BFTG - Baggies

[Lower West]

Weird tactics and the team was totally imbalanced.

Suspect it's more down to the players not following instructions. Pele as the holding midfield player seems to drift all over the pitch. Rather than holding position in front of Morrison and Moore.

[URZZZZ]

Rafael 6 - made some good stops, first goal questionable however

Yiadom 6 - steady return to the side, struggled towards the end
Morrison 5 - ball retention was poor
Moore 5 - gave away needless fouls, struggled out there
Obita 5 - caught out of position too often

Pele 7 - better in possession than the last couple of games, made some good driving runs forward too
Araruna 5 - seen comments slating him badly, I thought he did OK against a good midfield but obviously a work in progress

Meite 5 - worked hard, didn’t achieve much though
Swift 4 - loose passes throughout, good through ball to Rino aside
Ejaria 4 - lost it countless times, on our run we had, he linked up best with Blackett and Adam who now find themselves on the bench. Madness

Puscas 5 - not a lone striker, did as best as he could do and good finish for the penalty

Rino 7 - added purpose, energy and drive. May have got himself a start on Saturday
Adam 5 - peach of a ball in for Meite’s goal, but a few poor passes after that
Baldock N/A - didn’t notice him

[Jackson Corner]

I doubt West Brom will have an easier game this or any season. Embarrassingly one sided game, may as well left after there second goal. We are no better than when Gomes was here. It’s no wonder the gates are so low the last three year’s have been painful and depressing in equal measure . I still love this club and always will but god it’s tough on nights like tonight.

[Alan Partridge]

I dont watch Reading much anymore but that was men against boys. WBA were everything Reading weren't, aggressive in and out of possession quick to move the ball forward, quick to get bodies forward and a centre forward willing to work for the team and do the ugly stuff.

I thought Reading were garbage in all truth, they don't close the opposition down at all, it's a token effort from one player and never in packs they have absolutely no pace in the side so can't counter attack or stretch the opposition and in Puscas they have a forward completely ineffectual, isolated for the most part but unwilling to chase stuff or hold the ball up. But for some good saves and the woodwork WBA would have won that easily, barring the penalty I dont recall Reading making a chance nor the WBA keeper having the ball in his hands in the game!

More worrying I'd say is the manager seemed that a good performance and the players couldn't give anymore. Christ if that's the case then Reading have got bigger problems than just the loss tonight.

[Crowbar6753]

I dont watch Reading much anymore but that was men against boys. WBA were everything Reading weren't, aggressive in and out of possession quick to move the ball forward, quick to get bodies forward and a centre forward willing to work for the team and do the ugly stuff.

I thought Reading were garbage in all truth, they don't close the opposition down at all, it's a token effort from one player and never in packs they have absolutely no pace in the side so can't counter attack or stretch the opposition and in Puscas they have a forward completely ineffectual, isolated for the most part but unwilling to chase stuff or hold the ball up. But for some good saves and the woodwork WBA would have won that easily, barring the penalty I dont recall Reading making a chance nor the WBA keeper having the ball in his hands in the game!

More worrying I'd say is the manager seemed that a good performance and the players couldn't give anymore. Christ if that's the case then Reading have got bigger problems than just the loss tonight.

Agreed regarding Bowen, to date his post match comments have been spot on and truthful, however tonight he was way off the mark on everything said, so much so that i actually think he must have been watching another game!! how he thought we played well and deserved something out of that game is beyond me

[URZZZZ]

I dont watch Reading much anymore but that was men against boys. WBA were everything Reading weren't, aggressive in and out of possession quick to move the ball forward, quick to get bodies forward and a centre forward willing to work for the team and do the ugly stuff.

I thought Reading were garbage in all truth, they don't close the opposition down at all, it's a token effort from one player and never in packs they have absolutely no pace in the side so can't counter attack or stretch the opposition and in Puscas they have a forward completely ineffectual, isolated for the most part but unwilling to chase stuff or hold the ball up. But for some good saves and the woodwork WBA would have won that easily, barring the penalty I dont recall Reading making a chance nor the WBA keeper having the ball in his hands in the game!

More worrying I'd say is the manager seemed that a good performance and the players couldn't give anymore. Christ if that's the case then Reading have got bigger problems than just the loss tonight.

Agreed. WBA make it look so simple, pass and move, always on the go

I said last year we lacked some sort of identity. We weren't quick, we weren't physical, we weren't creative etc etc. This year, for a while under Bowen, we were constantly snapping at the heel of the opposition, getting into their faces etc, giving them no room to move using aggressive and physical tactics. But that seems to have changed recently. We constantly sit back, stand off the opposition and try and contain them, and it doesn't work

We have no pace in the side, everything is done so slowly and unfortunately, golden boy Ovie is the worst culprit for this with Swift not too far behind

[Dick Habbin's hairdo]

Oh the joy of watching a team defending from the front and hunting in packs. Shame it wasn't us

Pele the standout again. That man can mount me any time he wants.
Also thought Yaidom did ok coming back in, and Meite put in a good shift.

Swift and Ejaria can sit on the bench for a bit. And take Puscas with them

This sums it up. That was not a poor performance at all from the 'Ding, we were simply overrun by the speed of the press and speed of release. No doubt the Baggies are a very good side.

If only Araruna, Ejaria, Meite, Swift and Obita would take the gamble of getting the ball in first time. And don't tell me there's no-one in the middle even if they did. Puscas knows the ball is going to be slow so he holds his run. Watch him finding the space and holding his run off the shoulder of the defender every time. He's like a bloke with a nervous tick trying to decide when to move.

And yes, Pele the standout again. He's becoming a very decent player.

[hughsies no.1]

Never looked like winning or getting anything out of the game and would have been a robbery if we did.

Firstly WBA, very decent Championship team, took the game to us, deserve to be where they are, strength of their bench was frightening.

As for us, here’s my thoughts:
- Don’t get why Bowen threw the small Brazilian lad in from the start in centre mid, anyone else think he looked like another Liam Kelly? Don’t want to be too harsh as it’s his debut in centre mid vs top of the league but for me Adam or Rino should have been in there ahead of him and both made much more of an impact. For me he looked lost and game passed him by.

- Adam, what’s he done to be dropped? Since he was taken off at Millwall we’ve hardly seen him start a league game and he was the catalyst to our run over Christmas. Surely has to start Saturday?

- Pele, didn’t understand why he came off, consistently been the best player on the pitch in this run without a win.

- Puscas, only counted one ball played into the channel for him to run on to. If we play him we need to play to his strengths and we know he has pace to burn - why consistency play it into him for him to hold up? Was so frustrating

- Run of form - becoming a real concern now, first few games we put it down to Joao not playing but now it should have been sorted, desperate for a win.

[Hound]

A few thoughts

I don’t think the performances are actually much different to when we were on the good run. Two things missing - conceding every game and Swift/Ejaria not producing the moments of magic to create

We generally defended well. WBA undoubtedly a good team and Rafa actually had very little to do. Most of their shots were long range pot shots

We were quite good first 30, not great next 15, appalling first 15 after ht and then actually pretty good for 25 mins. Ejaria and Pele both had good spells in that 25 and Rino made a big difference

I quite liked seeing Puscas/Baldock/Meite up top. Not sure how it’d fit into a starting line up though

Obita played well I thought. Please keep him in corners

Swift and Ejaria could do with a spell on the bench. Both look short on ideas and keep giving the ball away.

In the poor periods of play, we seem to have reverted back to doing exactly the things Bowen made a big noise about changing - overplaying in our own half, giving the oppo too much time on the ball. Feels like he needs a few weeks back on the training ground and a reset

[URZZZZZZZZ]

Find it odd you thought Meite was good and Puscas was poor. For me neither were great but had so little service.

Pele was good/ok. Ejaria and Swift awful. Obita, Puscas, Meite ok. Rafael mare first half, fine 2nd. Rest poor to average. Rino made a difference when came on.

I’d be interested to hear why you thought Rafael had a mare first half

[Stranded]

Crap performance bar a 20 min spell in the 2nd half. No desire to push for the 2nd once we were ahead. We gifted them both goals but they could have had more.

We are at the business end now and we should be fine. We have to play the entire bottom 7 still (and everyone from 12th down bar Hull & QPR) with 5 at home.

If we do not pick up enough points to finish in the 11th to 16th bracket then serious questions may need asking of this squad/staff again.

[windermereROYAL]

Crap performance bar a 20 min spell in the 2nd half. No desire to push for the 2nd once we were ahead. We gifted them both goals but they could have had more.

We are at the business end now and we should be fine. We have to play the entire bottom 7 still (and everyone from 12th down bar Hull & QPR) with 5 at home.

If we do not pick up enough points to finish in the 11th to 16th bracket then serious questions may need asking of this squad/staff again.

Agreed, we have had an horrendous run of games, anybody with half a brain knew it would be difficult, just get the next two out of the way then we should be fine, if we did get dragged back into the mix down the bottom then the fans would have a right to moan, not the meltdown to losing to the best team in the league.

[Old Man Andrews]

Find it odd you thought Meite was good and Puscas was poor. For me neither were great but had so little service.

Pele was good/ok. Ejaria and Swift awful. Obita, Puscas, Meite ok. Rafael mare first half, fine 2nd. Rest poor to average. Rino made a difference when came on.

I’d be interested to hear why you thought Rafael had a mare first half

He made an horrendous error for the goal and he was very fortunate to not concede a shocker early on as he let a tame shot squirm under his body.

Anything else or are you done being simple?

[Hound]

Crap performance bar a 20 min spell in the 2nd half. No desire to push for the 2nd once we were ahead. We gifted them both goals but they could have had more.
.

Generally agree, but did they actually have many chances? The only ones I can really think of were during that awful 15 min spell in the 2nd when they hit the bar and missed a good chance. Obvs there was Rafa's horror show early on but that was a backpass from 25 yards

I thought we defended well and actually looked as dangerous ourselves when we got forward (Moore's free header, Puscas bodged overhead, Rino when he went through and a few scrambles from corners)

[Stranded]

Crap performance bar a 20 min spell in the 2nd half. No desire to push for the 2nd once we were ahead. We gifted them both goals but they could have had more.

We are at the business end now and we should be fine. We have to play the entire bottom 7 still (and everyone from 12th down bar Hull & QPR) with 5 at home.

If we do not pick up enough points to finish in the 11th to 16th bracket then serious questions may need asking of this squad/staff again.

Agreed, we have had an horrendous run of games, anybody with half a brain knew it would be difficult, just get the next two out of the way then we should be fine, if we did get dragged back into the mix down the bottom then the fans would have a right to moan, not the meltdown to losing to the best team in the league.

It has been very tough and makes the wins v Preston and Fulham at the start of this spell massive - we would be in trouble now without those wins.

We have to think of Saturday as a very winnable game though - Wednesday are in shocking form- they have played all of the bottom 3 in their last 4 games and only managed 1 point and they have only scored one goal at home since beating Bristol City 1-0 back on the 22nd December taking just 1 point in the process.

This is a game we should certainly have an expectation of getting at least a point from.

[Hound]

Crap performance bar a 20 min spell in the 2nd half. No desire to push for the 2nd once we were ahead. We gifted them both goals but they could have had more.

We are at the business end now and we should be fine. We have to play the entire bottom 7 still (and everyone from 12th down bar Hull & QPR) with 5 at home.

If we do not pick up enough points to finish in the 11th to 16th bracket then serious questions may need asking of this squad/staff again.

Agreed, we have had an horrendous run of games, anybody with half a brain knew it would be difficult, just get the next two out of the way then we should be fine, if we did get dragged back into the mix down the bottom then the fans would have a right to moan, not the meltdown to losing to the best team in the league.

It has been very tough and makes the wins v Preston and Fulham at the start of this spell massive - we would be in trouble now without those wins.

We have to think of Saturday as a very winnable game though - Wednesday are in shocking form- they have played all of the bottom 3 in their last 4 games and only managed 1 point and they have only scored one goal at home since beating Bristol City 1-0 back on the 22nd December taking just 1 point in the process.

This is a game we should certainly have an expectation of getting at least a point from.

Weird team weds - off the top of my head before that horror run, they went to Leeds and beat them 2-0. They also smashed Forest away.

They've had some great results, and some absolute shockers. Depends what team turns up

[Stranded]

Crap performance bar a 20 min spell in the 2nd half. No desire to push for the 2nd once we were ahead. We gifted them both goals but they could have had more.
.

Generally agree, but did they actually have many chances? The only ones I can really think of were during that awful 15 min spell in the 2nd when they hit the bar and missed a good chance. Obvs there was Rafa's horror show early on but that was a backpass from 25 yards

I thought we defended well and actually looked as dangerous ourselves when we got forward (Moore's free header, Puscas bodged overhead, Rino when he went through and a few scrambles from corners)

You are correct that they didn't have too many more clear cut chance outside that 15 min spell and we did keep our shape well but if it had been 3-1 after an hour that wouldn't have surprised me.

The lack of clear chances makes the goals we conceded worse - Rafael will have nightmares about not pushing the ball away to the left but not 1 defender reacted - the WBA man had all day to recover his own balance and take the second shot and as for the winner, how the hell we were unable to clear our lines and then leave Bartley essentially unchallenged on the back post in the 6 yard box is criminal.

[Hound]

Crap performance bar a 20 min spell in the 2nd half. No desire to push for the 2nd once we were ahead. We gifted them both goals but they could have had more.
.

Generally agree, but did they actually have many chances? The only ones I can really think of were during that awful 15 min spell in the 2nd when they hit the bar and missed a good chance. Obvs there was Rafa's horror show early on but that was a backpass from 25 yards

I thought we defended well and actually looked as dangerous ourselves when we got forward (Moore's free header, Puscas bodged overhead, Rino when he went through and a few scrambles from corners)

You are correct that they didn't have too many more clear cut chance outside that 15 min spell and we did keep our shape well but if it had been 3-1 after an hour that wouldn't have surprised me.

The lack of clear chances makes the goals we conceded worse - Rafael will have nightmares about not pushing the ball away to the left but not 1 defender reacted - the WBA man had all day to recover his own balance and take the second shot and as for the winner, how the hell we were unable to clear our lines and then leave Bartley essentially unchallenged on the back post in the 6 yard box is criminal.

yeah fully agreed with that

[Ascotexgunner]

Unless we go on an amazing run soon I suspect we maybe looking for a new manager this summer.....
The owners surely cant ignore an empty stadium, sh*t football and looking over our shoulder in the league season after season as it now appears.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Agreed, we have had an horrendous run of games, anybody with half a brain knew it would be difficult, just get the next two out of the way then we should be fine, if we did get dragged back into the mix down the bottom then the fans would have a right to moan, not the meltdown to losing to the best team in the league.

It has been very tough and makes the wins v Preston and Fulham at the start of this spell massive - we would be in trouble now without those wins.

We have to think of Saturday as a very winnable game though - Wednesday are in shocking form- they have played all of the bottom 3 in their last 4 games and only managed 1 point and they have only scored one goal at home since beating Bristol City 1-0 back on the 22nd December taking just 1 point in the process.

This is a game we should certainly have an expectation of getting at least a point from.

Weird team weds - off the top of my head before that horror run, they went to Leeds and beat them 2-0. They also smashed Forest away.

They've had some great results, and some absolute shockers. Depends what team turns up

Sounds like a perfect time to play Reading