Albion alarm bells as rotten run goes on

IT IS 18 games and counting since West Bromwich Albion last secured a Premier League victory and though there is still a way to go to trouble Derby County’s record winless run of 32 the alarm bells are ringing. This may well turn out to be a point gained in the battle to avoid relegation but for Alan Pardew it felt like another opportunity missed to collect all three at once in a match his side dominated. Only five teams have now endured longer sequences in the Premier League without winning and the concern for West Brom is that all of those sides ended the season relegated. Pardew will relish the challenge of proving the exception to the rule but if West Brom are unable to emerge victorious when controlling a game to this degree it is tricky to envisage circumstances when they do. It was back in August that West Brom last won and we are now into the depths of winter with Pardew yet to implement the improvement in style hoped for when he replaced Tony Pulis. This was an encouraging, frontfoot performance but each of the three points collected in his short tenure have come via a scoreline of 0-0. For Sam Allardyce, the brief was different. Get Everton up the table whatever the approach. He has done that and this draw means it is 12 points from his six Premier League games in charge. Allardyce is the first Everton manager to go unbeaten in his opening seven games in all competitions and he pointed out that including the West Ham match when he was in the stands, the side have conceded only two goals in their last eight. In the eight before they let in 25. It has been a lesson in organisation. ‘A remarkable turnaround,’ said Allardyce. ‘It’s a great point for us given the pressure we came under. Our defensive qualities were a major part of the day.’ Pardew said: ‘Nine times out of 10 you win that game. It was about as disciplined a 90 minutes I’ve seen here. We’re hungry for the three points.’ West Brom should have led at the interval but spurned two superb chances. The first came in the sixth minute when Jay Rodriguez whipped over a cross that was begging to be tapped in by Salomon Rondon. But the West Brom man got his feet tangled three yards out and missed the ball entirely. Craig Dawson then headed a Matt Phillips cross over the bar. Four minutes after half-time a good pass from Chris Brunt saw Rondon advance into the area. The £15million centre forward shaped to shoot but the finish troubled the stewards more than Jordan Pickford. Everton’s limited offensive offering was hampered by the absence of Wayne Rooney through a virus and the fact that Yannick Bolasie played for the first time in over a year. It took until the 89th minute for the visitors to muster a shot on target as Ben Foster saved Oumar Niasse’s shot with his legs.