What a Mess We Have Made of Things - West Bromwich Albion Pre-Season Report
In the 15th of a series of pre-season reports, HarryFromBath assesses the mood around the Championship clubs by delving into their forums, looking here at how things have progressed for relegated West Bromwich Albion this summer. All of the teams in the division will be covered between now and the start of the season.
"We’re nowhere near ready yet”, "I can't see it myself. We have lost a lot of players and we haven't replaced them with much quality. We have no real structure in place to deal with what to expect on the pitch. Partner that with an inexperienced manager and you’re looking at a play-off battle at best.”
"My head says we are nowhere near ready yet and we failed to build on those final six games of last season. My heart says the Darren Moore effect will possibly gel the squad together as time goes on. A lot depends on which senior players stay and more to the point which ones are fully committed.”
"I can't see it this season but I hope I’m wrong.” Albion fans are not optimistic about their prospects this season. In one recent yes/no poll, 70 per cent say they would not get promoted. Their anxieties revolve around a promising but inexperienced manager and a raft of unfinished transfer business.
"I don't think the bombshell has yet dropped. As we get nearer to transfer window closing my main fear is that we will lose players like Nacer Chadli, Salomon Rondon, Jay Rodriguez, Matt Phillips and Craig Dawson, and we either don't replace them or replace them with shirt fillers. I hope I'm wrong.”
"I already feel a bit for Moore given most of us would have expected other big earners to have left and decent money being spent to replace them. His hands seem a bit tied at the minute. We can but hope these next few weeks don't hit us too hard and players that are left settle into a team ethic.”
"I was sceptical when Big Dave was given the job but I'm warming to him rapidly”, "You can’t fault what he has done. He has galvanised a talented but underperforming squad and restored pride in a difficult situation”, "The intent and mentality on the pitch have been spot on right from the start.”
The 44-year-old replaced Alan Pardew as caretaker-manager in April and led them on a five-game unbeaten run, thus ending what had been a terrible campaign on a high form-wise. Fans have been impressed with his early work but some fear that his inexperience could be his undoing in the Championship.
"On the evidence of our pre-season I'm feeling happy about the way Big Dave set the team up and wants us to play. I like the way he’s going about his job and it's different to what we saw last season. If we pass the ball around and look as sharp and incisive as we have, I'll be very happy with that.”
"I have been worried that Big Dave would want us to set up with men behind the ball but there had been no sign of that”, "From what I have seen we are at least trying to play the ball through the midfield and there seems to have been a lot emphasis in pre-season on good fitness training.”
"Maybe he can recreate a little of that feeling and belonging. Big money foreigners aren’t always the answer, and to me Albion lost their way and their identity” "The way he moved on the disgruntled and gave chances to youth players shows he is his own man. Mind you, I wouldn’t argue with him.”
"There's nothing to snigger about regarding lower-league signings”, "I'm quite impressed with our transfer business this summer so far. We have made what seem to be quite canny signings. It's clear that someone at the club (God knows who) has being monitoring the talent in the Championship.”
At the time of writing, five new players have arrived at the Hawthorns. Two 25-year-old goalkeepers have been signed. Sam Johnstone played on loan for Aston Villa last season while Jonathan Bond was on loan at Peterborough from parent club Reading. Both have arrived on permanent deals.
Centre-half Kyle Bartley, 27, has been bought from Swansea along with 25-year-old left-back Conor Townsend from Scunthorpe. The final new addition has been 20-year-old winger Harvey Barnes, who is on loan from Leicester for the season. Barnes has already caught the eye in pre-season games.
"Liking what I’m hearing about this Barnes lad”, "He curled a great goal into the bottom corner from 25 yards against Coventry”, "He looks very lively, cutting inside at any opportunity, and linking very well with the strikers. An outlet who looks a proper handful and certainly gets you up on your feet.”
"Whilst we still have high value players on big money I fully understand the club not splashing loads of money. If or when these players start to move, that’s when Big Dave will start to spend decent fees. Although we could get £16 million for Rondon [with Newcastle reportedly moving for the Venezuelan], it doesn’t mean we must spend it all on another striker.”
Keeper Ben Foster (to Watford), defender Jonny Evans (to Leicester) and winger James McClean (to Stoke) have found new clubs along with 21-year-old keeper Ethan Ross (to Colchester). Keeper Boaz Myhill, defender Gareth McAuley and midfielder Claudio Yacob are currently unattached.
Not every departing player will be missed. "McClean? Five goals in 100 games and next to no assists. That's some going for a player who busted his gut. If running around like a headless chicken was the main ingredient for success all we'd have to do is pick a few season ticket holders to play for us.”
Midfielder James Morrison is out of contract but he is negotiating with the club with his fitness being a concern as he missed much of last season due to an Achilles injury, while defender Craig Dawson has handed in a transfer request.
Striker Jay Rodriguez has been linked with a move to Burnley while there has also been speculation in the media linking wingers Nacer Chadli with a loan move to Turkish side Besiktas and Matt Phillips with Cardiff City. It is very hard to plan effectively until all of these uncertainties can been resolved.
"In five pre-season game we scored 15, conceded six, won four and drew one. When is Big Dave’s statue getting put up at the Hawthorns?”, "It’s refreshing to see, even against lower league teams in the most recent past we have struggled. We looked like the lower league team most of the time.”
Albion began their pre-season with wins at Barnet (3-0) and Swindon (3-1). A trip up to Aberdeen yielded a 1-1 draw ahead of a 3-2 victory at Barnsley. Their final outing on Saturday saw them beat Coventry 5-2 in the inaugural Regis Shield game to celebrate the life of legendary striker Cyrille Regis.
"The first 40 minutes or so against Coventry we were a joy to watch.” Saturday’s starting XI (above) was set out in Moore’s favoured four-man defence and three-man midfield shape and it was built around players certain to feature this season. "It was seriously good possession-based football.”
"Anyone worrying about us playing Pulis-ball, forget it”, "Our short 1-2 and 1-2-3 passing took us much further into the opposition’s half and further away from the danger area around our goal. There was no hoof and cream cracker yourself chasing the ball as per you-know-who's style.”
"Moore liked Hal Robson-Kanu's contribution, but sadly he just doesn't score enough goals to be our starting striker”, "On paper we don’t look too bad but our midfield and attacking options are pretty poor. I can’t see where the goals will come from in midfield as there is hardly any creativity or pace.”
"We look like a team, playing incisive quick passing football.” Albion fans want to see a finisher and a creative central midfielder when the opportunity to buy players materialises. "We need to get goals and creativity in the team. We’ve been Pulised for a while and I would now like to see some spark.”
"I’m pretty excited for next season. It’s time we got back to producing great teams from the youth system. It's also good to see the players actually training rather than taking taxis or out clubbing”, "With our recent transfers, the blend of youth and experience, we can be optimistic this season.”
"We are one of the most unstable clubs in the division which doesn't help things. Compare how sedate Stoke are by comparison and we look particularly bad. Darren Moore is in his first season and the players are still largely the outfielders who can't do anything other than play direct hoof ball.”
"The club are obviously taking a different approach following the autocratic one of Pulis. We have that much work to do to get our house in order. It may be that having a couple of years down and then going back up would be better to build for another sustainable stretch in the top flight.”
"Can I say that I'm not too bothered either way if we get promoted or not, but I am looking forward to winning a few games and not hanging on for grim death to try and finish between 14th and 17th place, clawing out one point at a time”, "Who's to say we won't be doing that in the Championship?”
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