WBA 4-1 Bristol City

live text replay

this last week's home match against bristol city has seen simon cox pretty much nail down a starting spot in the team - for the next few weeks, anyway. he was the maker of an own goal on the part of the robins when his shot in the 46th minute came off city defender louis carey after beating goalkeeper dean gerken. this built on first-half goals by jerome thomas just on 3 minutes; and chris brunt's 5th of the season in the 12th minute, to then make the score 3-0. as if that wasn't good enough, the 22-year-old striker then scored in his own right a minute later to put the baggies 4-0 up and bring his own season total to 3 goals in 7 starts.

if this is how he plays at this level of football, and he can keep this kind of form consistently, then he is definitely a player the baggies have been looking for the better part of the last two years. i think we can all be hopeful that he has the potential to make a significant long-term contribution to the albion organization. i'm already thinking about next year and how he'll pair up with ishmael miller!



following saturday's victory, chris brunt stated that he felt that things had started to fall into place, and everyone at the club is tuned in. as we become distanced from the poor results of early october, they thankfully begin to appear as nothing more than a blip in what looks to be shaping up into an otherwise successful season, and confirming brunt's current assessment. perhaps the albion are coming closer to living up to the potential that the present team is capable of?

while luke moore has not found his form, bednar has been out both injured and ill and a couple of the senior international players are grumbling about transfers if they don't get regular starts in the first team, everything else seems to be running smoothly and starting to gel.

of course, the baggies are still awaiting the return of their three long-term injuries: ishmael miller, james morrison and neil clement; but even with miller having begun training again, it is unlikely that any of these players will have any impact on or see much playing time this season. so, barring any activity in the january transfer window, the current team is the one that will see out the season.

with that in mind, and striker simon cox looking to have secured a starters spot for the time being, i think it's time that the gaffer thought about giving young chris wood a start. while there is no argument that age and inexperience weigh heavily against the teenage new zealand international, i think he is probably a more suitable choice in regards to style of play than is luke moore in an attack pairing alongside simon cox. indeed, this is one of the few things that i've had to question in di matteo's tactics these last two or three weeks.

there is no doubt that roman bednar would be the first choice to start, but two weeks out to injury and then illness last week saw luke moore start again - and in the last two matches in which cox has also started. while i can imagine the tentative nature of starting both a 17 and 22-year-old in leading the line, moore looks like he needs a few weeks to take the pressure off, put in a few goals for the reserve side and the opportunity to get his head straight.



i was at the hawthorns for young wood's only goal of the season, and as a passage of football, i think was a good indicator (and never mind the goal itself - it was a cracker!) as to what his game is about. he's a big target and has a natural ability to hold the ball up, is good with his back to goal and turning on defenders using his size and speed to make space. as well, he has fairly good pace when running directly at a defender, and he's got a good long range shot. he has consistently been showing good form in the reserves, and considering the current situation with the strikers at the club, it couldn't hurt to start the two youngsters this week.

other than that, the albion just have to remember not to let up, and that this is the championship where anybody can beat anybody else on any given day. the baggies have played well against top-ten competition but have faltered the odd-time and had poor games against teams in the mid-to-bottom half of the table. with the match away to sheffield wednesday this weekend, there is good opportunity to keep things rolling and address this issue.