Home fires burn on and off field for Albion!
ALBION secured back-to-back Championship victories at the weekend with a second home success in a week as Neil Warnock’s Huddersfield were beaten 1-0 at The Hawthorns.
The win came after last Tuesday’s victory over Wigan and the home supporters were once again in full voice on Saturday afternoon.
John Swift’s penalty was all that separated the two sides as the Terriers struggled to make many clear goalscoring opportunities.
Before kick-off, thousands of fans marched to the stadium in support of Action for Albion, who are continuing their protests against the club’s owner Guochuan Lai. Here are the talking points.
Action for Albion protest
Carlos Corberan’s side have now won nine of their last ten home games in all competitions and remain unbeaten at The Hawthorns since the start of November.
The only time the Spaniard has tasted defeat on home turf was in October against automatic promotion hopefuls Sheffield United, which was his first game in charge of the club.
West Brom have accrued 25 points at home since Corberan’s arrival, with only runaway league leaders Burnley and Coventry – who have played four more games at home in that time – winning more.
The Hawthorns has been a fortress under Corberan and, for as long as that continues, the Baggies will be able to hit their targets, whether that’s claiming a play-off position this season, competing for promotion next year or even securing survival in the Premier League.
Winning is a habit and West Brom are making it look easy at home. They are now on their best run of form at The Hawthorns since 1906/07, when the club won 11 games in a row.
Corberan’s side have also improved on a 100-year record of conceding just once in ten games at home.
Action for Albion protest
Thousands of Baggies fans took part in the protest march before kickoff.
It was a well-organised demonstration against Lai and the financial insecurities he has inflicted on the
club in the form of loans unpaid and borrowed.
Signs and banners called for him to leave the club, while supporters were heard chanting as they marched towards The Hawthorns from opposite the Dartmouth Cricket Club.
The noise continued into the stadium as fans made their feelings known to the club’s owner, while also backing the players on the pitch.
Captain O’Shea
West Brom’s skipper has been in top form of late and continued to impress against Huddersfield. He completed 83 of his 93 passes, and completed 100% of his dibbles out from the back.
While Huddersfield struggled to threaten West Brom’s defence, O’Shea was often in place to neutralise attacks.
The 24-year-old won four of his five ground duels, and three aerial duels too.
He also chipped in with one recovery and four interceptions.
Corberan’s objectives
After the win, the head coach said: “It was a combative one, a competitive one.
“Two teams who played with a lot of determination to get three points for different reasons.
“Three things. One, we always like to get a result.
“The consequence of how we perform and it is true there will always be gaps and possibilities to improve.
“Second, I think the fans support the team a lot to help us keep going in the game.
“I was thinking a lot of togetherness on the pitch, which was massive to helping us a lot.
“From my point of view, I was always as scared and nervous as I was in every game.
“It’s not going to change because when you play a game, you analyse the opponent.”