground. For those that haven't been, the Hawthorns is in an industrial no-mans land between the outer Birmingham suburb of Handsworth and the M5. Best bet for a beer is to pop into a pub in North Birmingham city centre, or Hockley area, and get on the tram a few stops to the Hawthorns.
10) What do you think of Evertons summer activities?
I'm struggling to recall what they were?
11) Where do you think Everton will finish in the league?
If we're 13th, then 14th, and vice versa.
12) Which Everton player(s) do you fear the most?
Cahill, if he was playing, so on Saturday probably Arteta. Or Yakubu, but I think Barnett will take care of him.
13) Finally, What do you think the score will be? If you are feeling brave, name the scorers!
I'm going 2-1 WBA. Having said that, I'm struggling to come up with 2 goal scorers! Miller and Bednar, Arteta in reply.
Enjoy the game (but not too much)
Matt
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James Davies-Shuck
1) Not a bad performance against Arsenal, especially defensively. What are your expectations for this season? (Where do you think you will finish in the league?)
If we can pull off the signings of a striker and central defender on a par with Borja Valero, then I feel we will finish mid table. With the current squad as it stand we will struggle but I still feel we have more than Sjoke, Hull and a number of teams already in the premiership like M'boro, Fulham and Bolton. We are an Elmander or Andy Johnson away from being better than them.
2) Has your clubs summer activities lived up to your expectations?
They have more than lived up to my expectations, with more to come. I never thought we would spend nearly £5 million on one player. Not in our first year back in the premiership. We have more internationals at the Hawthorns now than you can shake a stick at, including an England International in Scott Carson.
3) Who do you think is your most important player(s)?
Last season it was a toss up between Super Kev, Jonno (Greening) or RoKo (Koren). I feel Jonno and RoKo will bejust as important important this year, along with Carson and out strikers. Be it Miller, Bednar or a new signing.
4) Your worst player(s)?
Our worst player against Arsenal was Hoefkens. Hopefully that was just a one off but with Zuiverloon coming back from playing for Holland in the Olympics his days look numbered. We had a few players on the bench against Arsenal that were from the underbelly of the club as Mowbray puts it. I don't feel they're good enough for the premiership but our squad is still short on numbers. Players like Martis and Hodgkiss aren't good enough, Dorrans is one for the future and Craig Beattie is borderline, with a run of games he could do well.
5) A club record fee of £4.75m for Borja Valero? Whats your opinion? Is he worth it? He's not going to play against us is he!?
He's going to be straight into the team, for that much, for our chairman Jeremy Peace, it is like Real Madrid paying £100 million for Christiano Ronaldo. He better be worth it for that price. lol
6) Are there any exciting young prospects that we wouldn't know about?
David Worral a young midfielder we poached from Bury will be a quality player in a few years, but as for this year Zuiverloon is quality, an attacking right back you might of seen him play at the olympics. There's talk he'll be playing on Saturday.
7) Do you have any chants that require an explanation?
When Nathan 'Duke' Ellington played for us the crowd used to shout 'DUUUUUKEEE' it sounded like we were booing him. So when he was kicking off about leaving you couldn't tell if we were booing him or cheering him.
8 ) £40 a ticket? Thats a bit steep isnt it?
It is indeed
9) Could you give any advice such as suggesting an appropriate pub for away fans?
The Vine on Roebuck Lane allows away fan. It is always full of Albion fans, serves good beer and has a tandoori barbecue on match days.
10) What do you think of Evertons summer activities?
What summar activities? Have you actually signed anybody? I thought after the good year you had last year you'd be strengthening and gunning for a Champions League spot.
11) Where do you think Everton will finish in the league?
I still think you'll finish in the top half but not as high as last year unless your chairman pulls his finger out and signs some players.
12) Which Everton player(s) do you fear the most?
Feed the Yak and he will score. Other than him Osman seems to get a decent amount of goals from midfield. Arteta and Cahill are quality midfielders, if they play they will find out our midfield isn't the best in the world at tracking runners. Just ask Arsenal.
13) Finally, What do you think the score will be? If you are feeling brave, name the scorers!
2-1 to the Albion. One for Miller and a cracker for the debutant Valero. I can dream!
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John Court
1) Not a bad performance against Arsenal, especially defensively. What are your expectations for this season? (Where do you think you will finish in the league?)
Most fans would settle for 17th and above, Mogga wants a better finish than that.
We have some quality players who if they all perform on the day are capable of getting a result against anybody, I would say a 13th or 14th spot is well within our grasp.
2) Has your clubs summer activities lived up to your expectations?
I would say yes to this one. Were not known for spending shed loads of money and the managers policy is to attract young and hungry players to the club. Players who are trying perhaps to attract the attention of one of the big four or perhaps one of the European big boys.
He has openly said that he does not want Premiership journey men who are after one last fat pay day.
3) Who do you think is your most important player(s)?
This season our most important player will be one of three.
Tex (when he's back), Greening or Millar.
Tex and Jonno can pull the strings in midfield, Miller is a powerhouse of a young lad and on last weeks showing will be immense for us this season.
4) Your worst player(s)?
On last weeks showing its Hoefkens. We suspected last season that he's not brilliant on the back foot, last week proved it. Possible change coming up there me thinks.
5) A club record fee of £4.75m for Borja Valero? Whats your opinion? Is he worth it? He's not going to play against us is he!?
Mowbray's not known for wasting money, so Im trusting his judgement here. He's broken the clubs transfer record so I would expect to see a quality player.
Hope he does play against you for at least part of the game.
6) Are there any exciting young prospects that we wouldn't know about?
As Ive said, Miller could be the one but so could Kim.
7) Do you have any chants that require an explanation?
Not many chants really, all self explanatory.
8) £40 a ticket? Thats a bit steep isnt it?
Same price as home fans have to pay if their not season ticket holders. But yes it is steep.
You would have to pay the same down the road at Blues to watch them in the Championship.
9) Could you give any advice such as suggesting an appropriate pub for away fans?
If you haven't got colours on try the Vine in Roebuck Lane, great curry or barbecue. The hotel on the motorway is also ok you can get a beer and something to eat in there. Wouldn't advise any of the other pubs for away fans to be honest
10) What do you think of Evertons summer activities?
Have you bought anyone? Thought you did well to get £10m for Johnson. Your bench looked a bit like ours last week, very weak.
11) Where do you think Everton will finish in the league?
If you could possibly finish 20th/19th/18th then that would reduce the risk of us going down
.
Realistically cant see you having the same success as last year without investment.
12) Which Everton player(s) do you fear the most?
Lescott - ex dingle so he can expect some stick, and he hasn't got a bad goal scoring record.
Arteta and Cahill are decent players but I wouldn't say you have a player that could dominate a game a present.
13) Finally, What do you think the score will be? If you are feeling brave, name the scorers!
We have scored over 200 goals in the last 2 seasons, and we have scored from all areas of the team, don't think we'll score that many this season but Mowbray has only one philosophy and that's to score more than the opponents.
I will settle for 1-0 to us with Bednar to score the goal.
Dont enjoy the day too much!
Cheers
JC
__________________
More opinions from West Brom fans will be published in the run up to Saturdays match.
Matthew Bullock, Oxford
1) Not a bad performance against Arsenal, especially defensively. What are your expectations for this season? (Where do you think you will finish in the league?)
I personally think we'll be around 13/14th. The defence is getting stronger, and one lapse against Arsenal early on cost us. Scoring goals will be our biggest problem.
2) Has your clubs summer activities lived up to your expectations?
Most of our signings were premanent moves for players on loan last season. We haven't replaced the goal-scoring threat of Kevn Phillips, and I think we'll suffer for this, and the sale of Zoltan Gera was disappointing if inevitable. New signings of Cech, Zuiverloon and now hopefully Borja Valero from Mallorca are promising and a step in the right direction.
3) Who do you think is your most important player(s)?
Jon Greening in the centre of midfield - if he plays well, the team performs.
4) Your worst player(s)?
On last week's evidence, right-back Carl Hoefkens - we have a Duthch U21 international just returned from Beijing (Zuiverloon) waiting in the wings. He may play on Saturday.
5) A club record fee of £4.75m for Borja Valero? Whats your opinion? Is he worth it? He's not going to play against us is he!?
If he has signed in time, probably on the bench, though last week we played Cech out of position on the right of midfield, so there's a definite vacancy for him. Missed our pre-season friendly against Mallorca so have not seen Valero in the flesh. Bus £4.75m!!! Takes us into a whole different league.
6) Are there any exciting young prospects that we wouldn't know about?
Leon Barnett at central defence is a bright hope for the future. On the evidence of Saturday, he looks better than Curtis Davies, who came the same route from Luton and we've now flogged off to the Villa.
7) Do you have any chants that require an explanation?
Probably the "Boing Boing" (you'll hear this one when we score!), and our anthem "The Lord is my Shepherd", but I can't explain either of them...
8) £40 a ticket? Thats a bit steep isnt it?
Yes, agreed. I presume you'll return this favour later in the season!
9) Could you give any advice such as suggesting an appropriate pub for away fans?
Not near the ground. For those that haven't been, the Hawthorns is in an industrial no-mans land between the outer Birmingham suburb of Handsworth and the M5. Best bet for a beer is to pop into a pub in North Birmingham city centre, or Hockley area, and get on the tram a few stops to the Hawthorns.
10) What do you think of Evertons summer activities?
I'm struggling to recall what they were?
11) Where do you think Everton will finish in the league?
If we're 13th, then 14th, and vice versa.
12) Which Everton player(s) do you fear the most?
Cahill, if he was playing, so on Saturday probably Arteta. Or Yakubu, but I think Barnett will take care of him.
13) Finally, What do you think the score will be? If you are feeling brave, name the scorers!
I'm going 2-1 WBA. Having said that, I'm struggling to come up with 2 goal scorers! Miller and Bednar, Arteta in reply.
Enjoy the game (but not too much)
Matt
-------------------------------------------------------------
James Davies-Shuck
1) Not a bad performance against Arsenal, especially defensively. What are your expectations for this season? (Where do you think you will finish in the league?)
If we can pull off the signings of a striker and central defender on a par with Borja Valero, then I feel we will finish mid table. With the current squad as it stand we will struggle but I still feel we have more than Sjoke, Hull and a number of teams already in the premiership like M'boro, Fulham and Bolton. We are an Elmander or Andy Johnson away from being better than them.
2) Has your clubs summer activities lived up to your expectations?
They have more than lived up to my expectations, with more to come. I never thought we would spend nearly £5 million on one player. Not in our first year back in the premiership. We have more internationals at the Hawthorns now than you can shake a stick at, including an England International in Scott Carson.
3) Who do you think is your most important player(s)?
Last season it was a toss up between Super Kev, Jonno (Greening) or RoKo (Koren). I feel Jonno and RoKo will bejust as important important this year, along with Carson and out strikers. Be it Miller, Bednar or a new signing.
4) Your worst player(s)?
Our worst player against Arsenal was Hoefkens. Hopefully that was just a one off but with Zuiverloon coming back from playing for Holland in the Olympics his days look numbered. We had a few players on the bench against Arsenal that were from the underbelly of the club as Mowbray puts it. I don't feel they're good enough for the premiership but our squad is still short on numbers. Players like Martis and Hodgkiss aren't good enough, Dorrans is one for the future and Craig Beattie is borderline, with a run of games he could do well.
5) A club record fee of £4.75m for Borja Valero? Whats your opinion? Is he worth it? He's not going to play against us is he!?
He's going to be straight into the team, for that much, for our chairman Jeremy Peace, it is like Real Madrid paying £100 million for Christiano Ronaldo. He better be worth it for that price. lol
6) Are there any exciting young prospects that we wouldn't know about?
David Worral a young midfielder we poached from Bury will be a quality player in a few years, but as for this year Zuiverloon is quality, an attacking right back you might of seen him play at the olympics. There's talk he'll be playing on Saturday.
7) Do you have any chants that require an explanation?
When Nathan 'Duke' Ellington played for us the crowd used to shout 'DUUUUUKEEE' it sounded like we were booing him. So when he was kicking off about leaving you couldn't tell if we were booing him or cheering him.
8 ) £40 a ticket? Thats a bit steep isnt it?
It is indeed
9) Could you give any advice such as suggesting an appropriate pub for away fans?
The Vine on Roebuck Lane allows away fan. It is always full of Albion fans, serves good beer and has a tandoori barbecue on match days.
10) What do you think of Evertons summer activities?
What summar activities? Have you actually signed anybody? I thought after the good year you had last year you'd be strengthening and gunning for a Champions League spot.
11) Where do you think Everton will finish in the league?
I still think you'll finish in the top half but not as high as last year unless your chairman pulls his finger out and signs some players.
12) Which Everton player(s) do you fear the most?
Feed the Yak and he will score. Other than him Osman seems to get a decent amount of goals from midfield. Arteta and Cahill are quality midfielders, if they play they will find out our midfield isn't the best in the world at tracking runners. Just ask Arsenal.
13) Finally, What do you think the score will be? If you are feeling brave, name the scorers!
2-1 to the Albion. One for Miller and a cracker for the debutant Valero. I can dream!
-------------------------------------------------------------
John Court
1) Not a bad performance against Arsenal, especially defensively. What are your expectations for this season? (Where do you think you will finish in the league?)
Most fans would settle for 17th and above, Mogga wants a better finish than that.
We have some quality players who if they all perform on the day are capable of getting a result against anybody, I would say a 13th or 14th spot is well within our grasp.
2) Has your clubs summer activities lived up to your expectations?
I would say yes to this one. Were not known for spending shed loads of money and the managers policy is to attract young and hungry players to the club. Players who are trying perhaps to attract the attention of one of the big four or perhaps one of the European big boys.
He has openly said that he does not want Premiership journey men who are after one last fat pay day.
3) Who do you think is your most important player(s)?
This season our most important player will be one of three.
Tex (when he's back), Greening or Millar.
Tex and Jonno can pull the strings in midfield, Miller is a powerhouse of a young lad and on last weeks showing will be immense for us this season.
4) Your worst player(s)?
On last weeks showing its Hoefkens. We suspected last season that he's not brilliant on the back foot, last week proved it. Possible change coming up there me thinks.
5) A club record fee of £4.75m for Borja Valero? Whats your opinion? Is he worth it? He's not going to play against us is he!?
Mowbray's not known for wasting money, so Im trusting his judgement here. He's broken the clubs transfer record so I would expect to see a quality player.
Hope he does play against you for at least part of the game.
6) Are there any exciting young prospects that we wouldn't know about?
As Ive said, Miller could be the one but so could Kim.
7) Do you have any chants that require an explanation?
Not many chants really, all self explanatory.
8) £40 a ticket? Thats a bit steep isnt it?
Same price as home fans have to pay if their not season ticket holders. But yes it is steep.
You would have to pay the same down the road at Blues to watch them in the Championship.
9) Could you give any advice such as suggesting an appropriate pub for away fans?
If you haven't got colours on try the Vine in Roebuck Lane, great curry or barbecue. The hotel on the motorway is also ok you can get a beer and something to eat in there. Wouldn't advise any of the other pubs for away fans to be honest
10) What do you think of Evertons summer activities?
Have you bought anyone? Thought you did well to get £10m for Johnson. Your bench looked a bit like ours last week, very weak.
11) Where do you think Everton will finish in the league?
If you could possibly finish 20th/19th/18th then that would reduce the risk of us going down
.Realistically cant see you having the same success as last year without investment.
12) Which Everton player(s) do you fear the most?
Lescott - ex dingle so he can expect some stick, and he hasn't got a bad goal scoring record.
Arteta and Cahill are decent players but I wouldn't say you have a player that could dominate a game a present.
13) Finally, What do you think the score will be? If you are feeling brave, name the scorers!
We have scored over 200 goals in the last 2 seasons, and we have scored from all areas of the team, don't think we'll score that many this season but Mowbray has only one philosophy and that's to score more than the opponents.
I will settle for 1-0 to us with Bednar to score the goal.
Dont enjoy the day too much!
Cheers
JC
__________________
