Forest CHUMPS!
Albion shortcomings exposed again
IT was a night to forget for Steve Bruce and his players as Albion were blown away at promotionchasing Nottingham Forest.
The Baggies started quite brightly but all momentum was lost after Darnell Furlong received a second yellow card in the space of three minutes due to a handball in the penalty area.
Brennan Johnson made no mistake from the spot and Forest didn’t look back from there.
Goals from Ryan Yates and a stunning, albeit fluke, effort from Jack Colback extended the Reds’ lead before half-time, while Sam Surridge put the seal on a 4-0 win in second-half stoppage time.
Here are the talking points from Albion’s Easter Monday mauling at the City Ground.
n Unacceptable indiscipline
Furlong’s raised hand while lying on the ground inside the box, thus blocking James Garner’s goalbound effort, brought Albion’s seventh red card of the season, the joint-highest in the Championship alongside relegated Derby.
It was just the start of their indiscipline. Twenty minutes later, substitute Taylor Gardner-Hickman, who replaced Karlan Grant as a result of
Furlong’s dismissal to reinforce the midfield, was also booked after blasting the ball over the advertising hoardings and into the lower row of seats in the Brian Clough Stand.
His indiscretion, a clear sign of frustration having been penalised for a foul moments earlier rather than anything malicious, sparked a fracas between both sets of players and only served to underline the fact the Baggies were losing their heads.
Before that incident, Jake Livermore was incensed with the officials on a number of occasions. The captain could perhaps count himself fortunate not to have entered the book following some animated reactions to referee David Webb and fourth official Will Finnie before the break.
Gardner-Hickman was not the only substitute to make his frustrations clear. Matt Phillips, who replaced Andy Carroll late on, also entered the book after kicking the ball away.
That took Albion’s tally of balls kicked into and/or at the advertising boards (2) above the actual attempts on goal (1) mustered over the 90 minutes.
n Bartley recall backfires
Of the three changes made by Bruce to add, in the manager’s words, “freshness” to the team after five matches in 16 days, Kyle Bartley returning to the centre of defence was the surprise
selection.
Semi Ajayi dropped out of the back three, despite playing pretty well and contributing in the build-up to Carroll’s goal against Blackpool three days prior.
Bartley had been benched during that match for the first time this season. Not since July 2020 had he been an unused substitute for a league game so it perhaps should not have been a shock to see an instant return to the side on Monday.
Bruce explained the reason for the change as being “a big occasion for big
Bartley to come back into us”.
While that may have been true with Albion away against the form side in the division, the 30-year-old’s introduction didn’t pay off.
He was poor on the ball and caught in possession all too often by taking risks and putting undue pressure on his team-mates.
A forgettable performance for both team and player was underlined on the second goal when Bartley reacted too slowly to the impending danger as Yates had a free header directly from a corner.
Away issues persist
There is no disgrace in losing to a Forest side in such form but losing in the manner Albion did has been a season-long cause for concern.
With one away trip, to Reading, remaining, West Brom have the sixthworst record on the road in the division. The teams with poorer away form sit 18th, 20th, 23rd, 22nd and 24th respectively in the bottom half of the Championship.
Those clubs, in order, are Bristol City, Blues, Derby, Peterborough and Barnsley. That is not company a team who were in the Premier League less than 12 months ago should be keeping. Albion’s home form is comparatively excellent – but it has had to be otherwise they would have been looking over their shoulders themselves.