Albion face the drop again as Big Sam’s magic fails
Tony Matthews looks at successful seasons for the Black Country’s football clubs
Season 2020-21 Part One
THIS was another horrible season for the Albion, who were relegated back to the Sky Bet Championship after spending just one term in the top flight.
The Baggies, under the leadership of managers Slaven Bilic and briefly Sam Allardyce, finished 19th in the table with 26 points, three more than bottom club Sheffield United, two fewer than Fulham (18th) and a staggering 13 points behind Burnley (17th) who survived the drop comfortably.
Wolves, with boss Nuno Espirito Santo still in charge, ended their Premier League campaign in 13th position – 17 points above the dropzone, while Walsall, under managers Darrell Clarke (first) and then Brian Dutton, struggled desperately, ending up in 19th place in League Two, well clear of the safety line, after picking up 13 vital points from their last ten matches.
Going back to the Baggies … they had an awful first half to the season, winning only two of their first 19 matches. In fact, their form never improved as they were defeated 22 times overall, claiming just five wins.
Their full League record for the 2020-21 campaign was played 38, won 5, drew 11 and lost 22, scoring only 35 goals while conceding 76.
Their best win – albeit to no avail as it turned out – was 5-2 away at Chelsea in early April, Matheus Pereira (2), Callum Robinson (2) and Grady Diangana their scorers. Albion also beat Southampton 3-0 at home and Wolves 3-2 at Molineux.
Albion’s heaviest defeats were those of 5-0 at home to Leeds and Manchester City, 5-1 versus Crystal Palace (h), 5-2 at Everton and 4-0 versus Arsenal (h).
Pereira finished as top-scorer with 11 goals.
Wolves’ record in the Premier League was played 38, won 12, drew 9 and lost 17; goal count 36-52, points total 45.
The best of their 12 wins were those of 2-0 over Sheffield United (away) and Crystal Palace (home), both achieved in the first six weeks of the campaign.
The team’s heaviest defeats were those of 4-0 – at West Ham in match number three, away at Liverpool in early December and at Molineux at the hands of Burnley in late April.
Pedro Neto and Ruben Neves finished up as joint top-scorers in the League with just five goals each … three of Neves’s coming from the penalty-spot.
Fact: Wolves lost seven of their last 12 League games, picking up just 11 points out of a possible 36.
Checking on Walsall … and their full seasonal League record was played 46, won 11, drew 20 and lost 15, goals for 45, against 53, for an overall and final points tally of 53.
Their best win was 4-3 at home to Port Vale when they came back from 2-0 nil while their heaviest loss was suffered at Cheltenham in late November when they lost 3-0.
The Saddlers won only three of their first 15 League games and during the second half of the season they managed just four victories out of 23, netting a mere 17 goals in the process.
And in fact it was a good job that Barrow, Colchester United, Grimsby Town, Scunthorpe United and Southend also played so badly during the last four months of the campaign.
Elijah Adebayo (ex-fulham) topscored with 10 goals.