Terry Wills on Albion’s next, and last, games.
Eureka! A sight as rare as a dinosaur roaming around the Hawthorns on a match day!
Slight exaggeration of course, but when Gareth McAuley headed his stoppage time goal at Craven Cottage it served a triple purpose. It gave Albion a point, lifted us off the bottom of the table and surely raised the morale of the players, in conjunction with supporters who were, and still are, feeling that without a massive improvement it could be a long hard season. With a potentially strong squad the head coach has many alternatives but, as said previously, in my opinion he is still in the dark as to which system and formation suits him best.
Many media critics were critical of Steve Clarke’s team selection, particularly that of Nicolas Anelka. Only time will tell but with the recent imports all available, apart from Matej Vydra, fans are expecting to see a series of displays too prove that many of the critical comments turn out to be unjustified.
This week’s Greed League fixture brings bottom of the table Sunderland to the Hawthorns. Of late we’ve enjoyed a fair amount of success against the Mackems and for certain three points would be invaluable It’s already being labelled as a must win game but logically it isn’t. A must win would mean having to win to stave off relegation (as in the Great Escape season) but with 33 games still to play there’d still be ample time to prove the doubters wrong. But discounting that unimaginable possibility, then in company with all diehard fans I will feel let down should we fail to register the first win of the season.
Come on Steve, be positive. Go for the three points from the start, don’t sit back to hand the imitative to the opposition. We’re the home side so take advantage of the fact…..please. Will Scott Sinclair and Chris Brunt give us badly needed width? Will Victor Anichebe and ‘work permit’ Stephane Sessegnon be chosen in a 4-4-2 formation? So many questions and only Steve Clarke can supply the answers. What I want to read, watch and hear after the final whistle is the quietly spoken, modest Paolo di Canio explaining why his team were beaten by West Bromwich Albion and left firmly propping up the rest of the Greed League clubs. Make it happen, Steve!
Come on you Baggies.