Terry Wills is watching the Albion’s season end in mixed fashion.
Another game of missed opportunities in general and penalties in particular.
Yes , somehow Albion contrived to make it a Hat Trick of failings courtesy of Craig Gardner, who saw the Bournemouth goalkeeper pull off two tremendous saves, the follow up being better than his first.
Now eight games without a win and one more opportunity to allow Baggies fans to celebrate a win. Providing of course our mainly shot-shy, non-scoring team can round off the season with not only a goal but also a result against Jurgen Klopp’s impressive Liverpool.
Without question the Bournemouth game should have been won. A well constructed passing move rounded off by a Salomon Rondon header looked capable of securing the points but the penalty miss added to a defensive error almost inevitably saw the Cherries rescue what at the time appeared to be a losing battle.
What stood out was another impressive performance from Jonathan Leko. Pace, clever ball control, plus a determination not to duck out in a 50-50 challenge, he proved that Tony Pulis’s faith in his capabilities was justified. So much so that the big spending vulture clubs will be hovering ready to snap him up if and when the opportunity arises.
Again the media are speculating as to possible future changes revolving around Tony Pulis and Jeremy Peace. Will Tony accept the terms laid down by the chairman and if not will that lead to a parting of the ways? It’s too early to speculate – as always, time will tell.
Onto the final Greed League game against Liverpool, the only English team left to hopefully prove that we are capable of competing and beating the best of the La Liga clubs. Good luck to them but not on Sunday.
Baggies supporters will be desperately hoping that after the final whistle they’ll be able too stay behind applauding the players, Tony Pulis, and his backroom staff for their efforts that putting it mildly have been disappointing, but in truth considering the quality of the players available, cannot have been anything other than predictable.
Forecast? With Liverpool probably resting player for the Europa League final and possibly Tony Pulis giving debuts to another couple of Academy youngsters, speculation has to take centre stage. I wouldn’t be surprised if we shared the spoils, especially if the Hawthorns faithful could enjoy seeing a rare Baggies goal. Three successive blanks…surely we deserve better?