A few days ago, I wrote about different ways of measuring a team's performance - either in absolute
or relative terms. Relative metrics are useful if we are interested in drilling a little deeper
into what players or teams are able to do, given the resources they have or in relation to some
other event on the pitch, not simply whether they do a lot or a little (like scoring or possessing
the ball).
Lost amid all the debates and media coverage about the respective merits of David De Gea and
Anders Lindegaard, Tomasz Kuszczak silently fades into oblivion and obscurity, left out in the cold
by Alex Ferguson and stranded at Old Trafford with his only football coming on the Carrington
training ground and in meaningless reserve matches.
West Brom's top scorer from last season Peter Odemwingie has suffered a setback in his bid to
return from a niggling ankle injury, with Roy Hodgson confirming the striker's return date is yet
unknown. The Nigerian first sustained the injury during West Brom's pre-season, although the
striker did come off the bench for 15 minutes against Chelsea.
By Alan Duffy
Norwich City 0-1 West Bromwich Albion Premier League 11 September 2011
The Baggies racked up their first points of the campaign at Carrow Road, courtesy of an early
strike from Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie. The forward would go on to miss a penalty in the
second-half, but the visitors held out to seal the victory.
At first look, West Brom's lone win after their first four Premier League encounters may, to the
untrained eye, be symptomatic of the struggles they have endured in past seasons as a "yo-yo" club,
shuffling between second-tier triumphs and top-flight relegations.
But the performances put in by Roy Hodgson's side suggest more than the three points out of a
possible fourteen, which sees the Baggies lie 13th currently.
By Alan Duffy
West Brom's Nigerian striker, with hair bleached blonde, failed to score in the Baggies' dismal
3-0 defeat at the hands of Premier League new-boys, Swansea City.
US dancefloor diva Ultra Naté hasn't scored a big (pop) hit of her own since the late
nineties.
By Alan Duffy
Brendan Rogers' Swansea City side play attractive football, but before yesterday, they had
failed to make that positivie play count in the top tier.
However, against the Baggies, the Swans cantered to a 3-0 victory, courtesy of their first three
goals of the new campaign.
Last weekend was a superb one for Swansea City fans as the club finally secured their first win
in the Premiership, scoring their first goals and securing their first ‘sell out' of the season
as the crowd finally hit the 20,000 mark.
It's been an anxious time for all at the Liberty Stadium but fans can now breathe a huge sigh of
relief with the vital three points propelling Brendan Rogers's side into fourteenth position and,
after an impressive win on Saturday, pundits may be re-evaluating their views of Swansea as one of
the ‘whipping boys' of the league.
