00:00Buggies fans, welcome to ExpressingStyle.com, my name is Johnny Drury, I'm here at the Hawthorns
00:12for the first time this season, Albion have polished off their pre-season campaign with
00:16a 3-2 victory over Real Vallecano, that's my Spanish slang there, do you like that?
00:22Muy bien, do you like that?
00:23Came from behind, scored 3 goals, 3-2 in the end, I think it was 4-5 goals in Ash, 20 minutes
00:31of the game, if you're 20 minutes left you're in trouble, don't think you need to leave
00:36to beat the traffic today really, given the attendance, those hardy Albion fans turned
00:40out in the East End to watch about 4,000 other them, Coxie, the last few comments and weeks
00:45of pre-season have not been fantastic, but it is pre-season, however, a little bit of
00:51optimism today, I will caveat by saying it is still pre-season, but a bit more optimism,
00:56a bit more about Albion today and a few more positives, I'm sure Ryan Mason will probably
01:00be a lot more happier now than he probably was after Blackpool and Liverpool.
01:04Indeed, yeah, I mean two weeks ago we were stood up at Bloomfield Road, weren't we, having
01:08watched that defeat against the League One side and it, again, it was a friendly, but it
01:16wasn't too much to get excited by, was there, and again, that was, I played Fulham as well,
01:21since something there in Lincoln, so three games ago, but you always want to see something
01:25in a friendly, don't you, that you can cling to or hang to and we didn't, I don't think
01:28we got too much of that at Blackpool really, fitness related really, we weren't at Lincoln,
01:34which I don't believe was too much better, was it, there'll be some fans who are watching
01:39this that went to Lincoln and saw that sort of capitulation up there really, but like,
01:45Albion were deserved winners today against the side that finished eighth in La Liga last
01:50season and that will be playing in the Europa Conference League this season, that looked a
01:53good side, I thought, Vallecano, they sort of passed and used possession as you would expect
01:58a Spanish team too, moved it really quickly, I thought, you know, it took Albion 15 or
02:0420 minutes to really like, get to grips with that, didn't they, they were chasing shadows
02:07for a bit and you're thinking, to be honest, the whole day seemed energy sapping to me, I
02:11think it was a really top workout, to be honest, but in terms of when, and Ryan Messon spoke
02:16about it down there, when you talk about things like pressing and how Albion are going to go
02:19and win the ball off the side, who passed the ball a lot, that was key, you know, that kind of thing
02:23today, perfect centre side. The game changed, didn't it, the game opened up, the goals came
02:27kind of after the side, the sides made a raft of changes, before that, you'd say from probably
02:3215 onwards until that, Albion were the better side, they held their own, you know, they
02:36played against a very good side and, you know, that is the kind of positive today, taking into
02:40consideration the kind of, the opposition, the way Mason set Albion up, they didn't, didn't
02:45kind of look out of place against a side like that, or a top flight side.
02:50Yeah, I thought it was pretty even stuff, and that's a compliment to Albion really, I
02:55think, probably on chances, opportunities created, Albion probably had the better of
02:59them really, you can think of a couple of clear ones, Grant in the first off, Johnson,
03:03second off, before the flurry arrived, and the floodgates opened, didn't they, and, look,
03:08it took a Vallecano opener, and get on to that, but an error from Josh Griffithson in Albion's
03:14goal, for the baggies to hit back, and they hit back, didn't they, three goals in five minutes,
03:18and, yes, it's only a friendly, but I think that will please Ryan Mason and supporters,
03:23yeah, they recovered from a deficit there, they recovered from a disappointment, got back
03:27on the bike and showed a clinical touch, we haven't seen a clinical touch here for a long
03:31time, have we, let's be honest, a long time, and we saw a bitter one then at the end, you
03:36shouldn't really want it after you fall behind, but when the opener went in, and that fall bounced
03:41over Josh Griffithson's head for the tap-in, and we all just thought it was a bit of a shame,
03:45didn't we, because Albion didn't deserve to be behind, no. The error, you know, the whole
03:49thing about Josh Griffiths starting his first season as number one, in the final friendly
03:53before the season, wouldn't have wanted to lose 1-0 to a goal where it was an error of his,
03:58so I looked at him actually when the third goal went in, and he sort of given it a bit
04:02of a fist bump, I think he was pretty pleased that his side were able to hit back and obviously
04:06score the goals to make up for his error, and actually Griffiths made a late save at 3-2,
04:11which kept his team in the lead, so that was good, but, yeah, I think, and Ryan Mason said
04:16down there, Albion deserved that, and almost as encouraged as I could be from today, I think.
04:22We know about what's going on in the wider picture of the squad not being big enough,
04:26not having enough options to mark it. I think the overriding thing of fans leaving today will be,
04:30you know, they're probably a bit more optimistic than they probably were when they turned up today,
04:34which is probably a mark of the game. You've mentioned there on the other things, haven't you,
04:38about the size of the squad, you know, Bedford, Sorbonne, Hagem, no Josh Madger in the squad today.
04:43Didn't expect 90 minutes from Hagem today, didn't we?
04:46Just on the other side of that, obviously, that's where fans' minds would probably have been today,
04:51rather than what happened on the pitch until that last sort of flurry of goals,
04:55but what's Ryan Mason said on Hagem, is he saying anything on Madger's mission?
05:00Or has he been very tight-lipped as we've had?
05:02Well, yes, he obviously asked about those things. I've put an update out very imminently,
05:08about to write it up about Madger. In a nutshell, didn't strike me as overly concerned,
05:17but sort of, pointing to the context, look, Madger, been out for so long,
05:21obviously did, what did he do, 15 minutes, I think, at Lincoln last weekend,
05:26felt something, felt a reaction or something that has meant he hasn't played today.
05:31Now, Ryan Mason didn't say any more than that, and again, you can read up, I'm about to write what he said.
05:36He didn't, sort of, go into that any deeper as to the manner of the setback, really, I suppose.
05:43I suppose the hope is, obviously, that it's just a minor thing and something that will,
05:47is a bit natural on the way from a long-term layoff, really, and that it isn't anything more serious than that.
05:53Now, what I would say is, I think it says everything, that it took the penultimate friendly of the summer last weekend
06:00from Madger to have 15 minutes from the bench.
06:02I think that tells us everything, really, about where he is, how long this has taken.
06:06He's been back in training a while about how long this has taken and where he's at,
06:09and that if we're, if Albion are hanging their hat on Josh Madger from next week,
06:14from the start of the season, he's not ready.
06:16He will be ready, hopefully soon, and this setback isn't a bad one,
06:21and hopefully a few weeks, I don't know, a couple of weeks into the season,
06:24he's playing more from the bench and building his fitness up.
06:27But, realistically, the friendlies are done now, and he's played 15 minutes, hasn't he, Madger,
06:31against League One opposition.
06:32So, he'll be lacking that, Matt Sharpness, as well as coming back from January the 4th,
06:38he last played last season.
06:39So, you know, the expectation, I think, on Madger, as an excellent player he is,
06:43just needs to probably be tempered, given what's happened.
06:45And, yeah, a concern, he hasn't been seen today.
06:48And, we'll do it on a podcast this week, I'm sure, but Albion's front line options,
06:52we saw them linked with a striker from Spain this week.
06:54And, you know, DK News, we had been linked to our DK News now,
06:58out till after the September international break with Tamar Bani.
07:01So, that DK News with this, for Madger, update,
07:04is not good for the front line options, is it?
07:06And, we saw Orne Hegeber today, and he had a good game,
07:09and I think he excited fans, and he showed exactly what he is.
07:11And, I think, I'm excited to see more of it from him.
07:13I think he had a really good day.
07:15I know you've written about him, haven't you?
07:16One of the real white punks from today, I would say.
07:18But, you know, ultimately it's him and Devante Cole here as it stands.
07:22So, something to look at there.
07:24As I say, I'll be writing that up imminently.
07:27And, the other point you mentioned was Hegem, wasn't he?
07:30I asked Ryan Mason about Hegem just then.
07:32And, he said it was, he sort of shrugged and said it was something he wasn't aware of.
07:38Which I thought was interesting.
07:40And, you know, again, take that how you want to take it.
07:43But, Ryan Mason did then have a long conversation with Andrew Nestor,
07:47sporting director down in the dugout area at the Hawthorns after we did the post-match interview.
07:52So, look, obviously Hegem and other things would have been on that conversation, on that agenda.
07:59The Hegem reports broke late last night on a Friday night, before a 1pm friendly.
08:03Now, I'm not being naive in saying Ryan Mason had no idea about any of that.
08:08Of course, you know, he's one of Albin's staff players.
08:10But, you know, there were more conversations were had with the sporting director after the interview.
08:15So, we'll see in the next couple of days, I think, how that progresses in the wash.
08:20Obviously, we reported on the Friday night, last night, that negotiations on going with Polonia of Italy.
08:26The £10 million move for Albin centre-back Hegem.
08:29And I think we got here today, didn't we?
08:31Not expecting to see him on the team sheet.
08:33I didn't expect to.
08:34So, I was very surprised to see him starting.
08:36And he completed the whole game.
08:37Yeah.
08:38And he did okay.
08:39He's an excellent player, isn't he?
08:41And if we're just giving our two-fence worth on that,
08:43I don't think anyone that won't be disappointed to see Hegem go, if that goes through.
08:48But I think if he goes for a package worth around £10 million or up to £10 million, that's an excellent price, really.
08:54And we spoke on pods, on videos, haven't we, about how Albin have to sell the summer.
08:58PSR, you know, to balance that out, to stay within the regulations of the cycle.
09:04Well, they would have to sell to do that.
09:08And they would have to sell, you know, big in this case, to generate the possibilities to strengthen the squad.
09:13Look, Hegem will be a lot.
09:14Signed that Phillips, who did well today.
09:16He's got yet to see too much of George Campbell otherwise of playing left-back.
09:21But Hegem will be a mix.
09:24However, that's, in my opinion, a good sell for Albin and a good fee.
09:28And let's see how it progresses.
09:30But head coach tight-lipped on that one.
09:32I'll be writing it up anyway, so you can have a read.
09:34And, yeah, I'm feeling encouraging MPUs today, as I feel like the 4,000 or 5,000 that were here will be.
09:40About as good as a warm-up can go seven days before the start of the season, I think.
09:44And, to be honest, I can't wait to be in it next weekend now, as I'm sure you can.
09:48I can indeed.
09:49I can indeed.
09:50It's been a busy 24 hours with a lot of Albin news.
09:52They have capped it off with a pre-season victory.
09:55We'll talk more about it on the podcast this week.
09:57And we will bring you a very funny story involving Coxie, a former Albin player.
10:02We won't tell you any more.
10:03Listen to the podcast.
10:04It took me a while to work out what that was about, but, yeah.
10:08Final score here at Albin.
10:10Albin 3, Rayo Valkano.
10:12For all the rest of your reaction, head over to expressionstar.com.
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