SCOTT Carson has insisted he is with Albion for the 'long haul' - regardless of whether they stay up or not.

The 23-year-old returns to Villa Park on Saturday for the first time since his loan spell last season.

Villa opted not to pursue the England goalkeeper, signing veteran Brad Friedel instead.

But Carson has no ill feelings towards Martin O'Neill and, despite Albion's current position, is happy at The Hawthorns.

Right now they seem to be in football's equivalent of purgatory, somewhere between the top two divisions.

Go back four years. Albion signed Kanu, Jonathan Greening, soon-to-be-star Zoltan Gera and then record signing Rob Earnshaw.

They stayed up. Just.

Since then the club has made great strides. The training facilities have improved, the West Stand boasts some of the best facilities you'll see in the Premier League and the club remains on a sound financial footing.

But Albion remain uncompetitive in the Premier League.

Liverpool's Jamie Carragher has reopened the club V country debate in his recently-released autobiography after admitting that he'd be more bothered missing a penalty for Liverpool than England.

Add to that England's travelling army suffering from falling numbers and Fabio Capello admitting that he'd prefer to play away from Wembley to avoid the Three Lions faithful's boos and groans.

So what do you think? Would you choose an England victory over Croatia tonight or three points against West Ham on Saturday?

THERE are some things which defy logic or explanation.

Why are weather forecasts always wrong? Chicken or Egg? Clearly a conspiracy is at work.

Davina McCall? Again, who knows. Wasps, why?

So you can't possibly begin to explain why Albion have yet to score a goal despite controlling large periods of all three games they've played in.

ALBION suffered a humbling defeat at the hands of Hartlepool United in the Carling Cup last night.

What had meant to be a confidence-boosting exercise ahead of Saturday's Premier League reunion with Gary Megson at the Reebok Stadium turned into a nightmare at Victoria Park as Albion were ambushed by a hard-working League One outfit.

Robert Koren scored a superb equaliser in the 87th minute to take the game into extra-time.

But then the Baggies fell apart, conceding two goals in the five minutes approaching the break.