The Diary

25 August 2004: Moving Matters - Meggo Won't, Will Dindane?

Groan, groan ? and triple groan. With an ?AARGH!? or three chucked in, buckshee. When you read today?s piece, fellow Baggies, have some sympathy, do! This morning, at the unearthly time of eight o?clock, I attended for my usual ?torture hour? (laughingly called ?physiotherapy? by the medical profession), and after suffering around eight weeks of same, I?m beginning to empathise greatly with the mood of our players after they?ve endured a gruelling morning session with our leader. Sure, all that exercise is paying dividends, but it doesn?t half leave me cream-crackered after I?ve finished. ?Im Indoors is now muttering darkly about this column actually ascending Newcastle?s away end via the stairs, and not by my usual mode of transport, the lift, come the 24th of September. A proposition that?s perfectly OK by me, as long as my other half thoroughly researches beforehand the emergency medical facilities available for people suffering from coronary thrombosis, as I?ve no wish whatsoever to have ?Geordieland? recorded on my death certificate, thank you very much! Another thought?s just struck me, though ? is it because of the life insurance? Ooer.

Unsurprisingly, the nationals are still full of fizz today following the ?resignation? of Paul Sturrock from Southampton. I was particularly impressed by both the Telegraph and the Guardian, whose intelligent discussion of the various issues involved I found most interesting. It?s now looking odds-on as though Meggo won?t have the equilibrium of his brain disturbed by any poaching attempts emanating from the South Coast. Why? Try these for size. First off, a quick perusal today of both articles previously mentioned shows Saints Chairman Rupert Lowe to be something of a control-freak; it would seems he prefers to handle the minutiae of incoming and outgoing transfers himself ? and the sackings, of course! Somehow, I couldn?t see it working. Meggo, bless his balding ginger pate, has an ego the size of the Old Church, and wouldn?t stand playing second-fiddle regarding football-related matters for a moment. Number Two? Easy, that one: Lowe has now given Sturrock?s former deputy, Steve Wigley, the somewhat dubious opportunity to clutch the poisoned chalice, which he has done with a worrying eagerness ? until the moment comes when he?s deemed to have stuffed up as well, of course.

The third? Well, it?s something I had intended to mention last night, but lacking absolute confirmation of my facts, I left it out of my final draft ? but, would you believe it, about 20 minutes after I put that day?s piece to bed, what I?d been seeking arrived! It transpires (cheers to Fred Carter for this) that our old friend, former Baggies chairman Paul Thompson, is a non-executive member of Southampton?s board ? or at least he was, as per the public announcement of his appointment on Friday 12th of December 2003 ? and as my informant hasn?t heard anything about his resignation since, the assumption has to be he?s still there. Being the astute Baggies you all are, I?m sure you?ll recall the almighty spat that PT had with our leader no sooner we?d gone up in 2002, the result of the showdown being, of course, that PT went, and Meggo stayed. Not exactly the most fertile conditions for an emotional and tearful reunion, n?est ce pas?

Our own supremo, Jeremy Peace is, apparently, trotting all over Europe right now in a frenzied bid to get some new-bugs into our line-up before the deadline, but it?s not very likely we?ll see anyone different wearing the sacred stripes before tomorrow night. Loved the E and S headline tonight - ?PEACE IN EUROPE? - conjuring up for me pictures of pre-war prime ministers wearing homburg hats, sporting toothbrush moustaches, and holding up squiddly bits of paper for the cameras that meant absolutely diddly-squat when push came to shove the following year. Not quite of the same mould, our chairman (who has nothing to do with politics in any case!) but just remember, Jeremy, should those nice Anderlecht people offer to chuck in a bit of Czechoslovakia as part of the deal for Dindane, this country may be getting a little more than it bargained for in approximately 18 months time! Mind you, results tonight show Anderlecht going through to the next round of the Champions League, with You Know Who scoring two; it now remains to be seen how desperate he really is to get away from Belgium. Or will success in that competition suddenly re-awaken a long-lost passion for chips with mayonnaise, not to mention chocolate and delicate lacy things for the missus? Better be pragmatic, I suppose, and move on to the next target ? and if he should decide to come after all, let it be a pleasant bonus.

The problem is, of course, when trying to tempt players to The Shrine at the moment, it?s difficult to sell them the joys of a club that?s (on paper at least) very likely to return from whence it came come May. That?s the problem we had with Ipswich?s Hriedarsson last time round and, very likely, a few more transfer hopefuls we weren?t aware of at the time. In the end, we had to settle for players who were, essentially, top-notch First Division performers, which is one of the reasons we went down ? and, paradoxically, the prime reason we came up in one the following season. It?s a circle that?s very difficult to square, really; we desperately need to show results on the pitch to tempt quality players, but without the quality there, it?s mighty difficult to get the results. Getting Kanu to join was a massive boost in that direction and so was getting Gera; talented players will look at them and think there might be something going for us after all. These players are both of genuine Premiership calibre, and it shows. Even if the move for Dindane does fall flat, there are other fish in the sea out there ? Wiltord, maybe? - and they need to be impressed, and soon; another excellent reason why we need to get a result against Spurs.

Talking of which, time, now, for thoughts to turn to tomorrow night?s game. Rather than choose to embrace the civilising influences of the Black Country, West Ham?s Michael Carrick opted to go to White Hart Lane instead, so that means he?ll be lining up against us tomorrow night, more likely than not. (You win some, you lose some?..) It also looks as though former Dingles striker and arch-moaner Robbie Keane may be available also; he returned to full training yesterday following an ankle injury. The same applies to Stephen Kelly, but Fredi Kanoute is doubtful after bruising his thigh in Saturday's 1-0 win at Newcastle, poor dear. Dean Richards, poor chap, is suffering with an ear infection, so will be out on his ? erm ? ear, probably.

As for our lot, logic would dictate ?as you were?, as we don?t appear to have any ?wounded little soldiers? from our Sunday Seal-hunt; trouble is, though, why does my heart constantly scream ?Give Gera a start!?? Once he came on for Hass, the sheer aura of latent talent he exuded was frightening; a few more passes like the one he put The Horse through with and we could be sitting pretty. Such considerations could leave our leader with something of a dilemma on his hands: assuming he?s thinking that way, who gets shoved on the bench to make room for Zoltan? I?d say keep it as per the Villa subbing. Harsh on poor Singed Bum, I know, as he was competent, as a whole, on Sunday, but that?s the way the mop flops sometimes. My forecast for tomorrow night, as per the Predictions League? A nice fat ?one-nil to the Albion?. Now you know who to blame if we stuff up.

Incidentally, regarding tomorrow night, I?m looking for lots more feedback about the extent of any traffic problems encountered after the final whistle. It doesn?t matter whether you park in one of the club car parks, Halfords Lane, the motorway island, a street near to the ground, further afield, whatever ? what I need are DETAILED and constructive comments about what, if anything, was wrong, and what the plods were trying to do about it ? or not, as the case may be. I?m doing this in conjunction with a local journo as a follow-up to the long-running ?discussion? I had with the West Midlands Police?s finest I had last season. As you might remember, the issue was featured extensively in the E and S, and I?m trying to ascertain whether there?s been an improvement or not, and if there hasn?t, trying to get something done about it. All comments either to my email address, the Boing mailing list, or via the webmaster.

And finally?. Sorry, chaps, but it?s a case of them or us! Palace 0, Chelsea 2, so they remain firmly on the bottom tonight.

 - Glynis Wright

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