Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox give you their take on West Brom's 2-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
Albion hit the post in the first half before they fell behind early in the second period.
It was then 2-0 shortly after and Albion tried to get back into the game but could not find an answer and slipped to a first home defeat in eleven games.
Albion hit the post in the first half before they fell behind early in the second period.
It was then 2-0 shortly after and Albion tried to get back into the game but could not find an answer and slipped to a first home defeat in eleven games.
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00:00Buggies fans, welcome to ExpressAndStyle.com, my name is Jonny Drury, I'm here with Lewis
00:11Compton, very, very, very, very cold, after Albion, did little to warm up the crowd, they've
00:17lost 2-0 against Blackburn, it was...
00:20Cold weather from Saturday?
00:21It certainly was, worst night of Tony Mobay's reign so far, in his short spell back at Albion,
00:26I've been at the post in the first half, but then could see the two rotten, horrible goals
00:31in the second half, never really looked like getting back into it, they had two goals chalked
00:36off, one for a side, one for a push, not really many complaints on both, one was maybe soft,
00:41but Coxsey, I've just written a little bit of a piece saying it felt at times a bit pedestrian,
00:46a little bit of a throwback to some of the times under Corberan earlier in the season,
00:52but was it a case of Albion, not, well, Albion weren't very good, but was it more a case
00:57of Albion not being very good tonight, or did Blackburn do a bit of a job on them?
01:00No, Albion didn't show up, did they, let's have it right, 4-0 poor, agreed, you know,
01:06I mean, end the video there, really, no, I'm joking, yeah, all the rest of the reaction
01:10going to ExpressAndStyle.com?
01:11Yeah, no, no, I mean we just had a very interesting post-match there with Tony, he was, you know,
01:16he didn't want to lay into his players clearly, but I think with the topics he was talking
01:21about, you could read between the lines, as viewers here will be able to do on our
01:25website shortly, and over the next day or two, he was unhappy, you could tell, he was
01:31unhappy with a few things, but specifically the manner of the goals, the two goals for
01:36Matar Gay, the Rovers striker came quite early in the second half, both of them didn't they,
01:41one immediately after the break, one on the hour, both seriously sloppy, both error strewn,
01:47the first one though, which he was particularly annoyed at, corner, Rovers win the header,
01:53centre half, the striker volleys in, Tony hadn't seen a replay clear enough to comment
02:00on Joe Wildsmith, the keeper, we saw replays, let the volley go through his hands, it's
02:06a poor error, but Mo Rera's irritated by just the way it was defended, or not defended,
02:12you know, the way his players were not seemingly interested to go and win that first ball,
02:16win the second ball, he was quite firm, the head coach, really about how Albion have
02:22to be better defensively in those moments, and we've seen his post-match talking about
02:27the terrible inconsistencies of this season, I mean, Albion were 5th before the ball was
02:32kicked tonight, they're now 6th, still inside the play-offs, it baffled, I mean, I don't
02:37want to be seen as hypocritical tonight, because we were both buzzing on Saturday, with the
02:43way the game ended and the win, kick-starting this, I think the two results, what you said
02:47there about consistency, I think the two results kind of epitomised the season, you know, Albion
02:52can do what they did on Saturday, yes it was a late, late one, but Albion looked really
02:57good, and you saw it, it's made an impact, and it's sort of reverted back to tonight,
03:00and that's why I made that comparison to previously, under the previous manager, where Albion looked
03:05a bit pedestrian, no-one, what gets me with Albion is, they haven't really, you know,
03:11it's too early to judge on Armstrong, he has got the quality to do it, but, you said to
03:16me there, this game's made for someone to grab it by the throat, and win the game, and
03:20Albion for too long haven't had someone who could go and do that, they look far, far from
03:26a team that had someone that could do it tonight.
03:28Armstrong and Molumby kind of did that Saturday, didn't they, and we waxed lyrical subsequently
03:33of Molumby having the heart and desire to do that, but, yeah, I'm not sure, or we didn't
03:38see any of it tonight, let's be honest, but, as you just said, we haven't seen anywhere
03:43near enough of that for a while now, a good, good, good while going back, you know, from
03:47before Carlos Corban, I would say, but the mind-boggling stuff I was going on about just
03:52before that, no consecutive back-to-back wins since September, since that start, run to
03:58start the season, that first five wins, which had Albion top, obviously, I mean, that's
04:03unbelievable, really, stats can be misleading, and, look, part of the reason for that is
04:09because the Corban team drew 10 out of 11 games, like, you know, they weren't losing,
04:13but they were drawing, but I didn't even have to offer that to Molumby tonight in there,
04:19he came out with that stat, he offered it up, so, you know, he said he'd just been told
04:22it, but he's well aware of these inconsistencies, he touched upon them yesterday in his presser
04:27when he was saying, look, we've won a home game, we've now got another home game against
04:31a big rival, it's near to the run-in, it's a massive game, this is a chance now to start
04:36building momentum for the first time, to make a bit of a gap, you know, another rival, you
04:41know, a bit of a rival on Saturday in Millwall, who were just on the fringes of it, coattails
04:46of it, but it's a hard place to go, isn't it, start building a bit of a gap, finally,
04:49and Albion have tossed up the opportunity tonight, haven't they, really, no, Blackburn are clearly
04:54no mugs, that's why they were sixth, and now fifth, but, I don't want to say turmoil, but
04:59they didn't have a manager tonight, and it's not that they did a job, but they were just
05:05better than Albion, I thought, I mean, I know what Tony was saying, that Albion dominated
05:11the first half, in terms of with a better team, and I don't necessarily disagree, but
05:15I thought it was a tough watch, the first half, I don't think there was much going for
05:17it, a big bar, Higham hitting the woodwork, did Albion create anything, I'm not sure they
05:22did, Blackburn didn't either, but then, I didn't really see the second half capitulation
05:26come, in terms of the start of that, just, powderpuff defending for me, I'm sorry to
05:31say, I mean, one individual, ironically, that dominated that post-match press conference,
05:38see if you can guess it, Kyle Bartley, and why wasn't Kyle Bartley playing tonight, Johnny?
05:43Because of his comments in there, I did catch a glimpse there, and that being the second
05:49question that will bring us to wrap up, is what kind of mowbray, you're like saying,
05:54he didn't come out and flag his players off, it's not the manager who's going to do that,
05:57but I think the fact that he talked so much about Kyle Bartley, was a damning indictment
06:00on what the defence, you know, how the defence performed tonight, and with that, mowbray
06:07would have learnt a lot about the character of his side on Saturday, in terms of keep
06:11carrying on going, you know, fighting to the death, he's arguably learnt probably more
06:15there, by the fact that he's come out and he's talked about there, maybe, you know,
06:20desire and attitude in as many words, you know, and that's maybe a bit of a damning
06:26indictment of him tonight, you know, he's seen that, you know, there's been times over
06:31the last three managers where I've talked about this, you know, Joe before you, and
06:36the fans have talked about that, but he's referenced it tonight after what, five or
06:40six games?
06:41Yeah, I mean, he's made a point quite often, or more or less every interview, that he's
06:45learning, as he goes, obviously he's still learning about the team, but the individuals
06:49behind it, and, you know, I tried to push on, you know, this inconsistency, can you
06:56pinpoint anything yet, what's behind it, and he says, I'm just having to dig beneath it,
07:00and then he went on a bit of a big speech about conceding goals, and how it should really
07:07sting, and, you know, sort of saying, well, is it, does it, you know, enough, and I'm
07:12not meaning, I don't want to dig in on Mason Holgate, who's bought his replacement, but
07:16Chalk, they're totally different defenders, aren't they, and I'll be unpaid for not having
07:21Bartley tonight, but, yeah, Mulgrew's learning as he goes, isn't he, and the point you said
07:27is interesting, you know, as he's learning more about the, you know, about what he sides
07:31about with these defeats, I think you could definitely make a case for, look what happened
07:36at Plymouth, look what's happened tonight, Mulgrew's probably had his, oh, he's not open,
07:41I don't mean that, but learned more tonight than probably in the five against Portsmouth,
07:45where it was all easy sheet, and, look, Saturday had just gone was, I think they deserve credit
07:52for that, and rightly did get credit for that for us, you know, it was the first last-minute
07:57winner for ever, for ages, and we didn't really think they had it in them, did they, and we're
08:02waxing lyrical about Malumby, rightly so, because he is one with heart and desire, no
08:07doubt, he had a poor night tonight, most of them did, but he really struggled, didn't
08:12he, he wasn't on his own, and credit, they showed that, but way too often, way more we
08:19see this, don't we, after the Lord Mayor's show, the failing to take advantage, I mean,
08:26I said something to you in the game tonight, didn't I, which was not, by no means meant
08:30as a damning indictment on the new head coach at all, but, you know, for all of, difficulties
08:37at times with Carlos in terms of breaking through and too many draws, I'm not sure we'd
08:41have seen that 2-0 defeat tonight with Carlos Corbijn, maybe, just, maybe because it's a
08:47more, more emphasis on organisation and defending, maybe, but, look, not that Carlos is
08:54arguably never lost here, but, yeah, a real deflating night, isn't it, and again, that
08:59just missed opportunity at building any form of rhythm, momentum, putting pressure on the
09:04rivals, you know, other rivals have dropped points again tonight, isn't it, no-one wants
09:08fifth or sixth, really, but, my worrying concern is, should Albin continue to not put
09:14results together, yes, everyone else is losing and dropping points as well, but, how and
09:20when are you going to grasp it, like, Mowbray's just said then, isn't it, what, 14 games left,
09:24we're getting close to crunch time, and, at some point in crunch time, you need to win
09:29regularly to, to, to, to nail it down, I think he said, you know, win seven and draw a few
09:35of, of these final 14, but, and, okay, win, loss, win, loss, whatever, Albin going to
09:39win seven, they, they might have a decent chance, but, I, I don't know, I, I just worry
09:45on the evidence so far across, what, 32 games, that it's, it's going to be tight, isn't it,
09:51and, and, I, I really think they need to improve on, on the output to get the, the fifth or
09:55sixth, it's, it's a concern, look, we must say, look, Adam Armstrong's in the building,
10:01that's a massive boost, he can win them games, as he, sort of, did the other day, and, and,
10:05and Lancashire, I think, you know, young Will Lancashire tonight, he's got something about
10:09him, hasn't he, he's a physical presence, and he, he had a go tonight, he had a goal
10:12just about ruled out for offside, which was very tight, but, I think there were some others
10:16in the side who, to me, looked like they, they need a bit of a breather, a bit of a
10:20freshen up, they go to Millwall on Saturday, I'd have Ousmane Diakite right in that side,
10:24I think, maybe Wes Mowat, who's, you know, not half the pace, but just, you know, looks
10:30like he may, might need a breather, maybe make one or two other changes, I mean, tonight,
10:34you know, the, the wingers start, whereas they, they came off the other day and impacted
10:38it by creating the goals, the wingers start tonight, do next to nothing, do they, and
10:41they're, they're hauled off after 55 minutes, and, and Tony Mowbray made no mistake about
10:45it there, they, they weren't affecting the game for us, you know, Blackburn marking them
10:48out, get them off, so there's no delay in making changes, is there, from the head coach,
10:52and I like that, and, you know, Albion fans going back will know that Tony Mowbray's about
10:56that, a cutthroat, in a way, will, will make the decisions immediately, and it'll be really
11:01interesting to see how he and Albion go about it at the Den on Saturday.
11:06So you need a response, shambles, shocking, bad night, I'm cold, let's go inside, all
11:10the rest of the reaction, ExpressAndStar.com.