Scunthorpe United 1-3 WBA

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this was a little better stuff from the baggies - and especially from luke moore, who is looking increasingly a threat to come out of the slump that has plagued him most of the season. chris brunt, while still not looking the dangerous scorer he has for most of the season, put in an intelligent performance; and gianni zuiverloon showed again that he can be a real threat going forward.

however, the old habit of winning was greatly aided by the iron going on a self-destructive run of bookings that saw the team ultimately reduced to 9-men and conceding two penalties after having drawn level only 50 seconds into what looked might become a competitive second-half.

this was also the match where i realized that earlier decisions by roberto di matteo as to the starting team were much more measured, and his intentions as a tactician were more firmly established than i had first thought. while i think i probably should have realized it against cardiff or QPR, that in continually starting luke moore in a forward pairing with simon cox the gaffer was making plain display of what kind of attack he is trying to establish. he has deliberately taken a more direct approach, and must be planning a kind of utility role for roman bednar when a change of tactics is needed.

indeed, di matteo has favoured young chris wood as his primary substitute and is looking for the kind of midfield attack that will narrow the width at the front and try to play balls in behind the opposing back four. this is a style that suits both moore and cox and doesn't allow for a player like bednar to really get involved in the match. however, being capable of everything from the ridiculous to the sublime, bednar would be a good gamble late in the day and desperately needing something out of the ordinary.

the albion spark-plug in this match was undoubtedly graham dorrans, who seems to find his scoring touch away from the hawthorns. the young scottish international took advantage of a clear scoring opportunity in the 19th minute to put the baggies ahead.

after equalizing through a deflected then flicked on ball in the first minute of the second-half united's discipline disintegrated totally on a pair of penalties. dorrans was brought down by scunnie defender, rob jones, making a direct run into the box down the right flack. joe murphy the goalkeeper was booked for mockingly applauding the penalty decision, and dorrans - now the albion penalty taker since chris brunt's injury of last month - skillfully put the ball out of reach to the keeper's left for his second of the game.



already down to ten men through the acquisition of a second yellow-card by andrew wright in the 61st minute, scunthorpe gave up a second penalty, as well as having midfielder grant mccann sent off for his immediate, angry and animated dissent. while it wasn't a bad effort this time by dorrans, murphy rose to the occasion and anticipated the shot correctly.

finally, gianni zuiverloon scored through the intelligent play of chris brunt down the right-wing, with the northern ireland international spotting the dutchman's run and open space to set up the shot for zuiverloon's second goal of the season.

the baggies look set to follow a pattern on the season and their performance has been consistent and at times ruthless. while this is true, i don't think that we've really seen this team play at its absolute best; and that may not have been necessary until now with the next two league games coming up representing the most important challenges yet this season. if the baggies can rise to the occasion and take maximum points from forest and newcastle they will be ideally poised to challenge for the championship title. indeed, if they manage this, i have no doubt that they will actually win the title. the collective results of these next two league matches will determine just about everything else as far as the final table positions go. i hope they've been saving their best stuff for this pair of games.

also, as a fan of the FA Cup i'm hoping that we can get a strong enough team on the pitch to beat huddersfield and can get something going this year. i would dearly love to see a good cup run. ironically, i think it's probably good for confidence in a situation like this, and not worth ignoring to make the league your sole concern, obsession and irritation. it can keep a team - and certain players - playing and winning games in a prestigious competition without the pressure of the league to contend with. the 07-08 team that won the division and made the semi-final was a model albion team and it's just been too long since a club from england's penultimate division - whatever it happens to be called at the time - has won the competition. although, i know that's a bigger ask these days than it once was. but still, there should always be the dream.

WBA 2-0 Peterborough United

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luke moore has started scoring again. while the red-hot simon cox seems to have cooled in the last couple of matches, moore has finally broken his scoring drought with a coolly placed strike taking a deflection into the net against peterborough united. he has also seen more than a few of his finishes in the last three games called back for offside. this would tend to indicate that the striker has started to have some success at getting into the kind of position he needs to score.

one of my main assertions this season has been: as goes chris brunt so go the albion. while i believe this to still be true, the baggies have started to learn how to deal a little better with their main problem - and this is merely reflected in brunt's play.

the albion have lacked a mental toughness which makes it hard for them to win when not playing well. when the play is flowing and the ideas coalescing with the actual skills and high imagination becomes manifest, you get the idea that the baggies could take on brazil. this is evidenced by the number of extremely one-sided, high-scoring defeats that they have inflicted on the likes of middlesbrough (0-5), watford (5-0) and sheffield wednesday (0-4).



conversely, when nothing is really going right and the team are finding their touch heavy and passing inaccurate, the football awkward and unnattractive, the baggies just seem at a real loss for what to do?!? when chris brunt is lacking in imagination and play just not working for him they run into real problems going forward. what's worse, is that brunty is in a bit of a slump at the moment.

fortunately, i think this baggies team knows what it's got to do, and even if we end up with another nail-biting season as to whether the outcome is automatic promotion or facing the perils of the playoffs, i have faith that this lot has come to understand what is needed and will scrap for points when they have to from here on out.

the baggies played well against a struggling QPR side and came away on the short end of an undeserved draw for which they had to work to achieve. this one was won on two of the scruffiest goals scored back to back by an albion side in a long time. in a case like this, however, i'll take the scruffy little win over beautiful, flowing, expansive football.

Peterborough United 2-3 WBA

live text replay

there was no TV broadcast of this match whatsoever; so i was again treated to the experience of following the match on ALBION PLAYER - which i really appreciate now that its become available to me - and the usual BBC live text commentary. this is really the first time i have had the chance to listen to football as extensively as i have watching it throughout the course of my life; and i'm still getting used to the evident contrasts of the "hot" and "cool" media experiences.

this match was a lot more difficult than it ever should have been and ended with graham dorrans picking up a most unfortunate red card that might see him out for the next three games. beyond that, the first strange aspect to this match was jonathan greening being left on the bench, but otherwise match-fit, leading to renewed speculation that the captain might still be leaving for fulham; and it was reported on the club website after the match today, that the two teams are in negotiations.

di matteo started luke moore and chris wood up front in a more traditional 4-4-2, which was a world of difference compared to saturday's poor performance against nottingham forest. again, the gaffer had joe mattock at outside left back, and marek cech in central midfield; as well as new signing shaun cummings who walked straight into the team to start in wide midfield.

from the opening whistle the baggies were absolutely on fire and could have seen the match off after about 10 minutes, save for 2 crucial misses by chris brunt and luke moore. moore opened the scoring at 2:18 from a speculative shot on a ball won from gabriel zakuani on the edge of the peterborough penalty area. both he and chris brunt were then afforded really good scoring opportunities in the next few minutes and the baggies really should have had at least one more goal for their efforts.



at just the point where it was beginning to look like a premier league side against league 1 opposition, the baggies were seriously rocked by the ability and endeavor of peterborough united's attacking game and this opened up the match considerably, with only the defending of jonas olsson and the goalkeeping of scott carson keeping the albion lead intact. again, it was the familiar case of the baggies not knowing what to do when they get in front on the scoreboard.

having regathered themselves and weathered the posh storm, luke moore put in the second goal just after the half hour mark on cross from chis wood, followed by a chris brunt goal on 40 minutes and the albion looked to be sorted out and on their way to an imposing win, showing why they are favourites for promotion in this division. luke moore's play in the first-half showed how crucial it is that he be paired with another striker in order to be effective, and with the help of chris wood up front and brunt in the midfield he stamped his presence all over this match in the first half.



posh got one back just before half-time through craig mackail-smith and this took a little of the wind out of albion's sails in a match that looked like west brom might have gone on to win 4 or 5-0.

from the outset of the second half, however, the albion's defensive weaknesses were on full display. they were back on their heels, and had given up another goal within 8 minutes of the restart. again, it was olsson and carson that were the heroes as the baggies had to weather 20 minutes worth of intense posh pressure. as with the game on the weekend, it was these two who really won the match for the baggies.


after the second peterborough goal, the gaffer pulled wood in favour of robert koren; once again, leaving luke moore up front on his own and essentially ineffective. although the baggies started to see more of the ball, they seemingly couldn't work it out of their own half and it was only through their ability to play their familiar passing game that they were able to dominate possession through the midfield. with the excellent defending of olsson and carson - as well as mulumbu making some key tackles late on in the match - the albion were able to protect their lead and eventually posh just ran out of steam and the baggies notched their third consecutive victory (as well as third consecutive away win) and remain unbeaten in all competitions so far this season.

with luke moore unable to get anything going up front, di matteo brought craig beattie on to replace him; and after already having substituted jerome thomas for marek cech. both substitutions improved things, but it was too little, too late for another baggies' goal, and the team was forced to defend throughout the last ten minutes, finding their most effective strategy in defending through the midfield with olsson providing an imposing presence in the middle of the albion's final third. depsite producing a few tense moments that could have seen the match go 3-3, scott carson's goalkeeping provided the final bit of skill and confidence needed to see this one through to another win.



i still don't know what di matteo's game is (and i'm not even sure that i'm spelling his name right... di matteo? dimatteo?) but i was again perplexed by the team selection - and jonathan greening's absence aside - i have wondered why we haven't seen a pairing of luke moore and craig beattie up front; or - and knowing that it might lack a bit of physicality and muscle - why not moore playing alongside simon cox? i like to think that the gaffer is experimenting somewhat, at this point, and just having a good look at who's really capable of what; perhaps even pushing the boundaries of individual capability? i hope that he's finally realized from the comparative performances between the first half and second half today that luke moore should not be playing in a lone striker position. his real strength as a forward is moving into space and getting behind the defenders, and he needs good close support and incisive delivery in order to be effective. when he has had the chance to play his natural game, moore - and in stark contrast to last year - has been nothing short of brilliant. today he firmly established himself as the team's senior striker, and the club will start to look to him to lead the attack.

this very much underlines the fact that the oldest striker at the club is craig beattie at 25; and having just brought up a 17 year old to the first team and given him his first two starts, the gaffer has certainly widened the club's focus in this area, and would seem to be in a developmental stage of something long-term that will eventually be able meet the challenges of the premier league - and maybe even beyond! roman bednar will be back in shape to take a place in the first team in about three weeks, and we all await the return of ishmael miller and defender neil clement, who've both been out for the last couple of years with major injuries. so we've really got nothing to worry about in terms of personel; RDM just needs to get his team selection sorted out.

today was an uneven performance, and i come back to the point of selection - but it is still really important that the baggies can win like this in the championship, where the premier league often left them gutted, late in the match, with a series of draws and 1 goal losses in games that they probably should have won.



we still probably need another central defender and the outside left back position has to be sorted out beyond joe mattock. perhaps the new signing of chilean full-back gonzalo jara (also announced today) will bring some quality to the back line.

the coming days will tell, and i've stated my own personal doubts about roberto di matteo. but as i said when he first took the position, i think he's probably a winner; and one of the marks of a winner is being able to win the games that you should, even when you're playing poorly or just less than your best. so far, and his questionable selections aside - the man is a winner!