By Terry Wills.
The referee blows the final whistle. Baggies supporters, unable to believe what they’d seen, convey their feelings with a chorus of boos, while inevitably the Potters fans sing their favourite Top of the Pops number: “West Brom. We always beat West Brom, we always beat West Brom, we always beat West Brom.”
Yes, they’d done it again but it would be more accurate to say that West Brom beat themselves by conceding a goal that had all the hallmarks of an old black and white Charlie Chaplin picture. Ben Foster and Daniel Tamas looked at each other both feeling they weren’t to blame, but whoever was, the natural feeling from supporters was that when danger lurks the only way to ensure the possibility that a goal won’t be conceded is for the ball to be hammered away from danger. It may not be elegant BUT if the simple logic had been followed, distraught fans wouldn’t have left moaning and cursing that the game had been lost and Roy Hodgson’s side were still pointless.
A promising opening 25 minutes, when speedy accurate movement and passing had Stoke chasing shadows, was followed by a slow decline and in the second-half the team put in a performance that was as poor as can be imagined. The displays against Manchester United and Chelsea were a thing of the past. It was back to reality knowing that every game in the Greed League will be difficult. You relax at your peril.
The few plus points were the displays of Jonas Olsson, Yousoff Mulumbu, and Shane Long. Apart from them – best forgotten. The major disappointment, not to say concern, was again the absence of Peter Odemwingie, his ankle injury refuses to go away and should he miss more games than he plays then the impressive Shane Long will have find himself having a tougher time than envisaged.
No transfer imports before the transfer window was slammed firmly shut until
January, so here’s hoping the squad will put the Stoke nightmare behind them (even if the fans can’t! ) and after the international break start by picking up much points.
Looking at the fixtures – with games against Norwich, Swansea, Fulham, and Sunderland coming up, followed by Wolves, Villa, and Liverpool – it’s fair to say that even at this early start of the season a poor run of results could see supporters feeling somewhat uneasy.
The players have expressed confidence that they will be able to pull things round but even Jonas Olsson said Albion would need to improve their form to ensure a change of fortune, “I don’t think it’s luck – you are heading in the wrong way if you blame defeats on bad luck.”
Here’s hoping that both players and fans can look forward to a fresh start at Swansea, where we won 2-0 in our promotion campaign. But this week it’s no game, leaving fans crossing fingers that any of our players o international duty don’t pick up injuries.
Come on you Baggies!