The Club

The Baggies, once a yo-yo club, have established themselves as a Premier League club under the likes of Steve Clarke, Pepe Mel, Alan Irvine and Tony Pulis. League winners in 1920, the club has 5 FA Cup trophies and a League Cup, too, won in 1966. Today, fans cheer on the likes of Matt Phillips, Claudio Yacob and Nacer Chadli in a more continental looking West Brom side.

2016-17 – How Was It?

Solid – Pulis-level solid. They finished in 10^th, having hit the magical 40-point barrier with a glut of games to go. However, ‘Pulisitis’ struck and the club enjoyed a horror end to the season, moving from the glimmer of hope that European football awaited followed by a solid but unspectacular 10^th place finish.

Fans were happy with Pulis at first, but the sparkle appears to be dying out at West Brom in many ways. A proud fanbase seems to still expect their club to be able to compete higher up the league, so is Pulis safe?

2017-18 – What Lies Ahead?

That all depends on what awaits this summer. Transfer rumours for the club are thin on the ground, with more links to players of class leaving than coming in. forward Solomon Rondon is being linked with a move away after a disappointing season that seen 8 goals and 2 assists. If they sell Rondon and they cannot find a more suitable replacement, though, it’s going to be very hard for Pulis to keep improving the team.

With a rather tetchy fanbase for a club of their size, it’s likely that disharmony and expectation could hold back West Brom back. Top half would be an achievement again, but it’s likely to be mid-table obscurity once again.

The season seemed to fly by this year and today the 2016-2017 season has come to a close. Aside for a brief moment where Tottenham apppeared to be in with a chance of topping the table, it was certainly Chelsea’s year. At the beginning of June we’ll be casting an eye over the early 2017-2018 betting odds. Stay tuned!!

Most of you will likely have now heard that Joey Barton has received a significant 18 month ban (and £30,000 fine) from football on account of his one time penchant for online betting. Whether or not you agree with the ban is of course down to the individual, but should you wish to see the bet history from Joey Barton’s Betfair account then feel free to take a look, as Joey was kind enough to post them for us on his site!

What this mostly tells us is that Joey didn’t have much luck with betting. Maybe he needed to follow a few tipsters ;). Of course this may well not be a full list of his bets. They might have just removed thee winners!! 😀

Tottenham remain seven points adrift of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League, despite an impressive 4-0 win over Watford, but can close the gap to four points, at least temporarily, by beating Bournemouth at White Hart Line on Saturday afternoon. Mauricio Pochettino’s side has won its last six matches in the Premier League and remains unbeaten at home – having failed to collect maximum points just twice in 16 outings at White Hart Lane – this season. The timely return of top scorer Harry Kane, who played for half an hour against the Hornets, is a boost for the Lilywhites, who’ve scored a total of 39 goals at home this season and conceded just eight.

Bournemouth, on the other hand, have picked up just six points from a possible 24 in their last eight away matches, six of which have involved at least three match goals. However, the Cherries have scored in 11 of their 16 away matches, so while they may ultimately succumb to Spurs’ superior firepower, let’s try Tottenham to win 3-1 at 12/1 with bet365.

Selection: Tottenham to win 3-1 (12/1 with bet365)