After unveiling perhaps the most balanced and fairly selected England squad in years, Roy Hodgson also revealed that Steven Gerrard will lead the Three Lions in this summer's Euro 2012 tournament an appointment that was considered only logical by many before it was even confirmed.

Hodgson, who has worked with Gerrard before in the capacity of the Liverpool manager, selected John Terry in his 23-man squad earlier this afternoon but had no hesitation in choosing the man who received the armband that once used to belong to the Chelsea captain.

Rice gets the right send off

The season ended last night. We achieved what we set out to do at the start of the day. That is to secure the third place and get ourselves into that Champions League pot next season. Though we didn't quite do it in the fashion that we preferred but we merely added to the drama that has been the final day of the Premier League season.

szólj hozzá: West Brom 2-3 Arsenal

Ben Foster's injury withdrawal an hour before kick off turned out to be the best thing in Arsenal's afternoon at the Hawthorns. The Gunners actually turned in a poor display but sparsely played Martin Fulop who was Foster's stand in gifted the visiting side all their goals.

Papiss Cisse: My Signing of the Season! - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

For me, Newcastle's number nine has been the best transfer for not just this season, but the past few years.

Yesterday evening, Cisse produced two goals of the highest quality to keep Newcastle United firmly in contention for a place in the Premier League's top four with victory at Chelsea.

Roy was all smiles on Sunday...Liverpool fell to yet another defeat in the league on Sunday as Roy Hodgson's side got the better of the Reds. Liverpool had chances aplenty and maintained pressure throughout the 90 minutes but they just couldn't find the back of the net.
Liverpool started without captain Steven Gerrard who was left out as a precaution according to manager Kenny Dalglish.

By Alan Duffy

West Bromwich Albion 3-0 Blackburn Rovers Premier League 7th April 2012

Blackburn looked to have turned the corner in recent months, following a number of decent results, but another defeat, this time at the Hawthorns, sees Steve Kean's side slip back into the drop-zone.

1. Manchester City appear to have mastered the squeaky bum crack. There are not holding up well to the run-in pressure. 2. The Black Cats haven't been very lucky for City this season. A defeat at the Stadium of Light and then a light salvage job to get a draw at the Etihad. 3. Pepe [...]

Wayne Rooney put Manchester United 2-0 up against West Brom on Saturday after beating Ben Foster from the penalty spot.

After scoring, Rooney walked towards the former United goalie to give him a look. On Twitter after the game Rooney explained what it was all about.

"I looked at Ben Foster after pen because I took a lot of pens against him in training and before I took penalty he tried to put me off.

Wayne Rooney put Manchester United 2-0 up against West Brom on Saturday after beating Ben Foster from the penalty spot.

After scoring, Rooney walked towards the former United goalie to give him a look. On Twitter after the game Rooney explained what it was all about.

"I looked at Ben Foster after pen because I took a lot of pens against him in training and before I took penalty he tried to put me off.

Nicks' note: What, you thought Sahil Dumir was like Romelu Lukaku, that he would swirl his cape around and swoosh into nothingness after one blog post? He's back for seconds, and not very tasty ones at that. The little blue tyke dissects Chelsea's loss to West Brom here.

As London went Siberian (although not for me; watched at home while looking after the boy) Fulham were much as Fulham are. Yes, we lacked a true number 25, but individual players are always less important than we think they'll be. In truth we looked more or less okay.

Fulham lined up with what was more or less a 4-4-2, Murphy and Sidwell flanked by Duff and Davies, with Dempsey and Ruiz a surprising but skilful front two.

By Alan Duffy

Stoke City 1-2 West Bromwich Albion Premier League 21st January 2012

West Brom secured a vital three points away at a blustery Britannia against a Stoke side who never really got into their stride.

By Alan Duffy

West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Norwich City Premier League 14th January 2012

What a superb season Norwich City, newly-promoted to the top tier, are having. Finding themselves in ninth-place, only eight points off a European place, Paul Lambert and co.

In his recent post on the loan system, my fellow blogger Lloyd drew attention to its clever exploitation by Watford in recent seasons. Tom Cleverley was perhaps the best known of the Vicarage Road lodgers but Ben Foster did strikingly before him, while Henri Lansbury and Andrew Taylor also starred in gold.

Late goals were the order of the day in England, most notably at Sunderland where Ji Dong-won's last-gasp winner earned the home side a surprise 1-0 victory over leaders Manchester City.

Roberto Mancini's side had aspirations of fully capitalising on Manchester United's loss to Blackburn Rovers 24 hours earlier, to establish a three-point lead at the Premier League summit.

THFC1882 present a writing debut from Twitters @Brettsayid reporting on yesterday's match:

West Bromwich Albion 1 (Mulumbu 10 ) Tottenham Hotspur 3 ( Adebayor 26 , 90, Defoe 81 )

Line ups : WBA Foster , Reid , Olsson, Mcauley , Shorey , Brunt , Mulumbu , Morrison , Thomas , Gera ( sub , Cox ) Long ( sub , odemwinge )

Spurs Friedel , Walker , Kaboul , King, BAE , Lennon , Sandro (sub, Livermore), Parker , Bale , Adebayor , Defoe .

Saturday 26th November 2011, 3pm Kick-off. The Hawthorns.

It's a rare Saturday 3pm Saturday kick off for Tottenham Hotspur this week. Not that the game time should faze Harry Redknapp's dazzling Spurs side, on the face of it, not much could or should at the moment.

Noel's done some pretty heavy lifting this week first passing along Daniel Agger's brutally honest assessment of the Swansea performance, then news of Luis Suarez opening up about his racism row with Patrice Evra, followed by a deconstruction of Swansea's dominance and a frank appraisal of success of the "Buy British" approach, and, finally, where Steven Gerrard's groin fits with England's future.

(c) 2010 Premier LeagueAccording to the BBC, when Chelsea played Birmingham City FC the afternoon of November 20, 2010 at St.Andrews, they took 25 shots on Ben Foster's goal. Birmingham took only 1 – yes one – shot the entire match. The end result? Birmingham 1, Chelsea 0. One way to read these results is to say Birmingham got lucky.

Luis Suarez never has a bad game. A body of perpetual motion, the Uruguayan's movement and elusiveness remain Liverpool's most dangerous attacking threat. El Pistolero's immensely positive contribution in games are often tinged with slight regrets. He does not score as many goals as he should have, considering the amount of chances he creates game in game out.

Carroll Converts In Baggies Win

Adam takes the penalty... Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll sent Liverpool to a 2-0 win on Saturday at the Hawthorns. A penalty decision for the Reds got them under way and a goal just before half time ensured the three points. West Brom were pretty absent throughout the 90 minutes and for a side who have been in great form of late after winning two local derbies, they certainly didn't have much to show for it.

Adam takes the penalty...Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll sent Liverpool to a 2-0 win on Saturday at the Hawthorns. A penalty decision for the Reds got them under way and a goal just before half time ensured the three points.
West Brom were pretty absent throughout the 90 minutes and for a side who have been in great form of late after winning two local derbies, they certainly didn't have much to show for it.

By Alan Duffy

West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Liverpool Premier League 29th October

Liverpool were by far the better side at the Hawthorns on Saturday with goals from Charlie Adam (via the penalty spot) and Andy Carroll sealing a comfortable win for the visitors.

Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez showed more signs of forging a potent strike partnership as Liverpool strolled to victory over West Brom - and former Reds manager Roy Hodgson - at the Hawthorns.
A Charlie Adam penalty and Carroll's third goal of the campaign confirmed Liverpool's superiority as they climbed into fifth spot in the Barclays Premier League.

West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Liverpool: Carroll on Target in Reds' stroll

Goals from Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll gave Liverpool a comfortable 2-0 win at the Hawthorns. This time last year, West Brom manager Roy Hodgson was in the middle of a torrid six month spell as Liverpool manager.

By Alan Duffy

Aston Villa 1-2 West Bromwich Albion Premier League 22 October 2011

They may have benefited from an extremely harsh red card given to Villa's Chris Herd for a rather innocuous-looking tangle with Martin Olsson, but West Brom fully deserved their victory against their local rivals.

You might not have been alive that last time West Brom left Villa Park with three points: it was May 11th 1979. In fairness, we've only played in the same league 12 seasons since then, which reduces the chances of losing somewhat, but then we also didn't have to endure Phil Dowd refereeing.

West Brom come to Villa Park in a fixture we haven't lost since 1979. Our record from the last 10 times we played the Baggies in the league is six wins and four draws.

Roy Hodgson's side picked up their second win of the season last weekend, a 2-0 home victory against the hapless Wolves. We're trying to put a comprehensive loss at the hands of Man City behind us, Alex McLeish threatening to drop any players who put in lacklustre defensive displays.

With England's ticket to the 2012 European Championships now booked, Fabio Capello's thoughts will be away from the colder temperature and focused on his 23 man squad selection for the tournament next summer.

The question of who to take, and who to leave out, always excites a media frenzy, with the age-old debates of club form, age, and experience brought out to trump up heroes or tear down villains.

As a fan of a Non-League side it's very rare that I have anyone to talk to about the team I support. I completely understand why some people will have little or nothing to say about the Non-League but what really gets on my nerves is when I hear people writing it off as being a poor level of football.

As a fan of a Non-League side it's very rare that I have anyone to talk to about the team I support. I completely understand why some people will have little or nothing to say about the Non-League but what really gets on my nerves is when I hear people writing it off as being a poor level of football.

Liverpool head to the Britannia tomorrow to face Tony Pulis' Stoke City in one of the more challenging away fixtures on the Premier League calendar. The Reds have only earned two points in their last three visits, and the hosts have a well-founded reputation for being one of the least hospitable clubs in the top flight.

Ben Foster's act of cowardliness yesterday cost West Brom a valuable point at home to Stoke yesterday, when he pulled out of a challenge against Ryan Shotton in the 89th minute. Foster reached for a through ball to avoid a collision with Shotton, had he been braver he would have took the studs to the chest and the Baggies would have avoided their third straight defeat this season.

The competitive home debut of Andre Villas-Boas' Chelsea is here.

I stole this from somewhere. Thanks.

Join us from 12:30pm EDT for team news and the like.

A competitive home debut is at hand for our suave, animated (see below) leader. Chelsea host the Baggies at Stamford Bridge in Saturday's evening fixture.

Who: West Bromwich Albion
What: Premier League, Round 2
When: 20 August, 5:30pm local (12:30pm EST)
Where: Stamford Bridge (42,050)
How: Fox Soccer Channel (DirecTV 619, Dish 149)

Why: A point at the Britannia may have been half-acceptable not according to Villas-Boas, though but a similar result tomorrow will hardly be peachy.

By Chris Wright

Cracking spot from Pies fan Lee Hickson, who noticed that Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster bears an uncanny resemblance (it's the 'head-too-large-for-face' ratio that does it) to actor Danny Miller, who currently plays Aaron Livesy on Emmerdale which is, as Lee points out, a rubbish Northern soap opera.

By Chris Wright

Reigning champs Manchester United got their title defense off to a winning start with a 2-1 win over West Brom at the Hawthorns on Sunday.

Wayne Rooney opened the scoring, nutmegging a shot into the far corner in the 13th minute before Shane Long pulled one back for the Baggies on his debut with a relatively tame shot trundling past David De Gea and nestling in the inside side netting.

Manchester United began defence of their Premier League crown with a late 2-1 victory at West Brom, while title rivals Chelsea were being held to a 0-0 draw by Stoke.

United began the match strongly and took a 13th-minute lead when Wayne Rooney latched onto an Ashley Young pass and drove a shot on the turn past Ben Foster.

Manchester United began defence of their Premier League crown with a late 2-1 victory at West Brom, while title rivals Chelsea were being held to a 0-0 draw by Stoke.

United began the match strongly and took a 13th-minute lead when Wayne Rooney latched onto an Ashley Young pass and drove a shot on the turn past Ben Foster.

szólj hozzá: West B. 1-2 Man UTD ALL GOALS

Man Utd again pulled out a trademark late winner and for the second weekend in a row bailed out David De Gea, who Sir Alex has tapped to fill the giant shoes of Edwin Van Der Sar.

This time it was a low angled shot by debutant Shane Long which De Gea should have safely covered.