WBA 1-3 Nottingham Forest

albion had everything to lose and forest everything to gain. the baggies were at a distinct psychological disadvantage and a complete loss as to how to deal with the challenge. their tentative, nervous and completely disjointed performance even set a new low for standard of play on the season. this was a worse display than either of the matches against barnsley or cardiff, both of which were absolutely terrible.

live text replay

i got to see this one on TV and it was as grand a disappointment as i have had to endure from the baggies all season. i hope i get something distinctly better than this when i make my next set of trips to the hawthorns - starting with the match against blackpool on the 13th of march.

there were even some unusually poor choices made on the part of the gaffer as to the starting line-up. di matteo should never have started gabriel tamas. not that the romanian defender had a particularly bad game; on the contrary, he was much better than jara, who had a terrible game. it's just that only being at the club for two days he's not settled at all and i think that the more familiar presence of shelton martis might have lent a little more collective steel to the back four.

there was absolutely nothing to recommend in this match except for striker roman bednar breaking his long standing scoring drought, the return of ishmael miller - and to a lesser extent - that of robert koren as well.



in fact, with bednar coming on at half-time and miller coming on in the 77th minute, one realizes how well roberto di matteo has done with the squad that he inherited from tony mowbray - injuries and all. the forward play between miller and bednar was a full cut above that which moore and cox had had to offer, that i couldn't help but think that what the new gaffer has achieved so far is truly exceptional. i mean, if the baggies can hold on to second-place for as much of the season as they have with the current squad, how will they do with the undoubtedly stronger line-up that they'll be finishing the season with?

ishmael miller's return was a reminder of something i'd almost forgotten. sadly, we'll never see neil clement play again, but james morrison may also eventually return.

i'm not usually a superstitious person, but i think that it is a mistake for the baggies to sell shirt sponsorships. on the most irrational level, i think that the gods of football favour the sponsor-less jersey. as evidence, the baggies have a decidedly poorer record when sporting sponsor logos on their uniform than not.

Sheffield United 2-2 WBA

live text replay


when is someone on the albion staff going to read my blog and address the club's biggest problem?!? it's not the lack of goals (this year), or quality defenders (though, that would help), or that the club has lost any of its important players on account of relegation (although, the loss of jonathan greening is now debatable) - it is that they do not know what to do when they've gone in front on the score-line!


against newcastle, they had 1-0 lead going in at half-time, but damien duff scored an equalizer 5 minutes into the second half. if it weren't for a missed penalty in the nottingham forest match, that might have ended in a draw, as well. they managed to hang on against ipswich and bury, in the league and league cup respectively; but, it wasn't for the other teams' lack of endeavour following the albion goals as much as it was sturdy defending by olsson, carson and keilly (who played well in goal against bury). luckily, in both matches the baggies went on to find a second goal and keep the clean sheet. di matteo fielded a team lacking some really important players in the cup game against rotherham, and west brom could not hold any lead for a significant amount of time past the first goal. at 2-1 they had the lead for about 2 minutes - and if it weren't for the millers sharing the same weak defensive proclivities - the baggies could very well have lost this one 3-2 instead of the 4-3 win that they managed in the end.

what i think i'm talking about is a break-down in the intellectual aspect of what they are doing, and it's as if the goal they've just scored distracts them. it was no different against the blades today. the baggies go 1-0 up, and within 2 minutes they've conceded and it's 1-1! again, they seemed to be able to meet the challenge and pull the lead back within 5 more minutes, and early in the second-half they have a 2-1 lead. while they eventually only split the points on this one by virtue of a penalty, it was still a sloppy mental break-down at the back with united playing for the penalty, and knowing that the ref was just dying to give one and get himself a round of applause from the home crowd.

i usually don't go after referees as i know that it is a difficult job and bad calls are as much a part of the game as any other aspect of it - but the distribution of cards in this match was not in line at all with what was really going on. he even called a dive in the box correctly against the blades, but neglected to issue the mandatory, automatic yellow card that accompanies this particular foul. he had, however, booked robert koren just minutes earlier for the same infraction.



be that as it may, the albion have to stop giving up these cheap and lazy goals on the back of a good score. as i've always said: they need to keep the ball and - without being reckless - continue going forward, pressing for more goals. the trouble is, i'm not sure that there is anyone on the team who really understands that they need to exert this type of control over the game to be effective; other than perhaps chris brunt, who really dragged the baggies out of their tentative defensive positioning and drove the attack forward against ipswich, finally producing the second goal. it also may just be that idea of attacking when you have a lead is an archaic idea belonging to some care-free, romantic past, and just isn't the way these kids are taught to play football anymore. in today's game it seems that the acquisition of any lead means you pack your penalty area with the 9 back and mid-field players, let the other team come at you and look for counter-attack opportunities. the thing is, the albion have never played this way. moreover, they've never successfully played this way; and it is therefore contrary to any of the club's playing traditions going back 50 years and more.

it's a world that believes only the "big four" can afford to play beautiful football; everyone else is taught to play like stoke city. again - and going back to the early 1950s - west bromwich albion have never done well playing the "long ball" game - never! it has always been a disastrous gambit, and i guess that traditions and their accompanying aesthetics sometimes go beyond that which is explicable and these qualities can transcend time, space and even logic... and so it is with the baggies: they must always play like a proper albion style team. anything less - or even too much of a variation, will just not work. just as manchester united have to play a certain style in order to be manchester united, so do the baggies have a similar mandate in order to be the west bromwich albion. i just hope that they come to understand this.



don howe found this out in the early 70s, when - after coaching the arsenal to the double in 1971 and bringing his successful formula to the club as manager - found only failure, hard times and relegation for the trouble of bringing what he thought was the modern way of playing football to the hawthorns.

despite my initial concerns, i'm increasingly happy with di matteo as the gaffer. whatever else he may have done, he has rejuvenated the play of numerous individual players on the team and has the club on an undefeated run that can't be anything but good for team confidence; and, we haven't really seen this team play up to its potential yet - not by a long way. as i've said before, i think the RDM is a winner.

the real star of the day was roman bednar... two goals scored in only his second game back and with the general consensus being that he'd only be good for about an hour or so. di matteo even has bednar playing at a level higher than he was playing before; and this was a really brilliant performance. i don't think that tony mowbray knew how to use bednar this well, as he always limited him to playing only in certain formations. for example, TM would never have used him as a single striker in a 4-5-1 set up; although di matteo did against the blades, and to great effect. if mowbray had perhaps expanded his strategies and played bednar a little more freely after miller was hurt, he might have got some better results.

at the end of the day - and given the immediate task at hand - this is good group of players. west bromwich albion is a well organized club, and there is plenty of room for development within the present group of individuals - including those, like miller and morrison, who'll be back in the team this year and ready to add to the mix. once the team starts to show more of its potential and gets the couple of more players it needs in, i'm sure they'll accomplish what is hoped for and expected of them.

in the mean time, it would be a good idea if they went over their history and watched some old videos of west brom teams from the past, and remind themselves of the intangibles that they are dealing with here. they can then all have a little think about what it actually means to be west bromwich albion.

Bury F.C. 0-2 WBA

match text commentary
this was the kind of match most people wouldn't read much into, and could easily be dismissed as an expected result... and so what? but considering the circumstances - and keeping in mind the immediate problems of the differing styles between cup football and league football - this was a big win for the baggies.

first off, five players were away on international duty: koren, cech, brunt, meite, and mulumbu; and true to the prescribed tactics of cup play, the gaffer kept starters scott carson, chris wood, luke moore, and captain jonathan greening on the bench. surprisingly, dimatteo is finding some depth in the team which tony mowbray was never able to at all last season. casting my mind back to the corresponding fixture of last year where - as a premier league side - they lost 3-1 in extra time to hartlepool united, who finished 19th in league 1 last year, i can't help but feel this performance was world's away from that.


simon cox got his first competitive start for the baggies; and he looked every bit the promising prospect he's been touted, being only inches offside on a couple of occasions that saw the ball in the back of the bury net. graham dorrans is the best signing all around in the last year and could comfortably step into a starting role for the club at any level. so it was fitting that with about five minutes gone, he opened his scoring account with the baggies by calmly slotting home a ball that had fallen to him directly in front of goal from a ben futcher tackle on teixeira in the bury penalty area.

craig beattie is one of the players who has seen a real revival under dimatteo. called back from his perpetual loan duties of last year, he has started regularly throughout the pre-season and showed his skills by exchanging passes with a surprisingly effective reuben reid in a counter-attacking move by the baggies following a bury free-kick. going down the right flank and directly attacking the shakers penalty area, beattie drove in a low hard cross that took a deflection off bury midfielder mike jones for the second goal.


the move started as a cool and cleverly placed clearance by leon barnett following a shakers' free-kick, and created the counter attack opportunity for reid and beattie. indeed, this was the most solid performance i think i have ever seen by barnett; and it is in the improvement of players that mowbray seemed distinctly disinterested in that the club has found a new depth. the players who struggled under TM, seem - to a man - to be suddenly flourishing and playing with renewed skill and confidence under dimatteo.


besides another good scoring chance from open play, beattie looks to be no small talent in dead ball situations, as he proved late in the game curling in a free-kick on target, but over the cross-bar. you could see though, from the general quality of the delivery and pace that he can hit them from 20-25 yards out and is capable of scoring goals.


there are still some weaknesses in the baggies' game, though, that they shall need to get sorted out. being 2-0 up at halftime was problematic - and the shakers determined resolve to get back in the game aside, the albion, as a team were a little perplexed as to how to play when they've got a lead. i think this was also the case against newcastle on the weekend, and a big problem in the premier league last year. on the one hand, the team is at its best when in possession and on the attack; but there is also the consideration of successfully protecting a lead, and how does a an attacking team do that? i think the key to sorting this out will be in finding a balance of how to defend deep, get the ball out to the midfielders, look for the counter-attacking opportunities, or slow it down and keep the ball going forward through a tidy short passing game. if they learn to keep their natural shape and playing style when they've got a lead, they would be a good counter-attacking team that would worry other teams when going forward and trying to get a goal back.

indeed, the baggies were a little shakey for entire first half hour of the second period, and an efetobore sodje goal in the 66th minute was called back for offside; and similarly to the two tight offside decisions against simon cox: just too close for comfort.

the other key elements to this match - and in the bigger picture - is that it was the first away win for the baggies since september last year. after defeating middlesbrough away in the waning days of autumn, they even required a replay with peterborough in the FA Cup, only managing a draw in the initial away fixture. not to forget that their loss to hartlepool in the league cup was also an away match.

another bogey that was dispelled in this game was roberto dimatteo registering his first win ever as a manager in a cup game. last year his mk dons went out to bradford city 2-1 in the FA Cup, and after winning in the first round of the league cup 1-0 against norwich city under paul ince, they lost the second round 2-1 to cardiff city under dimatteo.

Roman Returns

the albion gets another boost to its currently expanding stable of strikers with the ruling being reported in today's news that roman bednar is to receive an official warning and serve a three-month retro-active suspension; which, in effect, puts him back in training monday morning after this weekend's match against nottingham forest. i won't offer any opinion about what i think about getting high and illegal drugs right here and now, but bednar is lucky that he is not an american sports personality (or he'd be screwed), and i'm looking forward to him rejoining the team and adding to this years goals total.

BBC news

Johnny Too Bad

the true tragedy of last season for the baggies' was without a doubt, the injury that put ishmael miller out for the season. the club not only lost a striker, but due to the constituent nature of last year's team - it lost its focus as well. i think mowbray had put so much time and effort into building a system around the 21 year-old goal-scorer, that when he was no longer available - and with a serious lack of any senior goal-scorers in the club - that it sent the game-plan for the year straight out the window and left only confusion and desperate scrambling as recourse.

this was evident not only in TM having to go looking for whoever he could get on a loan basis, but also left him incapable of committing to any of the other strikers that the club had available. he had the eventual good luck of acquiring fortune - but he turned out to be more of a holding, control forward than an out and out goal-scorer. i can't remember how many times the ball came to him in and around the box, how he skillfully held the ball up, gained control and position and held off defenders, only to find there was no one getting into space on attack. if anyone was going to score, he would have to do it himself - and, indeed, he ended up with a fairly decent record of 5 goals in 17 matches.

simpson never really panned out - although he had his moments - and neither luke moore or roman bednar were really afforded much opportunity by the gaffer; who, and in retrospect, seemed lost for what to do going forward without his pet project. you see, mowbray was setting his team up as a 4-5-1 formation with miller leading the line. although, this formation also saw jonathan greening playing in an advanced position in support of the striker, and in much more of an attacking role than he is used to. once it all started to work - and i think it was probably against wigan and newcastle where this really started to gel - it was like finally seeing the method behind the madness... the idea had been made apparent and had become revealed!

the team saw this development reach its unfortunately early zenith with greening scoring the first goal in the home draw against portsmouth. throughout the early part of the second-half - and with a 1-0 lead - miller was showing menacing pace in several counter-attacks that made it seem only a matter of time before he might score the second and really impress the albion's dominance on the match - as well as vindicate an attacking formation that had long been criticized (and rightly so) for not producing results.





when miller went down under pompey keeper james in an ill-advised, over-enthusiastic tackle that would take him out for the season, there was a sudden and palpable shift in mood on the albion bench. the confusion, loss of focus, and gaps in the playing formation set in as quickly as its development and now apparent and converging success had been long in coming. within minutes, peter crouch - and against the run of play - hit a screamer from about 15-20 yards out and equalized.

i don't know what kind of relationship mowbray had with either bednar or moore; but it was certain that what he'd been working on with miller as the lone striker would not be a role suited to either of these two, and the gaffer even brought craig beattie back from a loan spell while waiting those last few desperate weeks and for the january transfer window to open. in the meantime, mowbray seemed like he just didn't really know what to do, except re-adapt to a 4-4-2 formation, rotate his three strikers in utility roles and target particular games that might be winnable.



even though i have heard no one else make this assertion, but i believe if miller had not gotten hurt the baggies would've stayed up. while mowbray's tactical focus also turned out to be a mistake, in that miller could not be replaced when he got injured - certainly not with the other strikers on the team - it was still tough luck on the gaffer, as he had genuinely invested a lot of time and faith in miller. it took awhile, but at the time of his injury miller had scored 3 goals in 7 games, looked to be on a 4th and really seemed to have hit his stride. the goal against wigan was a perfect example of the exploitation of a defensive mistake at the premiership level. it was opportunistic and finished with a steel-nerve; just as his skill had drawn the newcastle defenders inside with the goalie coming off his line; and then with his pace leaving everyone out of position as he moved the ball outside to the left and placed it neatly into an open goal.



of course, i am excited by the imminent arrival of simon cox. in case you haven't seen him yet, this kid has some really spectacular goals in him, as well as being a prolific scorer. i'm happy that we finally have a manager (or rather more properly now a "head coach") who i think is probably a winner above all, as well as a knowledgeable football mind; and as he is inheriting mowbray's squad more or less intact, i hope he finds a fitting and prominent place for miller in his vision of the albion.

Big Ron Says...

i found the best overall assessment of the baggies performance last season in ron atkinson's latest statements in the press. for those of you who didn't get a chance to see or hear this story:

BBC STORY

big ron, it seems, felt much like the rest of us, that the albion were going up and would be able to consolidate fairly easily after nearly a decade now of false starts and a revolving door promotion/relegation existence. in short, it was a wasted opportunity... a wasted season... a wasted year; and that is the thing that hurts most, i think. life is too short for static activity, and mowbray knew - and despite the fact that baggies supporters are knowledgeable enough to recognize the face of progress and a have sense of the bigger picture - he only really had until november to establish the team as promotion contenders, before his time at the hawthorns would have been up.


to characterize last year as a wasted opportunity... a wasted season, even - is as close to the mark as you get. ultimately, that was the most depressing thing about last year: it looked as though we had finally taken the 2 steps forward that would allow us to be competitive and find a place in the premiership, only to come up a little short on ability to get the job done. this exposed a general naive optimism at the hawthorns, as big ron - being pre-eminently knowledgeable about football - pointed out, that there were problems evident from the first match that were never addressed. the final outcome being that it was the same 2 steps forward and then the same 2 steps back that we've been taking habitually for the better part of this last decade.

i've always been a staunch supporter of tony mowbray's; and the only real criticism of his tenure at the hawthorns, is that he wasn't able to figure out the premier league - and as a result was victimized by his own naivety and the inexperience of his players. i mean, both bednar and miller would have scored more goals if they had merely had the presence and experience of a senior striker in the squad. not even necessarily kevin phillips - just a striker or attacking mid-fielder who's been around and has developed some professional wile and guile, and knows what extra qualities it takes to score goals at the premier league level.

i think because of this, the gaffer was initially spending a lot of time on developing a playing formation based around ishmael miller - as well as the development of miller himself, possibly to the exlusion of other things that needed attention - like the lack of a decent inside right back other than jonas olsson. this was a major problem after olsonn was hurt, and those to whom the duty fell (alternately donk, meite, and eventually shelton martis) were all hot and cold in terms of performance. none really had the requisite experience, and each made critical mistakes in spite of some otherwise good efforts and decent play. mowbray also left scott carson in goal too long, and you could see it was burning out the then england number 2 goalie.


we'll never really know, but i have my suspicions that the "miller project" - which saw the albion playing a most uncharacteristic 4-5-1 setup, with jonathan greening in an advanced position as the supporting attacker - would have worked well enough to produce those extra 2 or 3 results that the baggies needed to stay up. but it was certainly a perplexing and frustrating period and the tactics were only just beginning to work when miller was injured and out for the season. there was evidence of this in the goal that miller scored in a losing cause, against newcastle; and the portsmouth match in which he was actually injured. greening had scored to put the baggies up 1-0, and throughout the 2nd half, miller was menacing the portsmouth back line in a series of fast-breaks on the end of long balls and incisive counter-attacks. it appeared only a matter of time before he would score the baggies 2nd. instead, he was injured and whatever mowbray had been working on was - without adequate back-up - lost, and effectively leaving half the season wasted, right there.



after that, the focus shifted to scrambling for forwards on loan deals, scrounging for goals that would just not appear for love, money, nor skill; and an inability to regularly keep clean sheets. it seemed that throughout the year, as if they hit the woodwork as many times as they scored (maybe more) - and while some of the skills and play at the forward position saw positive development after the acquisition of fortune, the goal-scorer that the baggies so desperately needed never appeared - or rather, appeared too little and too late, with chris brunt finding a hot scoring hand for the last 4 or 5 games only - and was the last baggie of the season to see a shot tipped off the post.

i'm sure that big ron saw what the rest of us did: that the baggies were a superior team in the middle of the park with their control passing game - which always looked so effective until they got into the final 3rd, where they largely opted to try and walk the ball into the goal like an old-fashioned south american club might have done. unfortunately, the overall effect was that of indecision and not taking chances when they appeared. likewise, i'm sure that the ex-gaffer also saw the potential weaknesses in the back four and distracted goalie; but i would love to know the full extent of what old ronnie atkinson saw in those first few games, and what observations and advice he might have to quietly whisper in the ear of the club's incoming manager - whoever that might be?

Miller Gone for the Season

well, that's it... the gods of football are just not with the albion this year. the scans on ishamel miller's knee have revealed that the injury he sustained in sunday's match with pompey is not the medial ligament damage (with a minimum of 6 weeks recovery) that TM was expecting immediately following the match when talking to the press. it is much worse. the scans showed that the injury is actually cruciate knee ligament damage that will put miller out for the rest of the season, with a projected recovery time of 6-9 months.

the saddest aspect of this, i think, is that it looked a ball he should never have gone after so vigorously. but to his credit, i think he felt that a goal was coming and he was on pace, looking the most likely to finish in a series of fast breaking moves at goal that the baggies fashioned in the last 20 minutes of the game. his enthusiasm got the better of him and was mangled in going for a ball that always looked to be the portsmouth keeper's, david james. miller got his leg stuck under the sprawling, outstretched james as his body twisted awkwardly forward, causing him to take a head-over-heels tumble with his right leg still trapped, causing the injury. he also required a few stitches in his head.

the great shame of all this is that miller, after a slow start to the season, has scored 3 goals in 7 matches and has been improving with each subsequent performance. he was positively menacing and had been getting by far the better of the play against veteran pompey full-back and england international, sol campbell all day. you could see that he felt that he was on a goal after forcing a good save from david james; and had also managed to get on the end of a couple of good balls into the box. the biggest disappointment, i think, is that it takes miller out of the game at the worst possible time - not only to the baggies season; but as a professional footballer, it's possible that the development, experience and playing time he will miss could have a permanent affect on seeing him reach his true potential as a premier league heavy-weight. he will have lost an entire year now, in a profession that by nature sees generally short careers at the very top-flight. for his own sake, i hope he keeps his head together, but for a 21 year old - and in the game of football, 9 months is an eternity. there is only a certain number of years in your 20s that you can be as big, strong and fast as miller is right now - and he is at one of those crucial junctures where learning his craft is of the essence, and timely recovery and a good head-space is going to be critical for him.

as for the rest of us, i hope he comes back to the game and fulfills his potentials with only some time lost. i've seen too much football in my time that featured short careers and unfulfilled potentials. although it's far too early to be even talking about writing a guy off at 21, there is no telling of what the long term consequences might be, especially psychologically. there's the rest of the season gone - and with whatever might happen to the baggies from here on out - miller will not be a factor and will never know what he might have contributed and gone on to from his recent and developing goal-scoring form.

The Day After Miller's Injury

well, now we have to deal with the aftermath and look at some hard facts. it was all just talk and speculation immediately following the match yesterday, but ishmael miller - who has looked better and better with each passing game, and was positively menacing in yesterday's unlucky draw with portsmouth - is going to be out for at least 6 weeks. for one thing, that forces the club to go looking for a striker this january (something they were probably going to do anyway) - and its going to give us a chance to have a look at luke moore. who knows? while it appears to be a devastating blow (and i for one believe it is), it could be one of those strange blessings in disguise.

i have absolute belief in tony mowbray, insofar as he is completely in tune with the club's philosophy and style; but, i have my suspicions that he might sometimes spend too much attention to his works in progress, which distracts him from giving a look to other things - and most certainly, miller is his biggest and most potentially promising project at the moment. don't get me wrong! i'm a huge miller fan and i would probably give him the same attention if i were in TM's place - and he was really playing his part in making the single striker formation, that i have heretofore been critical of, start to work really well. but i have to add, while it's miller's pace that makes this type of attack so potentially dangerous, it is the element of jonathan greening getting into a forward position on attack that makes it really work. it was so evident in the first half of the match with pompey, and i hope both manager and player realize it!

although yesterday's draw felt like a loss rather than a point gained - there were plenty of positives (as there have been with more than a few lost or drawn performances this year) to take from yesterday's encounter. so much so that it is becoming a maddening cliche to say so. i mean, even against the big teams like chelsea, where i sat for the first 20 minutes just thinking it a matter of time before albion scored the first goal, the team often dominates the play but doesn't score. i've heard too many varying opinions on the subject, and too many ridiculous ideas about what should be done.

there's been so much talk about strikers this year. but i think the scoring problem goes further than that. the problem is, that we're not scoring enough from anywhere. our total tally of goals scored isn't much bigger than our list of actual goal-scorers. with greening pressing forward into the box - they should be looking to make scoring opportunities for brunt, valero, koren, zuiverloon and morrison, as well. with greening now, this is the first new scorer to add to the list since olsson scrambled that winner against fulham the first weekend of october! that now makes 6 goal-scorers in all - and i think that 5 of them should be working harder to be regular contributors (and koren needs to pop one in now and then) when it comes to finishing - especially greening. he should be like old tony brown and right up there in the box on attack. perhaps with miller unavailable, one or two true heroes can step up and get things turned around.

i was also heartened to hear greening in the press today, saying that there is still good feeling around the club and they're pretty confident about avoiding relegation. that i think is another testament to tony mowbray's style of management. he'll be very sure to keep letting everyone kow how well they are playing despite the poor results - and the players probably know it too.

as i write, the tottenham/west ham match has just ended and i've changed my mind since yesterday. i think it's more likely that we will find ourselves in a four-way battle to avoid the drop with blackburn, sunderland and west ham. so we could still be in for some excitement yet.

WBA 1-1 Portsmouth

today's match with portsmouth showed all the team's strengths - as well as (at least in some small measure) its weaknesses too; and tells us pretty fairly where we stand. i feel vindicated - as a long time supporter of his - that greening played so well in the first half and got the goal. i can't understand any of the knocks that he's gotten from fans this year. personally, i think he's the only one on the squad, at the moment, who consistently looks a premiership player week in and week out. despite dropping back into a midfield position in the second half, where he seemed to disappear a little bit he was effective enough - as always doing his part in the series of quick, incisive breaks that the albion created in the latter part of game.

even though there were the wasted finishes that we have all become used to seeing this year, the real problem that i could see today was, that going into the second half with a 1-0 lead, the baggies just weren't quite sure on how to play it. i mean the peter crouch goal, it was really quite a spectacular, and unstoppable shot - especially with the unfortunate flick it took off meite, redirecting the ball enough to send it over the outstretched carson; but it was the evidently less decisive and controlling play on the part of the albion at the the outset of the second half that allowed crouch the opportunity. that is really what led to the pompey goal. the baggies just didn't seem to know how to carry on straight-off with the way they had played in the first half - and it took the first fifteen minutes or so to re-establish themsleves when what they needed to do was keep going straight at pompey with miller and greening pushing forward looking for the second goal to put game beyond reach.

there's been so much talk about strikers with the faithful lately, as miller is still learning his craft and bednar is having trouble adjusting to the tempo of the premiership game, but i felt after watching today, it is our defensive play that is weakest - and especially in goal. i think meite played well on the right, and there were no real dangerous mistakes by robinson - although he has been displaying some bizarre decision making, and his outbursts probably don't help - but i have real questions about carson. a goalie should be directing things at the back and being decisive about indicating who should be coming for and taking the ball. i think that with the line-up at the back as it was today, mowbray's got it just about right with meite, olsson and robinson covering the central positions, but there's just nobody running the defense and we came within inches of repeating last week's performance when he bobbled that cross on the line. he also doesn't seem to have much of an eye for starting any moves forward. he is the main reason why our best defense is to stay on the attack and control the ball in midfield.

that's not to say that we don't need to start scoring more goals, but a clean sheet today would have preserved a victory - even though it never looked to be a low-scoring game, that's the way it turned out - and successful teams know how to win in the end on the unluckiest of days. yesterday's man. united match was a perfect example. they just could not put the ball into the sunderland net when they might have had at least 2 or 3, and they only just managed to win in injury-time.

we'll have to see about miller - i havent heard anything yet about his injury (and i'm checking the BBC every few minutes at this point) but he's going to be sorely missed if he's out for any length of time, and i thought he had a great game today. he should never have gone after that ball, but i guess that's just reflects his youthful enthusiasm and really wanting to score.

there's no doubt pompey played pretty abysmal football in the first half, and the baggies looked better than the 1-0 scoreline, and i still i can't really understand why greening didn't keep pressing forward in the second half, as it was the inability to get the second goal before the pompey equaliser that cost them the win. i think that TM should encourage him to go forward, in the tradition of tony brown - whose style (which was thought revolutionary at the time) was always to play the midfield as an attacking position. koren and valero, i thought were adequately improved at winning balls in the midfield; and koren looks to be adapting to the speed of the premiership, and that should leave greening free to go forward more.

brunt and morrison provided some really good wing play throughout (on the left and right respectively). it was of course brunt's brilliant free-kick that led to the greening goal, and i was surprised that morrison was so effective playing down either side - as i noticed him more and more coming down the left wing when greening had moved back into midfield. late in the game, he played a tremendous left-footed cross-field ball for bednar in a buildup that ended with brunt missing a great opportunity for a second goal... really entertaining stuff - just not winning stuff, yet.

again, on terms of performance of passing football it was a heartening display and i can see yet further improvement today at getting the ball into the box; but the baggies are now beginning to look pretty firmly established as the bottom team in the league, and i can't see anything more than a fight with blackburn and sunderland as to the order of finish for the bottom three. but more on their long term fate later...