Baggies boing on the road

Thursday, 02/02/2012

by Dave Wedgbury, Shoot's West Brom blogger

Albion continued their impressive away form with a point fromm their 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage on an icy cold evening.

We have now picked up 18 points away from the Hawthorns this season, compared with only eight points gained from home matches.

Albion battled well at Fulham and I think we deserved our point. Roy was forced into one change due to Thomas’s injury and opted to play Odemwingie in place of the speedy winger.

This gave us a change to look at the partnership of Fortune and Odemwingie. I must say that I have been impressed with the effort and form of Fortune since being thrust into the Albion line up due to injuries and form. Fortune hasn’t proved the most prolific scorer but his work rate and ability to hold up the ball isn’t unnoticed among Albion fans.

This was a tough match and Albion didn’t let their travelling fans down, they battled all evening and at times held onto possession more comfortably than they have in recent weeks.

But all their hard work and organisation seemed in vain when Dempsey scored midway through the second half. But Roy threw on the enigmatic Somen Tchoyi with 13 minutes to go, and this paid dividends when Tchoyi scored just five minutes later.

This was a point that Albion did deserve and it would have been a long journey home if we had come away pointless after playing so well at times.

It must be said that this was an Albion team without the services of Gera, Reid, Jones, Scharner, Brunt, Thomas and Long – all players who could be considered first team starters.

This was a chance for other players to step up and although I have doubted in the past that we have the players to do this effectively, we showed we are actually getting a  much stronger depth to our squad.

Fortune did well and Odemwingie looked much more impressive, although he did waste a chance of two. Tamas, who I have watched through nervous eyes when he has played full back in the past did produce a fairly decent performance, although I would prefer the more reliable Reid at right back.

With the imminent return of players and the addition of Liam Ridgewell from Blues and Keith Andrews from Blackburn this week, Albion are beginning to look pretty solid – although many Albion fans were hoping to see the addition of a playmaker in midfield during this transfer window.

But one thing that Albion fans will do is trust in Roy. He hasn’t let us down yet and even though we would all love fast flowing possession with attacking flair, we must face reality and to stay in this division we need to be organised, solid at the back and a strong defensive midfield to protect our back four. Roy is definitely working on this theory and with Ridgewell and Andrews arriving at the club this ethos will be reinforced.

Is this change of direction and style of play the price to pay for today’s desire to play in the Premier League? The footballing purists would love to see us replicating Barcelona’s style of play and attempting to play through teams and maintain possession for the majority of the game, but reality is that we cannot play the way the fans would like with the players available to us.

Roy needs to be pragmatic and sets his stall out accordingly, something that may not please every fan but will no doubt be putting a smile on the chairman’s face. We must be realistic and accept that our aim is staying in this league, not top ten at this point in time. Remain in the Premier League and slowly build the squad that can cement it’s place within the top flight.

Roy is proving to be the manager who can do this and at times fans will not like what they see but ultimately the proof of success will be measured by the league table – stay out of the bottom three and it will be considered a successful year.

Well done Roy and Albion on a successful return to Craven Cottage. Roy received a very warm welcome from his old fans and will no doubt get an even more appreciative reception from Albion fans if we survive relegation again.

• 

• Have your say