All’s well at the Hawthorns, says Terry Wills.
What a week in more ways than one, starting with a sparkling performance that not only gained a badly needed three points against Swansea but almost miraculously saw Brown Ideye display the form that led Albion making him their record signing. That, coupled with a return to form from Saido Berahino, plus an all-round improvement especially from James Morrison (not forgetting an impeccable Joleon Lescott performance) gave hopes that the last vital 13 games would see Tony Pulis achieving his prime objective -retaining Albion’s Greed League status.
Goals from the hoped for deadly duo left the Baggies faithful Boing Boinging in celebration and as they left the ground the non-stop chatter was not only the manner of the performance but could they carry on in the same vein against West Ham in the fifth round FA Cup game?
No problem! The Hammers were well and truly hammered and my wish that their pretty bubbles would, as the song goes, like my dreams fade and die, was granted. They didn’t just fade away they were blasted into orbit by a display that would have beaten better teams than gum-chewing Sam Allardyce’s side
There was not a weak link. Improvised full backs in Craig Dawson and Chris Brunt looked comfortable, a well organised defence, again with Lescott looking a class apart, barely gave West Ham a sniff of a goal. Four glorious crafted goals led by reborn Ideye and Berahino plus what could be classed as the eventual Goal of the Season from Morrison led the rout and it could have been even more. But let’s not be greedy.
To round off a very satisfactory week came the quarter final draw – Villa versus the Baggies with the prize for the winners a semi-final trip to Wembley. That in itself is an exciting prospect but even that would by would be dwarfed via a win that would see a return visit in May to contest the final.
But that’s for the future. What’s more important this week is the Greed League away game at Sunderland. A team struggling, and who, if Albion could replicate current form, could see their Stadium Of Light dimmed with Tony Pulis’s star shining even brighter.
It’s a case of waiting, seeing, and hoping.