January 25th: Up for the Cup - West Ham United v West Bromwich Albion

Thirty eight years ago almost to the day, a left back scored the winning goal for West Bromwich Albion in an away FA Cup 4th Round tie. A vision still clear in the mind many years later. Now, there is no Albion fan of relevant vintage that is going to link Derek Statham and Conor Townsend in the same conversation, but you can't deny the synergy between 1982 and 2020. Statham's winner at Gillingham all those years ago inspired a cup run that ended at the penultimate hurdle of a semi final defeat to QPR. Time will tell how far we will progress in 2020 but for now we can just bask in the glory of Townsend's spectacular winner at the London Stadium that dumped Premier League West Ham out of the cup. 

Back in '82, Albion were a top flight side denying plucky Gillingham a cup upset. Although Albion were the clear underdogs in status this time, a team from the top of the championship winning at a Premier league struggler is hardly a cup shock for the ages. As you would expect in these times of a watered down FA Cup, changes were aplenty, but you could argue that Albion rested more first team regulars than their hosts. In fact the one-nil scoreline was a more comfortable experience than the slender margin it seems as West Ham failed to create many clear cut chances and arguably were the second best side on the day by a considerable margin.

Albion were bouyed by a fervent 5,000 away following making the trip from the Midlands down to the capital. The London Stadium may well have been packed to its capacity for this cup tie, but this soulless shell of a pseudo-football ground was hardly a cauldron of fear. In contrast to Staham's last ditch winner, Townsend's decisive strike came in the first half and there were few heart-in-the-mouth moments for the remainder of the game.

This was Albion's third visit to the capital in the month of January after a couple of trips to Charlton including the 3rd Round tie that yielded the same score and result. All three trips remained unbeaten and it is full fingers crossed that the cup run will inspire a return to winning ways in the league. 

You have to expect in these modern times for teams to prioritise the league over the cup. It will not be music to the ears of the club's accountants, but many fans would trade a failed promotion bid to lift the FA Cup in May. The chances are a lot less for the latter, especially with the big guns dominating the competition more now than in the past, but dreams are what keeps a football fan in optimistic mode. 

The 5th Road is inexplicably held in midweek this year, so a blog post is determined by a home draw or a Midlands away tie - the winner of Coventry-Birmingham would be nice. In the meantime let's just reflect on a successful trip to West Ham and the flame of a promotion and cup double to repeat 1931 still alight. 

January 24th: Quality Crumbs: Milk Carton Kids + Ryan Bingham Birmingham Town Hall

One of the richest times of the year for high quality American touring artists to hit our shores is the period straddling end of January-early February. This is primarily down to the prestigious Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow and in recent times the staging of the AMAUK festival in London. Touring artists may tag a couple of other dates onto their schedule, but it's a rarity to have an extensive tour this time of year. 

There is always a tinge of envy when perusing the schedules of these two events, which tend to be off limits for winter gig road trips. There is always the hope that Birmingham or the wider Midlands region can snap up one of these tagged shows, but this is definitely the exception rather than the norm with Manchester often being the city of choice for those scheduling extra dates. 

However in 2020 there has been a twist of events. One show may be construed as small crumbs, but when you get a pairing of the Milk Carton Kids and Ryan Bingham at Birmingham Town Hall on a Friday night they are definitely quality ones. 

The gig was billed as a Milk Carton Kids headline with Ryan Bingham as the special guest, but set times of 70 and 60 minutes respectively suggested we were heading into twin bill territory. The former had the slightly higher profile in the city having performed at the Transatlantic Sessions annual staging a couple of years ago. So in effect it was a full Birmingham debut, which was certainly the case for Ryan Bingham.

2019 was a re-introductory year for Bingham in the UK as he toured his latest album with a full band in tow, including a slot at the Black Deer Festival and a super gig in Oxford that settled in the upper echelons of my favourites of the year list. For this lower key mid winter visit, he left the band at home and played a solo format that I had not seen him in before. While it was a little different, especially when he played the old favourite 'Southside of Heaven', it still came across as an exceptional performance with a focus more on sharing his origins and influences. Covers of Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle and Terry Allen hardly shook the earth, but when you're steeped in the Texas songwriting tradition you might as well celebrate the best. There is no denial that Bingham gargles lone star dirt and creates an authentic aura when spreading the art of his homeland in far away places.

Following an hour of Texas earthy grit, the dial turned to pristine north eastern harmonies as Kenneth and Joey aka the Milk Carton Kids shared their innate prodigious talent with a Birmingham audience well versed in the wide expanses of the Americana genre. Satire fed the inter song exchanges including a response to their latest 7-track album that they only went into the studio to a record a 5-track EP. Just like Bingham exhaled an intoxicating aura, the Milk Carton Kids did likewise in a style rinsed with Greenwich Village nostalgia. It was purely magical listening to them in full flow followed by a reflection of how blessed it can be to tune in to such special artists executing classic styles.

For two hours on this Friday night, envy of Celtic Connections and AMAUK Fest evaporated in a song-filled haze and full appreciation of how good Ryan Bingham and the Milk Carton Kids are. Quality crumbs - nah, a fully artisan loaf!

January 20th: Blog Jinx or Crisis - West Bromwich Albion v Stoke City

Well, three Albion games into this blog and still no win to report. Of course this venture only charts games seen live and to be fair they did record a success at Charlton in the cup which sets up a decent tie with West Ham this coming weekend. However the league games haven't gone to plan with the first two matches ending in draws before slumping to a one-nil defeat at home to Stoke City in this Monday night match. 

In yet another match relieved of its Saturday 3 o'clock kick off for the benefit of Sky TV, Albion were buoyed by nearest rivals Leeds dropping three points a couple of days earlier. A win would have seen the lead at the top of the division extend to four points and a further convincing healthy margin from those leading the chasing pack. Unfortunately a flat lifeless performance followed and we never recovered from conceding an early goal to a Stoke side on an upward trajectory in terms of resilience and organisation. 

Of greater concern is a winless run of six league games stretching back to mid-December and a period where the chasing pack are quickly closing the gap to the extent of snapping at the heels. While some perspective requires seeking in this age of a social media landscape where instant reaction supplants the bigger picture, there are still visible signs of the early season key ingredients missing. 

Perhaps time has come for manager - Slaven Bilic - to repay the adulation relentlessly bestowed upon him since joining in July with some effective adjustment. Player staleness and system malfunction requires addressing along with maybe a little injection of new blood before the transfer window closes at the end of the month. 

There will always be a slice of scepticism when Albion do well and many long-term supporters brace themselves for a tumble when a lofty position is reached. In essence this is not a crisis, but a massive sense check that things will have to change for the promise of the first half of the season not to filter away. 

Not all games between now and May will feature in 2020CMS, but there are enough that any blog jinx will impact greatly. Let's hope this is just a myth. 

January 18th: Kentucky Crusade - Tyler Childers at Manchester Academy 2

Back on the gig wagon after a short break over the Christmas and the New Year period with the first reflection on live music for the 2020CMS project. While the majority of gigs attended is within the locality of the West Midlands, taking a road trip is not an uncommon practice and something that has frequently occurred in January when a wealth of top notch American artists visit our shores for invited events. The majority of these artists tend to miss out the midlands region at this time of year often necessitating the aforementioned road trip where practical. This year the perfect opportunity occurred when a double bill of Tyler Childers and The Local Honeys was announced for Manchester on a Saturday night, thus making travel relatively feasible. 


The ultimate link between these two acts is their Kentucky homeland as evidenced at the end of this show when Childers paid tribute to the Honey's Montana's father who lived in close proximity when growing up. News of the two acts teaming up for UK shows was first heard when seeing The Local Honeys play the Kitchen Garden in Birmingham towards the end of last year. That evening proved a fantastic gig and it was interesting to see how the Appalachian roots acoustic music of the duo would fare in a totally different setting. 

So as the lights went down at the stroke of 8 in a sold out 950 capacity Manchester Academy 2 venue, Linda Jean and Montana set about doing what they do best. A buzzing Saturday night standing crowd is going to be different to playing to 50 in the pin drop intimate surroundings of the Kitchen Garden, but these two Kentuckians did a marvellous job of keeping the audience engaged with a neat selection of informative chat and prime playing.

Unlike The Local Honeys, this was the first time seeing Tyler Childers live, although to be fair his UK dates have been relatively limited as the star of this Kentuckian as soared to levels far above most artists of his country music persuasion. To this extent I was mildly surprised at the turn out and strong rapport the audience had for him. His popularity had been clearly underestimated and in turn he repaid this faith by turning in a captivating performance adeptly supported by a five-piece band. 

Although the sound did stray from pure country into other Americana directions especially soul and rock in places, Childers uses the most compelling of southern vocals to own a transfixed zone and keep a switched on audience in his loop. In a rather unique strategy, he decided to end the ninety minute set with three solo acoustic songs and an encore-free goodnight which hit the right spot on a night where you felt a country artist from the right side of the tracks possessed huge crossover potential. 

£15 a ticket was a great steal for this show (ok any gig road trip has additional costs), but you would have to go a long way find a classier two hours of music than our two visitors from Kentucky delivered this evening. Manchester is not my usual gig stomping ground for the obvious reasons, but the dozen or so times I've made the trip up in the last ten years has yielded some great shows. Tyler Childers and The Local Honeys at the Academy 2 in January 2020 is up there with the best, proving one successful Kentucky crusade. 

Live music is going to jostle gamely with the other activities for 2020CMS, but superb nights like this has set the year on a very promising path. 

January 11th: Capital Conundrum - Charlton Athletic v West Bromwich Albion

On Saturday 11th January West Bromwich Albion went back to the top of the EFL Championship following a 2-2 draw at Charlton. Chants from the travelling contingent of 'we are top of the league' were slightly muted as debate raged between those concerned with recent form and those insisting on the bigger picture. So it was a case of whether the glass was half full or half empty for fans boarding trains, coaches and cars from what turned out to be a second consecutive weekend trip to play Charlton at the Valley.

Heading the case for the concern is the fact that the team has now gone five games without a win since a derby success at Birmingham in mid-December. Also going back a further game, critics point out that the team has failed to register a win against bottom six teams - Charlton, Wigan and Barnsley during this run where standards have admittedly slightly dropped.

It is a long held view that promotion winning sides are often built on a solid defence, and though improvements are evident from last season, there is a still a propensity to concede on a regular basis. Each goal gets scrutinised in these times of hyper fan critique and it can be harsh from a defender's perspective to get lauded a hero one week and then vilified for a crucial mistake the next. Frequently you are only judged as good as your last game.

On the other side of the argument, the positive view draws on the facts that the team has only lost twice this season and that in any successful campaign there is going to be the odd blip. It was probably unlikely that Albion and Leeds were going to maintain the sheer superiority the pair held over the rest of the division for the first half of the season. Inevitably, other teams will make a run with Fulham the likely challengers alongside Brentford, who are the form team of the moment.

Fresh from a cup win the previous weekend over today's opponents, Albion's second trip to the Valley in a week looked at times like reaping similar rewards. They led twice before being pegged back and for a twenty-minute spell in the second half some of the earlier season fluidity returned. However, a draw it ended, a result that has almost proved as common as a win in this season where Albion just don't seem to ever get beat.

Having elected to give the previous week's game a miss (in unison with many first team regulars also rested for a devalued cup competition), this was the first away game attended in 2020. My view is don't press the alarm button yet. There is still a couple of weeks of the January transfer window left to fine tune a squad equipped to make the final push, although business at this time of year is rarely fruitful. The team has a fantastic base from which a revamped return to winning ways will get them really close to the line. Faith is still intact and why not when you're top of the league.

January 1st: New Year's Day Stalemate - West Bromwich Albion v Leeds United

A new year, a new beginning and a new project. One that will saunter around the familiar and the not so. A rich blend of predictability and fascinating surprise. From the sports grounds to the music venues, a twelve month journey that will likely provide quite a few twists. It is often mooted that the journey is more important than the destination and time will tell in the life of 2020cms the extent of this. At the outset, the destination is quite simply December 31st or as soon as the book closes on the sporting and cultural journey of 2020. Chances are quite high that the opening and closing gambits will be in the same arena. One frequented avidly for many years and often the scene of fluctuating fortunes. Consistency is likely to be elsewhere as the year progresses, although it would be nice if such a high level exists this year in the B71 post code. 

2020cms begins its life at The Hawthorns (B71 4LF) and the New Year's Day highly anticipated promotion clash between West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United. These two pacesetters in the English Football League Championship have been neck and neck at the division's summit since August and well clear of a rather inconsistent chasing pack. If you are to put great credence in the assessment of the wise world of the bookmaker, the merry month of May will see both these teams promoted to the Premier League, a lengthier wait for Leeds than the two years since Albion suffered relegation in 2018. Yet nothing is won in January. 

For the record, the opening live event attended in 2020 ended in a one-one draw as Albion failed to capitalise on a dream start of taking the lead in the opening minute. To be fair, a point apiece, which kept Leeds in top place on goal difference, was a just result with the Yorkshire side dominating the play if not the clear cut chances. Albion suffered a slightly stuttering run of form ahead of this billed 'big clash', not helped by a busy festive period of matches that stretch the stamina of clubs unable to rotate a star studded array of international calibre players like the Premier League big boys. Still the performance was a genuine improvement on the last few games and sets up an exciting second half of the season where it has to be said 'promotion is there to lose'. 

The Hawthorns is set to be play a prominent role in 2020cms. Field of dreams or field of nightmares, who knows between January and May, and more so, what level of football will it be hosting from August to December. The journey has started and a project is underway. Wish me luck through the dog days and hard yards. Precedence suggests there may be 150 posts lying in wait. Maybe this stamina test will slightly restrict the quick passing of time that can afflict a twelve month period when you reach a certain age. See you at the next instalment, at this stage another football match before the live music cranks up into gear.