BFTG WBA

[Hendo]

Anybody else loving Puscas' celebration of the goal? You'd have thought he'd scored himself. Great team attitude.

Yup!

[Millsy]

Puscas played as a lone striker with Boye in the gap behind. Swift and Ejaria played deeper as well. (Away formation?)

Rather than having Joao to play off of he was left quite isolated a lot of the time, did a heck of a lot of running in behind but the ball wasn't good enough.

WBA were defensively very good and always had their positions spot on. Not just a case of our final ball being not good enough. We’ll have more luck getting in behind a lot of other teams.

Exactly WBA were just a very good side.

Most of our through ball attempts and the runs were brilliant and against most other sides they'd be successful.

It probably pegged them back a lot too.

What a massive difference having decent firepower makes!

[Snowflake Royal]

Re: WBA being ‘unlucky’ with earlier penalty shouts. Sky commentator reckoned ref had a very good game and that had there been #VAR they would’ve told him he had got the earlier decisions re penalties correct.

That's not quite accurate. The commentator was speaking specifically about an incident where Miazga had pushed the WBA striker but he had just pushed Morrison, hence our foul.

The shout in the first 5 mins looked stonewall, feel a bit lucky that wasn't given.

All in all, very positive performance where we deserved 1pt and could have nicked all 3. Neither keeper had to make any major saves and a penalty was the only way they were going to score.

Interesting with Rafael on the pen, was telling Zohore where he wanted to him to put it. Zohore did just that but Rafael dived the other way.

My stream cut out in the aftermath of that first 5 pen shout. My first reaction was... oh shit. Then, well maybe he looked for it and dived? But that was pretty RTG and hopeful.

[The Enfield Royal71]

Anybody else loving Puscas' celebration of the goal? You'd have thought he'd scored himself. Great team attitude.

Yup!

He has genuine passion for football and the team. Something that has been lacking for years.

[muirinho]

Anybody else loving Puscas' celebration of the goal? You'd have thought he'd scored himself. Great team attitude.

Yup!

He has genuine passion for football and the team. Something that has been lacking for years.

Oh bullshit. Are you trying to claim that Moore et al have no genuine passion for football and the team? There are very few players that really don't care. Look what us being safe from relegation meant to the players last season - even ones on loan, out of favour, or at the ends of their contracts that didn't think they'd be coming back.

Dimwit.

[Hound]

Puscas played as a lone striker with Boye in the gap behind. Swift and Ejaria played deeper as well. (Away formation?)

Rather than having Joao to play off of he was left quite isolated a lot of the time, did a heck of a lot of running in behind but the ball wasn't good enough.

WBA were defensively very good and always had their positions spot on. Not just a case of our final ball being not good enough. We’ll have more luck getting in behind a lot of other teams.

Exactly WBA were just a very good side.

Most of our through ball attempts and the runs were brilliant and against most other sides they'd be successful.

It probably pegged them back a lot too.

What a massive difference having decent firepower makes!

Yep. We know Ajayi is a very decent player and Bartley was good as well. Thought they were very good as a CB pair

[Esteban]

1-1 was a fair result in the end. But another very good performance against a team that has designs on automatic promotion.

It's hard not to get carried away, given the last two results, but I still think we should be satisfied with a top 12 finish. We lack squad strength at right back, in midfield and possibly up front. We would have to be very lucky with injuries and suspensions to finish top 6, although maybe we'll address those weaknesses in January if we're close to the playoffs.

[RoyalBlue]

Re: WBA being ‘unlucky’ with earlier penalty shouts. Sky commentator reckoned ref had a very good game and that had there been #VAR they would’ve told him he had got the earlier decisions re penalties correct.

That's not quite accurate. The commentator was speaking specifically about an incident where Miazga had pushed the WBA striker but he had just pushed Morrison, hence our foul.

The shout in the first 5 mins looked stonewall, feel a bit lucky that wasn't given.

All in all, very positive performance where we deserved 1pt and could have nicked all 3. Neither keeper had to make any major saves and a penalty was the only way they were going to score.

Interesting with Rafael on the pen, was telling Zohore where he wanted to him to put it. Zohore did just that but Rafael dived the other way.

You are correct regarding when he made the remark about VAR. However he also made reference to him making the right call at the time of the first penalty appeal and then later made reference to him having been correct on the two previous appeals. As far as I can remember, the only time he agreed it was a penalty was on the occasion of the one that was awarded.

[PieEater]

I thought all WBA pen shouts were blatant dives, manufacturing contact and falling over dramatically.

For such a great bunch of lads they are surprising cheating divers.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Puscas played as a lone striker with Boye in the gap behind. Swift and Ejaria played deeper as well. (Away formation?)

Rather than having Joao to play off of he was left quite isolated a lot of the time, did a heck of a lot of running in behind but the ball wasn't good enough.

WBA were defensively very good and always had their positions spot on. Not just a case of our final ball being not good enough. We’ll have more luck getting in behind a lot of other teams.

Yeh, against weaker sides I reckon GP would've been in at least twice. A couple of really well weighted balls by Ejaria and Swift, but WBA defence/keeper were on their toes and just about managed to deal with them.

Love the way Miazga/Moore/Morrison throw themselves in unison into blocks.

[Vision]

Puscas played as a lone striker with Boye in the gap behind. Swift and Ejaria played deeper as well. (Away formation?)

Rather than having Joao to play off of he was left quite isolated a lot of the time, did a heck of a lot of running in behind but the ball wasn't good enough.

WBA were defensively very good and always had their positions spot on. Not just a case of our final ball being not good enough. We’ll have more luck getting in behind a lot of other teams.

Yeh, against weaker sides I reckon GP would've been in at least twice. A couple of really well weighted balls by Ejaria and Swift, but WBA defence/keeper were on their toes and just about managed to deal with them.

Love the way Miazga/Moore/Morrison throw themselves in unison into blocks.

I reckon when fully up to speed Puscas gets on the end of that one from Ejaria with the outside of his right foot.

[Hendo]

Yup!

He has genuine passion for football and the team. Something that has been lacking for years.

Oh bullshit. Are you trying to claim that Moore et al have no genuine passion for football and the team? There are very few players that really don't care. Look what us being safe from relegation meant to the players last season - even ones on loan, out of favour, or at the ends of their contracts that didn't think they'd be coming back.

Dimwit.

Yeah, this.

There is that picture of Baker from last year, which shows just how it meant to a loan player last year.

[WestYorksRoyal]

He has genuine passion for football and the team. Something that has been lacking for years.

Oh bullshit. Are you trying to claim that Moore et al have no genuine passion for football and the team? There are very few players that really don't care. Look what us being safe from relegation meant to the players last season - even ones on loan, out of favour, or at the ends of their contracts that didn't think they'd be coming back.

Dimwit.

Yeah, this.

There is that picture of Baker from last year, which shows just how it meant to a loan player last year.

But we've also seen players like Ilori, Bacuna, Chris Martin, Aluko and even Kelly (maybe harsh) not show any passion or bottle in relegation fights. Last January appeared to be a turning point; up until then it seemed like a few honourable exceptions were trying to lift people who simply didn't care.

[muirinho]

Oh bullshit. Are you trying to claim that Moore et al have no genuine passion for football and the team? There are very few players that really don't care. Look what us being safe from relegation meant to the players last season - even ones on loan, out of favour, or at the ends of their contracts that didn't think they'd be coming back.

Dimwit.

Yeah, this.

There is that picture of Baker from last year, which shows just how it meant to a loan player last year.

But we've also seen players like Ilori, Bacuna, Chris Martin, Aluko and even Kelly (maybe harsh) not show any passion or bottle in relegation fights. Last January appeared to be a turning point; up until then it seemed like a few honourable exceptions were trying to lift people who simply didn't care.

Maybe some players aren't very vocal about it, and some are. Or maybe the few you mention don't care. But to claim we haven't had any player who cared at all FOR YEARS is absolute tripe.

[Royal_jimmy]

I was at the game last night and like others have said, we were excellent from about minutes 10 to 80. Maybe I am being biased but thought if anyone deserved to win, it was us for our valiant performance. Having said that, a draw was probably just about fair overall. When the game was underway, I never felt concerned that we'd lose that.

Start of the game was very tough although we never gave West Brom any clear cut changes, the 3 Ms stood firm and blocked shots in any good positions. We then grew into the game and probably should have been 1-0 up at half time. Thought we made the wrong subs when we were 1-0 up. Barrett probably should have come on instead of Adam.

The reason we didn't win is the problem we've had away from home for some time now.. we need to be more clinical in front of goal. We had maybe only 3 good chances to score but only took 1 which was a bit of a corker. We missed easier chances which we needed to score and we don't get many chances on the road. Keeping a clean sheet away to a side of West Brom's quality is a very tough ask so I felt the equaliser was coming, but we almost achieved that clean sheet but for a silly challenge in the box from Ejaria. No complaints about the penalty, looks plum from the highlights.

Overall, a draw is a great result at a team who will be challenging for the top 6. 3 would have been amazing. We'll play far worse and win games this season.

Our fans were pretty decent. 900 isn't a bad effort for a midweek game on the red button. Made lots of noise throughout.

West Brom fans were also pretty decent. Made some decent noise. Particularly a few spoke to me and gave a lot of praise to our side for the performance last night and giving them a game. Decent and gracious set of fans!

Anyone after the game see any of the insane drivers who drove on the wrong side of the road to skip the traffic? Saw one driver doing that down Halfords Lane and destroyed their own wing mirror trying to avoid a head on collision with a lorry turning into the road near the ground! Worst of all, he did it by driving on the kerb on the right side of the road! luckily no fans were run over. There were lots walking around that stretch.

[Singing Defective]

Oh bullshit. Are you trying to claim that Moore et al have no genuine passion for football and the team? There are very few players that really don't care. Look what us being safe from relegation meant to the players last season - even ones on loan, out of favour, or at the ends of their contracts that didn't think they'd be coming back.

Dimwit.

Yeah, this.

There is that picture of Baker from last year, which shows just how it meant to a loan player last year.

But we've also seen players like Ilori, Bacuna, Chris Martin, Aluko and even Kelly (maybe harsh) not show any passion or bottle in relegation fights. Last January appeared to be a turning point; up until then it seemed like a few honourable exceptions were trying to lift people who simply didn't care.

...and how many times was Swift the only only one clapping all (mostly by then empty) stands after another mother sh!t show at home last year. One of the reasons I’m so happy things are going his way in what should be a season to remember.

[Snowflake Royal]

Bloody hell, just from the highlights that's three very near things I wouldn't have been surprised awarded as penalties against us, not including the one he actually gave.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Bloody hell, just from the highlights that's three very near things I wouldn't have been surprised awarded as penalties against us, not including the one he actually gave.

Haven't seen the replays, but the first one looked absolutely stonewall. Maybe our lucks finally turning. Could've been a very different game if that was given.

[Snowflake Royal]

Bloody hell, just from the highlights that's three very near things I wouldn't have been surprised awarded as penalties against us, not including the one he actually gave.

Haven't seen the replays, but the first one looked absolutely stonewall. Maybe our lucks finally turning. Could've been a very different game if that was given.

I can only assume the ref thought he slipped and was focused on the leading leg, because it really looked to me like the trailing leg clipped his ankle as he went round him.

[Hendo]

Bloody hell, just from the highlights that's three very near things I wouldn't have been surprised awarded as penalties against us, not including the one he actually gave.

Haven't seen the replays, but the first one looked absolutely stonewall. Maybe our lucks finally turning. Could've been a very different game if that was given.

I can only assume the ref thought he slipped and was focused on the leading leg, because it really looked to me like the trailing leg clipped his ankle as he went round him.

There is a post on twitter somewhere which shows that initial contact was outside the box.