With the start of the season only two weeks away, I thought I'd go and watch my team West Bromwich Albion in pre-season action.  Fortunately, they scheduled in a match against the league club nearest to me, Northampton Town at Sixfields Stadium!

This is the second time in as many seasons that The Baggies have played the Cobblers. Last time it was a very entertaining 5-1 to West Brom. They looked the part then and went on to win The Championship and gain promotion.

This year was a bit different.

West Brom did win 1-0 courtesy of a Kim Do-heon free-kick, but they looked devoid of ideas and struggled to create any clear chances against a very poor Northampton side.  The few highlights for me were Kim Do-heon controlling the midfield and the introduction of Dutchman Sherjill MacDonald, who showed some nice touches.

Admittedly, a lot of first-team players were missing, in particular Jonathan Greening and Robert Koren, but it makes you nervous when The Arsenal are waiting to drub someone live on TV on August 16th.  West Brom have been handed the opening match of the Premier League season against The Gunners.

I'm not ashamed to say that I rarely go and watch The Baggies anymore. This is in part due to the difficulty in getting tickets, but mainly down to the prices and the drive from Northants to the West Midlands. I nearly baulked at the entrance fee to Sixfields (£12), so obviously I find it hard to reach into my pocket to pay £40 for an 'A' rated game, plus the obligatory pint, programme, car-parking and petrol.

Gone are the days of sneaking into The Hawthorns as a junior for a fiver.

I'm afraid the match at Sixfields didn't work as an advert for the entertainment on offer this season, so it'll be Match-of-the-Day-all-the-way for me this year!