Terry Wills write about Albion, two defeats and a final fling.
Thanks to the combined efforts of our friends in the north, namely Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull City, Albion’s truly horrendous late run of results spared Baggies fans the indignity of looking on and wondering if Tony Pulis’ paper-thin squad woud be one of four West Midland clubs enjoying the delights of Championship football.
As I’ve repeatedly said, the club’s structure and philosophy will never allow them too compete with the best of the Greed League clubs. Yes, when playing at their best they can’give anyone a game but the unvarnished truth is that overall they trail in the wake of Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and the Manchesters.
Chelsea grabbed the win needed to clinch the title but who knows what would have happened if Salomon Rondon and Nacer Chadli hadn’t missed clear opportunities before Chelsea scored a late winner, as they did in the 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in December?
Then the difference in class was painfully apparent during the Manchester City defeat. Watching on telly, as the game progressed I feared a real drubbing, so the final 3-1 defeat almost felt like a moral victory,
Mercifully there’s only one game to go, away at Swansea who must still be celebrating their relegation escape and with the backing of their passionate, proud Welsh supporters I sadly and reluctantly feel yet another reverse is on the cards.
There’s much to be done during the close season when recruiting the sort of new players that Tony Pulis consider best to adapt to his controversial style of football. It’s one for the majority of the season has left supporters divided -Mr Marmite, or a coach who deserves every credit considering the difficulties faced?
More on that next week, after the visit to the Land of My Fathers and my anticipated final defeat. Unless…
