A few thoughts:
1. Leon Barnett's aunt Beverley voted off X Factor. Call it a coincidence, but I can't help wondering whether the fickle finger of fate is playing a part. A bad omen for Albion perhaps?
2. Beverley's singing - come to think of it, my singing - is better than Steve Bull's grasp of geography. Bully recycled his 'Sandwell Town' gag - he was talking about Albion - on TV a couple of days ago. Surely he should have learnt his lessons from last season when he said the same thing on the Molineux pitch before the play-off semi-final. A bad omen for Wolves perhaps? Bully, you're from Tipton...as in Tipton, in Sandwell.
3. Flicking through the Birmingham Mail's ever-popular weekly archive re-print, this time from December 1979, I couldn't help noticing that Albion and Wolves were 14 and 16-1 respectively to win the 1980 FA Cup Final, ahead of Everton, Leeds, Chelsea and Newcastle (the latter two at 66-1). Villa were 20-1 and Blues 66-1.
Call it a 'sneaky feeling' but I'll be putting a grand down on West Ham United at 80-1 and, while I'm at, I might even go with Trevor Brooking to get a headed goal at, oh I don't know, at least 1000-1. All of this, that is, after I've watched tonight's Charlie's Angels and Richard Stilgoe show.
4. I challenge anyone to match the criteria which I believe makes Albion v Wolves the most competitive derby in England.
The boxes to be ticked include:
Proximity to each other; status of both clubs in relation to League; past honours; expectation of fans at the given club; on/off field passion.
You can keep your Birmingham, North East, Merseyside, Manchester, north London, East Anglia derbies. The Black Country ding dong is surely the most competitive in England based on criteria met, even if they are outside of the top flight.
The rest are, in their own way, flawed.
You have the: A. mis-matched (Villa are traditionally far bigger than Blues, like Sunderland are way behind Newcastle)
B. too far away (50 miles separates Norwich from Ipswich),
C. one-sided (Manchester - this year being the exception),
D. lacking in intensity (Merseyside) or simply relics from the 1990s (north London).
5. Why is the Black Country derby shunned by TV companies, yet Preston v Charlton is considered worthy of screening?
6. Whatever happened to Richard Stilgoe?
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