[Butter]

Sarr, Thando Mngomeni, and Milciades Omar Bellomo are all called up to their respective squads for African Nations Cup play... which means we'll be even more short-handed in the weeks ahead.

The FA Cup Fourth Round Draw is made... the third match drawn is the Manchester derby, with United playing host. We get a pretty favorable draw, getting to host Championship side Charlton Athletic in 2 weeks.

West Brom's manager, Leroy Rosenior, mentions that our title hopes are slim, and he doesn't care about anything other than handing us a loss this weekend. I respond by saying that the Baggies are destined to go down with Rosenior in charge. Arenas and Cole respond by saying they are determined to prove Rosenior wrong and help us win the title, while Mngomeni says he is now "unsure" that we can win the title.

Jan. 14, Match 23
15-5-2, 2nd pl., 50 pts.
@ West Bromwich Albion (2-3-17, 20th pl., 9 pts. - Leading scorer: Rob Elvins, 5)
Series: Posh lead 2-0-1
Fav: Posh, 4:7

This is our first competitive visit to The Hawthorns in my tenure with the club. We won here in a pre-season friendly prior to the 2008-09 season.
Injured: Mokoena, Heitinga, Zaccardo
Lineup:
GK: Arenas
D: Stenman, Alex, Bocanegra, Sarr
M: Jesus, Mngomeni, Bellomo, Kranjcar
S: Vagner, Cole

14'- A giveaway by Vagner leads to a nice 18 yard shot by James McFadden that Arenas doesn't see until late... but he is able to tip it aside.

21'- Simpson with an open volley from 8 yards off a corner kick, but he totally misses the target.

23'- Jesus with a nice long ball to Cole... Cole uncharacteristically screws around a bit too long, and gets dispossessed trying to go around the keeper.

30'- We continue to dominate the attack, as Cole draws 3 defenders and has the ball poked away... Vagner re-gains possession and shoots from 20 yards... just missing the post.

West Brom dominate the ball the rest of the half, and we go in scoreless.

55'- WBA work the counter very well, as McFadden crosses to a totally unmarked Rob Elvins at the back post, and he volleys it in from 8 yards. 1-0, Baggies.

Sneijder in for Bellomo, and Wallner enters for Stenman as we go to an attacking 3-4-3.

WBA continue to hold the ball and keep us at bay.

74'- Wallner is taken down just outside the box... he lines up the 20 yarder... the Baggies' keeper tips it away, but it falls right to Cole who taps it into the open net! 1-1!

77'- The accidental goal seems to spark the club, as Cole crosses to 2 wide open players in the middle... Vagner gets there first and has his volley blocked wide, but Wallner is in perfect position to pick up the pieces, and he makes it 2-1!

80'- Kranjcar tries a pass ahead to Cole on the right... but a defender knocks the ball left instead, completely wrong-footing the keeper, and leaving a wide open goal for Roman Wallner again! 3-1!

90+'- Rob Elvins breaks free for West Brom, but puts his 12 yard shot wide of the target.

A great comeback win here, as I thought we might well lose our composure and fall to the last place team here... but Roman Wallner pretty much carries us to the win. Cole gets MoM, rating a 10 with 1 goal and 1 assist. Nearly everyone else picks up at least an 8, with Arenas and Alex getting 9's.

Win, 1-3, remain in 2nd
Shots/on target: Baggies 10/6, Posh 21/11
Poss: 53-47, Baggies
A: 27,057

Wesley Sneijder picks up his 5th yellow card of the campaign in this match, so he'll be forced to sit out our next match.

Arsenal continue to keep first place just out of reach.

EPL Round 23 results
Sheff Wed 0:2 Palace
Arsenal 3:1 Portsmouth
Birmingham 3:0 Cardiff
Man City 0:1 Villa
Boro 3:0 Spurs
West Ham 2:3 Liverpool
Blackburn 1:0 So'ton
Chelsea 2:0 Man U
Norwich 1:4 Newcastle

Alex and Cole are selected to the Team of the Week.

Sarr strains a leg muscle, which will keep him out of commission for a couple of weeks.

We make our first major Bosman signing. We sign 24 year old Belgian D/DM-RC Anthony Vanden Borre to a 3 year deal worth nearly $12 million in total. Vanden Borre is currently playing for Paris SG in the top French league, but has seen his playing time steadily decrease over the past couple of seasons. Vanden Borre will slot in at defensive midfield, and allow us to play Ibrahim Kargbo exclusively on the back 4, where he has been excelling this year. This deal also necessitates the departure of Javier Mascherano during the offseason.... I will probably sell him as soon as I can find a taker for a fair price. Big money defensive midfielders have not paid off for me in the past... so we'll see if this one follows a similar pattern. Vanden Borre has big time skill on the ball, and is very quick. His weakness is defending, but his heading skill should be passable enough for him to be productive from this spot.

A big time goalkeeper is about to hit the wire... Englishman David Knight, who is snagging balls for Valencia, is turning down their contract offers about a week before he's due to hit the Bosman wire. Knight is currently valued at $60 million, and has a $4 million per year deal with the Spanish club. I am considering chasing him down if he hits the open market. But I doubt Arenas would take a demotion to second string very well.