Blackburn Rovers 2 - West Bromwich Albion 0

Chiang Mai Baggie:

Albion play 4-4-1-1 today. Albrechtsen makes Right Back after his suspension, so Watson is on the bench. Chaplow replaces AJ in midfield, Kamara starts on the left, and Gera moves forward into 'the hole' behind lone striker Campbell.

Blackburn attacked from the start, but the Albion defence could cope. Clement gave the ball away to Dickov on 4 minutes but he couldn't take advantage of the error. Albrechtsen ran all the way to the bye-line and crossed to Campbell, but a defender intercepted just as he was about to shoot on 6 minutes. Friedel saved after Campbell ran through and passed to Chaplow in the box. His side-foot shot was cleared off the line and the rebound went to Greening on 10 minutes.

Gera shot just wide on 11 minutes. Bellamy needed treatment on 12 minutes, and left the field, replaced by Kuqi. Blackburn won 2 corners in succession, but the second one was caught by Kirkland. Kuqi headed wide on 15 minutes from a cross, with noone picking him up. Campbell ran well on 18 minutes but shot way over the bar. Neill fouled Gera on 32 minutes and was booked. Greening's cross from the free kick was caught well by Friedel.

Chaplow was fouled outside the box on 34 minutes. Clement took the free kick from 35 yards out, low through the wall but cleared by Nelson. Tugay fouled Greening on 39 minutes, and was warned by the ref, but not booked. Bentley ran and shot wide from range on 40 minutes. Reid shot just wide on 41 minutes. Blackburn attacked on 43 minutes, and Kirkland was injured by Dickov when he went for the ball in the 6 yard box. He was able to continue after treatment.

2 minutes added. Blackburn won a corner on 45 minutes. The cross was cleared by Albrechtsen. Davies blocked a shot on the line, and it went out for a corner. Kirkland caught cleanly. HT 0-0.

No changes at HT. Blackburn broke well on 47 minutes, and Albrechtsen cleared well for a corner as Kuqi was about to shoot. Blackburn won a free kick 35 yards out on 50 minutes. Reid shot from a lay-off and Kirkland smothered it. Dickov shot wide on 53 minutes. Gera crossed on 53 minutes, and won a corner. Kamara crossed, and Davies ran in and almost made contact with the ball as it went across.

Albrechtsen ran through and was chopped down by Nelson on 55 minutes who was booked. Greening crossed the free kick to Gera but the ball was cleared. Greening and Chaplow combined on 58 minutes, and his cross was cleared, then Albion won a free kick, and pressed well. Davies pushed Dickov in the box, but the ref didn't give the penalty appeal. Emerton on for Bentley on 60 minutes. Tugay subbed for Mokoena straight afterwards.

Mokoena put Pedersen through on 61 minutes, and Albrechtsen blocked, then Kirkland saved well from Kuqi just afterwards. Blackburn have pressured Albion since Emerton came on. Dickov won a free kick on 64 minutes. Pedersen shot, and Kirkland saved. Ellington on for Campbell on 67 minutes.

Gera fouled Mokoena about 30 yards out on 67 minutes. Pedersen shot well wide of goal. Robinson blocked well off Emerton from a Dickov cross, and Blackburn won a corner. Robinson needed treatment. The corner was put out for another corner, and the second cross also went out for a corner, and similarly again for a 4th corner in a row. Wallwork headed clear from the last effort. Albrechtsen conceded a corner on 74 minutes, and Robinson cleared. Albrechtsen was penalised for dubious handball near the edge of the box on 77 minutes. Horsfield on for Kamara on 78 minutes.

Blackburn won another corner on 79 minutes. Kuqi headed in from the cross on 80 minutes. Reid shot from 25 yards on 85 minutes, but wide. Davies made a mess of a back-pass, playing it short for Kuqi to run in and score on 88 minutes.

Ellington hit the side netting in injury time. FT 2-0.

Funky Fudge:

Robson on the radio repeatedly said that our problem is that we keep giving goals away.

He seems to think this is the main problem, but I think that we will concede against premier opposition in a lot of games. What we need to do is score a few goals! We have scored 7 in 8 premier games. That isn't enough. He has 6 strikers at his disposal but insists on playing Campbell as the lone striker up front, despite not scoring for 18 Premierships games (He has started or played in most of the 18).

Nick bramwell:

Just back from todays shambles and I make no apologies for the word shambles, yet another inept and NEGATIVE performance.

A quote from Mark Hughes in the programme

"West Brom will make it tough for us, any team managed by my old team-mate Bryan Robson will always ready ready to sweat blood for the cause and anything we take from this afternoons game will have to be earned"

Never could one statement be further from the truth !!!! we were leaderless, tactically awful and down right low on confidence. When players and staff needed to stand up and be counted only Paul Robinson will be able to hold his head up high this evening.

When Blackburn scored their first goal my first reaction was to look at Robson and see how he would gee up his troops, maybe to try something different or change things around a bit he did nothing, yes nothing. He stood motionless in exactly the same position that he had been stood all game. Mark Hughes had already by this time kicked a stool ten yards with frustration because of a decision from the referee.

He didnt seem to have a clue what to do, totally devoid of ideas or tactics, a captain of a sinking ship, maybe time to call for Terry Venables? I felt bad for him at one point when the Rovers fans were cheering his name in jest, but there was no puffing out of his chest, he just stood there motionless, like a cardboard cutout.

By the end of the game Albion fans were obviously very heated in conversation, some were saying they wanted Robbo to go, some were blaming the chairman (?), some blaming the players and one obvious player in particular, to me we got our tactics all wrong today, as we have done for the last few games, our negativity takes me back to the Megson era at the start of last season and to a point todays game reminded me of our away game at Liverpool, execpt we had players playing in the right position today.

I would point to Chelsea as the turning point of our season, home of the original 'tinkerman' our manager decided to take a leaf out of his book and start playing with the team, since then we have had no consistancy and more importantly no points. Blackburn were there for the taking today, as were Wigan, Sunderland, Blues and to an extent Charlton but we have not performed at all, played the wrong formations and the wrong players and more importantly been more interested in not losing games rather than winning games.

As for player ratings, please shoot me and put me out of my misery please.

• Kirland 6 - did ok
• Alby 6 - tried but no link up play, one excellent intervention to stop Rovers from scoring in the second half
• Robinson 6 - As Alby... tried but found it hard to play forward when the left winger ran towards him rather than into space
• Davies 5 - invisible, not to blame for the backpass I may add
• Clem 6 - OK, sort those bleedin' free kicks out will you, stop trying to whack it through a wall and then a crowd of players
• Greening 5 - not his best, played sideways and only took the defender with his 'one trick' a few times
• Kamara 5 - As Greening.... Needs to find space
• Gera 5 - Out of position and badly out of sorts
• Wallwork 3 - Needed to be strong today and prove his crtics wrong, didn't and seems more interested in how quickly he can get to the Press Club in Manchester to have a pint with his mates (whoops I let that slip)
• Chaplow 7 - mainly for trying, passing the ball forward and finding an Albion player when passing the ball, probably dropped next week
• Campbell 0 (nil, zilch, nil pois) - one of the worst performances I have seen in an Albion shirt for many a year, best example Greening picks the ball up in his own half looks up to play a forward ball and Campbell was five yards behind him, never won a header had no first touch, t o o s l o w basically a waste of space.

Subs

• Duke - 3 no service, no chance
• Horse - 2 woeful, his decsions and positional play puzzle me, top scorer but I'd wager he doesnt get into double figures

Crowd

• Theirs - 0
• Ours 7 til the stuffing was knocked out of us

Managers

• Theirs - 6
• ours - 2

Ref, Uriah Rennie - nuff said

Come on Robbo sort it out in the international break, lets look for attacking play, consistant team formation and players, lets not loose everything

Be positive and somebody buy me a cat so I can come home and kick it.

Brendan Clegg:

For several weeks I've been asking the same question... Is it time for Bryan Robson to go? He might be a fantastic bloke and a great example to everyone. I wholeheartedly agree that his name is a huge lure when trying to attract players here but other than that what does he offer?

Tactically he seems inept. I've never been impressed by any of his pre or post match comments and he doesn't strike me as either bright or articulate. The worst was against Charlton after the game when he said he couldn't put his finger on why we were so poor in the first half and improved so much in the second half when 25,000 people could see that the problem was a midfield pairing that could be the worst in Premier league history (there's a challenge.. Can you name one worse?). Most concerning is of all the areas he should know about, surely the centre of the park is at the top. In the second half Greening moved inside, was always available, kept the ball moving without giving away possession and was even aggressive in his own way. From there we controlled the tempo of the game, retained the ball and provided service to two creative wingers. It's just so obvious to everyone... apart from the man that counts.

Player selection bemuses me. Ronnie Wallwork has not had a decent game this season and yet is the first name on the team sheet. I'd argue that he was only ever average last season but was partnering a real world class player in Kieron Richardson (who's emergence as a central midfielder was a fluke - he was not loaned to play in this position but brought on there from the bench due to injuries and us being behind in a game and did well). I was astonished Wallwork won our Player Of the Year award in front of Gera, Clement, Robinson, Greening, Earnshaw (14 goals in your first top flight season), Albrechtson (Outstanding even though out of position) or even Richardson himself.

Kevin Campbell is also a top bloke and achieved what he was brought in for last season, to bring leadership, experience and belief. But our first choice forward? His body isn't up to it I'm afraid. Make him a coach, involve him in match days by all means but he should be our last choice striker in my opinion.

This season Earnshaw has beyond doubt improved his hold up and link play but has yet to be given a fair run in the team. Not even in the squad today - Beggars belief. He and Ellington should be our first choice partnership as their pace will terrify teams. The jury may be out on Ellington all round game but the only way that will improve is by playing in the Premier League week in week out instead of getting 20 mins here and there.

Zoltan Gera has real quality in his game but is far better out wide and coming in than playing off main striker, we have Earnshaw, Ellington, Horse Kamara or even Kanu who are naturally more suited to doing that at a combined cost of approx ?9 million.

This week on the website a gem of a quote fromm Robson, "In Davies, Clement, Robinson Albrechtson and Watson we have real pace". Watson? Pace? In fairness he is very comfortable on the ball, rarely concedes possession and is gritty but pace is lacking severely. Other than suspension Albrechtson (who was great today) should be our right back every week as he gives us so much more going forward and has a great understanding with Gera.

I also read this week that Robson has told Inamoto what he wants from him. The lad's had one game in which we kept a clean sheet and couldn't even get a run against Bradford yet Robson knows what he is lacking? In fairness I don't think Inamoto is the answer but he may well be the best we have until the January transfer window and I think it's fair to say it would be impossible for him to be any worse than Wallwork or Johnson.

My team if injury free from now until Christmas would be;

Kirkland
Albrechtson Davies Clement Robinson
Gera Greening Watson/Carter/Inamoto... Maybe even Gaardsoe Kamara
Earnshaw Ellington
   

I don't subscribe to the theory that Watson isn't mobile enough to play in the middle. When compared to Wallwork. All he'd need to do is sit ten yards in front of the defence and sweep up. Failing that we could try Carter who likes a physical battle or Inamoto. Surely Robbo could give them some basic tips in that area that would improve them. With Greening in the middle at least we wouldn't give the ball away so much and with Gera & Kamara. Earnie & Ellington we'd have a real threat.

If we're still in with a shout of staying up in Jan we must sign a holding centre midfielder of quality, something we failed to do in the summer. I'd try and tempt Amdy Faye from Newcastle or take the plunge on a top 6 Panda Pop player like Quashie.

I think we need to see a vast improvement from Robbo by the end of October, as beyond then will be too late. He has a good enough squad to stay in this league, certainly more so than last year with the exception of Richardson. I hope he sorts it out but I'm not to optimistic and our results like for like compared to last season are worse. What does everyone else think?

BRE Baggies:

The tough season starts here. Things need to pick up vs Arsenal with atleast a good performance. Did not go to the game and stopped listening to the match after half time. The team before hand did not look too bad. I have to admit that I did not agree with Campbell and Wallwork getting into the side again. I just thought you need to drop players who are off form because they will get stick more and then will lose confidence.

Would like to see ratings but I think the midfield may have become too congested to get the best out of our players. Hope we can turn things round. Aint going to call for Robsons head yet. We are going to have to try and back the team even if it is hard. Things will come good soon. I just hope we dont leave it too late.

Kev Buckley:

Hard to know what to make of this one really. Blackburn, who defeated ManU only last week looked there for the taking, yet ran out 2-0 winners after a second half where we failed to muster a shot on target, might possibly have not managed even a shot, except that Kamara obvioulsy plays with one eye on the stats and offered a token in the direction of the sticks.

A set of interesting changes saw Albrechtsen back for Watson and boy did he make us realise how limited the latter is; AJ finally ditched, in favour of a player with some pretence towards attacking ability in centre-mid, for Chaplow; Kamara starting on the left which saw "Can't Drop" Campbell's zimmer being supported this week by Gera, Earnshaw going from starter last week to not even on the bench this one, as did AJ come to think of it - which I only just have.

As for the bench, two defenders, Moore and Watson, sat alongside two strikers, Horesfield and Ellington. Watson surely provides cover for any eventuality across the back or in the holdng role so I found this a bit odd; No Inamoto? No Carter? Earnshaw?

Thought the extra attacking promise the changes gave the side served us well up to half-time, as at least we tried to pass it around a bit, howver all too often the ball into the box found few, if any players really committed to getting there and whilst I wouldnt say we were any worse that Rovers, at least the danger inherent in playing a side coming off a result as good as their previous one never materialised, especially when Bellamy pulled up injured.

Second half though, things never really happened. Campbell became even less of a threat in the lone striker role, not that he'd been much of one first half but by now his stammina seemed to have gone and his token presence, allied to the lack of any worries about catching him up, allowed the Blackburn back line to play high up the park and Albion slowly got pushed back further and further.

Even without any really attacking threat second half the game wasn't much to write about until Albrechtsen decided to run out with the ball, rather than more or less return it to the home side by looking for Campbell, and sped past three players. Just as he reached top speed half-way into the the Blackburn half however he was brought crashing to the ground by a tackle that had no chance of getting the ball. Uriah Rennie's bottling of the decision in awarding just a yellow only served to turn up the crowd noise way past anything the game deserved and suddenly there was a bit of passion about the game, albeit not much threat on the goal from the Albion.

Five corners in quick sucession for Blackburn is one of those stats that will have some folk suggesting they deserved the goal they finally got when some slack marking seemed to leave Kuqi all alone to head in but in reality the last four merely resulted from the previous one being cleared.

With Albion now looking to get back in the game top-scorer Horsefield entered for Kamara, Campbell thankfully having made way for Ellington before the opening goal, though not to much effect (not easy when you only get 12 minutes is it Geoff, as Earnie could no doubt tell you) but any chance we might have had disappeared when Wallwork horribly mis-hit a pass back to Davies that reached him at shoulder height, not that this should have come as much of a suprise, there having been a lot of poor passing that never looked likely to distrub the surface all game, and the youngster's forlorn attempt to get it down and back to the keeper only served it up on a plate for two unmarked Rovers' players on the edge of our box: Kuqi finally doing the honours - 2-0 and say good-night to Gracie. Cue the sharpening of knives for Ronnie.

In summary then, apart from the fact that we didn't play better in the second half than the first this week, the switch to 4411 didn't really work: Campbell, for all the experience his aged legs have seen, is too imobile to be a lone target man and as a result Gera probably played the least part he has in a game for a good while. Wallwork also gave his critics more than enough to continue the shouts for him to be replaced, and after the pass that led to the second goal it's probably not a bad shout.

Lord Charles:

I CAME AWAY FROM EWOOD PARK DISAPPOINTED AND ASHAMED. DISAPPOINTED WITH THE TEAM FOR ANOTHER POOR PERFORMANCE BUT I WAS ASHAMED OF SOME OF OUR SO CALLED SUPPORTERS. I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS NASTY WITCH-HUNT DIRECTED AT RONNIE WALLWORK. I REMEMBER POOR OLD SCOTTY DARTON WHO WAS DESTROYED BY OUR ?GREAT FANS? AND WAS DISGUSTED WITH WHAT HAPPENED THEN AS I AM DISGUSTED WITH WHAT IS GOING ON NOW. SOME OF OUR ?FANS? NEED TO TAKE THEIR BLINDFOLDS OFF. THERE SEVERAL PEOPLE SITTING CLOSE TO ME WHO STARTED ABUSING HIM BEFORE AS BALL HAD BEEN KICKED. ONE GUY BLAMED HIM FOR THE FIRST ROVERS GOAL?..YES, THE FIRST ONE; UNBELIEVABLE! IT WAS INEVITABLE HE WOULD GET BLAMED FOR THE SECOND GOAL BUT I THINK THAT WAS OUT OF ORDER TOO.

WALLWORK IS NOT PLAYING WELL BUT HE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE. THE DARLING OF LAST SEASON, GERA, AND GREENING HAVE BOTH BEEN DREADFUL ALL SEASON BUT I DO NOT SEE THIS VENOM AND BILE DIRECTED AT THEM.

THE CLUB IS IN DANGER OF IMPLODING AT THE MOMENT. YES I AM AS FRUSTRATED AND DISAPPOINTED AS EVERY OTHER SUPPORTER BUT WHAT?S GOING ON NOW WILL ONLY MAKE MATTERS WORSE. BY THE WAY, I TOO, BELIEVE WALLWORK IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE IN THE FIRST TEAM BUT HE?S NOT THE ONLY ONE... HE?S ONE OF SEVERAL... AT LEAST HE DOES NOT HIDE LIKE SOME I COULD MENTION.

SO JUST GET OFF HIS BACK

RANT OVER... and on to the game!

When the team was announced I felt a lot a happier than the previous week but would have preferred to see Inamoto in for Wallwork (yes, despite my rant!) and I would have started with Ellington and Earnshaw with Greening and Cambell left out. Despite our negative 4-5-1 line-up I felt for the opening half hour we were the better team. Campbell missed a great chance after an impressive run and cross by Abrechtsen and home keeper did wonderfully well to save from Greening after Chaplow?s shot had been blocked. The turning point came when the obnoxious Bellamy limped off injured to be replaced by Kuqi (who turned out to be Rovers match winner). Kuqi should have done better with a header just before the break and by then Rovers had gained the ascendancy.

The second half was all Rovers and our performance reminded that of the one at Ewood last season when we seemed to defend deeper and deeper as the half went on. The inability to hold on to the ball and string more than a couple of passes together is extremely worrying. The man in the middle Uriah Rennie didn?t help matters giving a succession of free kicks every time a Rovers player went to ground. I do feel that Rennie should have sent off Rover?s Nelson for his disgraceful challenge on the flying Albrechtsen but he bottled it. That may have changed the course of the game but maybe I am clutching at straws because Albion got exactly what they deserved out of this fixture? nothing.

It?s difficult to find too many positives from today but I believe Albrechtsen had his best ever performance in an Albion shirt and Kirkland, Robinson, Davies (apart from the second goal) and Chaplow can hold their heads up as they did at least contribute something.

Loyalist_WBA:

The follwoing quote from our manager just about sums it up:-

"Not winning is a concern, but it's more of a worry we're averaging two goals a game against us"

Can some one enlighten him that the two things are related to one another.

Go now Bryan, and take Wallwork and Campbell with you.

You walked out on us once - do it again - please.

Pete Cottrell:

Didn?t see the game, so I don?t feel qualified to comment, but I?ll make this observation:

When the fixture list came out I groaned at the thought that we would have so many ?easy? games early in the season before the new guys were on board and we had a settled team. A colleague thought the opposite: we?ll be easily in the top half of the table before the international break in October, which is much better than trying to claw our way up from the bottom again.

His estimate was that we would have 14 points by then (3 each against Portsmouth, Wigan, Birmingham and Sunderland with draws against Charlton and Blackburn) ? that would now put us 4th in the table. I was more pessimistic and thought that we might fail to win against either Birmingham or Sunderland, but that we would have 12. That would have put us 6th. Obviously, we would then expect to drop down the table, but settle at about 15th or 16th for the rest of the season.

We are now 7 points behind the more pessimistic prediction (which is where West Ham are now) and I can?t envisage things getting any better. Instead of trying to guess who will go down with Wigan and Sunderland, it appears to be a given that the Baggies are going down and the speculation is about who joins us.

And what is Robson?s master plan? Play Campbell and Wallwork, play defensively away from home (no team has scored fewer away goals), tinker with the team and hope to get Richardson back in January. Pathetic...

Goulds Coffin:

Oh God. It feels like we're back in December 2004. I was one of those who thought Robson really didn't have a clue what he was doing, on the evidence of our match at St Andrews in particular (Kanu lone striker, Tommy G in centre mid, Scimeca marshalling the "defence", Wallwork replaces Haas in 2nd half... the match had it all). As the season panned out, I came to the conclusion that he'd spent the first few weeks sizing up the squad, working out who fitted in where, and managed to fashion a team of worthy fighters who could play a bit at times. He deserved all the praise he got from the national press in May, and I and a few others were deliriously happy to be proved wrong.

Robson now looks to have a touch of the Megson about him; i.e. inexplicable loyalty to certain players (Wallwork/Johnson/Campbell) at the expense of others (Inamoto/Earnshaw). All this stuff about Inamoto not tracking back--remind you of Megson/Koumas? The difference is that Koumas clearly was a lazy, sullen git. Inamoto is working his socks off in the reserves, and his attitude has been spot on. It's obvious he deserves a chance. And where does it say that every one of your 11 players has to be a demented, McInnes-on-speed tackling machine? That's what we have defenders for. There has to be room for a midfielder whose prime responsibility is moving us forward.

I know Inamoto and Earnshaw won't get us into Europe, but we do not have the luxury of leaving out the players who can make a difference. Earnshaw can be infuriating, granted, but his record last year surely means he deserves a run. As does Ellington.

I sympathise with Lord Charles' posting here, but frankly Wallwork does not deserve an easy ride from the fans. I think he DOES hide in games; his work rate is pathetic and I have always had the impression that he is happy to pick up his Premier pay packet without any respect for the shirt he is wearing. Compare his attitude to that of Johnson; I will always have the utmost affection for AJ given all he has done for us, even if he isn't good enough for the Premier. He will always be welcome back here. Somehow I can't see Wallwork presenting the Baggies Bonanza prizes in the year 2015.

I also agree with Lord Charles that certain key players are underperforming, notably Gera and Greening. These two have to get back to their best if we are going to survive. Our strikers need chances handed to them on a plate, and that G and G's job.

Robson has to do something quickly, and that means taking the blinkers off about certain players. I don't want to see him sacked; he deserves a little loyalty after last year. But a lot of the criticism is justified.

AJ-B:

THEY GAVE US A RENNIE - TO CURE OUR 'SEVERE INDIGESTION'

Well it would seem someone from the hierarchy of the Premier admin took note of my letter to BR last week, based on a culinery theme, so they gave us a big helping of Rennies! A one Uriah Rennie was given the game to officiate, after his 'waddling' round Ewood Park for 90 mins he also probably needed something to cure his heartburn.

As for the match, well I find it mystifying that we go into a game where we could have expected some kind of result, yet put out such a defensive line up, and to cap it all we have Captain Campbell as our lone super striker who by the way has failed to score since Adam was a lad! True we held out in the first half & actually created no less than 2 real chances of scoring, but first our no-strike striker missed an easy chance after a tremendous right wing run by Star Man Martin Albrechtsen, then for the second game in three Greening missed another absolute sitter from inside the 6 yard box. This then was our sum total of scoring attempts, we did have one shot that missed by some in the second half but Brad Friedel could have gone for an early bath as he had nothing to do.

It beggars belief the way we surrendered the second half, and young Curtis Davies finally arrived in the Premiership, I found him wanting for BOTH the goals, firstly he was alongside Kuqi but did not jump to challenge as the free header sailed into the net. The second goal, yes he was unfortunate to have received a terrible pass from Wallwork, but he had time to chest the ball down but hashed his back pass, maybe he could have tried hooking the ball into touch instead of back to goal. He will learn from this though. But frankly Wallwork will not, each & every game he has played this season - which I think is every game - he has been our worst performer, yet he still gets selected, none of us know why? Inamoto again was conspicuous by his abscence, strange really, a World cup player, who has played premier football with both Man City & Fulham cannot get even a bench warming place in our basement quality team.

Robson really finally gave Blackburn the game when he took off Kamara & replaced him with Horsefield, why?? what was the tactical - or any reason for this? It was after this change that Rovers got their 2 goals.

Frankly, if I were a player on the field yesterday, & also at Sunderland recently, I would be wondering what the hell am I doing with this lot as I glanced to the dug out for some inspiration, but how can I get inspired as I see the manager with BOTH HANDS tucked into trouser pockets in a 'slumping' pose, from which he maintained for the WHOLE of the game - sorry 2 games! He must be the most imotive manager in English football, what a sluvenely attitude, this body language can only be interpreted as that he is out of ideas. Robson has time & again said that the players must have belief in themselves, but how can they when he (the manager) has no belief in a majority of his squad?

For me the rot set in in pre-season, I criticised the poor play & attitude of several players but was told by others on this site that these were only friendlies & did not really matter, the players just needed match practise & fitness. Well I don't like saying "I told you so" but the rot has well & truly set in & it seems no-one in the management team can put out a squad, together with a battle plan, to pull us out of this mess. When the fixtures were announced we all rubbed hands thinking this time the Gods have been kind & we should get points on the board instead of coming from behind again, but what we have witnessed, because of bad team selections & tactics, is that we are now in a worse position than last year. I noted this quote from Bryan Robsons programme notes for last weeks game against Charlton, the last 2 lines read:

"What we don't want is having to keep chasing games, we need to be getting in front and imposing ourselves"."

Yes Bryan we all agree, but it will not happen if you DO NOT play our BEST strikers & our BEST midfielders, so WHY OH WHY DO YOU PERSIST WITH PUTTING OUT THE CRAP FORMATIONS WEEK AFTER WEEK?????

Finally, it seems the Rennie did not stop our indigestion.

MY PLAYER REVIEW:

• KIRKLAND: Did well, not responsible for either of the goals, made a couple of good saves, kicking needs attention though.
• ALBRECHTSEN: STAR MAN terrific performance, defended well & made surging runs, one of which should have brought us a goal.
• DAVIES: Welcome to the Premiership, responsible or partly responsible for both goals. Also his positional play was suspect at times. He will learn though, and quickly, he has the temperament.
• CLEMENT: For me this was his best game of the season so far. He has been as suspect as Gaardsoe in earlier games, but he was immense in this game, covering for young Davies & winning most heading duels. Lost the knack of taking free kicks though.
• ROBINSON: Another solid game in his combative style, after a couple of so-so games he did good.
• GERA: Not one of his better games, I worry his hand injury seems to be taking an eternity to heal & must be a factor in his play.
• CHAPLOW: Got his chance, rather suprisingly, was embroiled in a dour midfield struggle with Tugay, did OK & should get another run out.
• GREENING: Was good in parts but at times ineffective. Missed yet another sitter, the second in 3 games. Looked out of place in a crowded midfield.
• WALLWORK: Apart from just two good passes his input lacked output, failed to close down, got in the way a couple of times - ask Clem - his awful scooped up pass to young Davies put our youngster under pressure from 2 Rovers forwards, resulting in the final nail in this games coffin. How can a player that gives so little can get so many chances?
• KAMARA: A quiet game compared with recent cameo performances, made a few pacy runs but as there was no-one with him when breaking forward, his good work was ineffective.
• CAMPBELL: Became selected as our 'lone ranger', bizarre because he has no pace & he cannot score goals. His once proud record of a goal every 3 games has now long disappeared, will be lucky to score 3 goals in a season.

SUBS:

• ELLINGTON: Replaced Campbell, but far too late in the proceedings, had our only goalward attempt in second half, it went well wide!
• HORSEFIELD: A truly mystifying replacement for Kamara, OK he is our leading scorer this season BUT!!! Made a mess of everything he tried, gave away needless fouls when we needed possession. What on earth was THIS substitution all about?

Sarky Parky:

I totally agree with the posting about booing players. Wallwork isn't playing at all well but he's not Hitler, or Sdaam, or even George Bush. Can we all have a little perspective here. It's not Ronnie's fault if he's picked when other perhaps better players are overlooked.

Which brings me to the manager. What are we to make of Robson's second season in charge so far? To say it is disappointing would be a massive understatement. Last season we survived by the skin of our teeth but the close shave (mixed metaphor) was entirely due to our dreadful form in the first half of the season. Around February, BR decided what his best team was and stuck to it, making changes only when injury or suspension dictated. He also decided that attack was the best form of defence. I take you back to the Spurs match at White Hart Lane in April. Albion came into that game on the back of wins against Blues, Charlton, and Everton and a draw at Villa Park. Our only defeat was at Stamford Bridge where we played a 4-3-3 formation and lost 1-0. The Spurs fans were disgruntled at only getting a 1-1 draw with a team in the bottom four but Martin Jol reckoned it was a point gained saying West Brom were a much better team than their league position indicated. He had a point. We created 4 clearcut chances in the first half alone. And this remember was with Greening suspended and Richarsdson injured after twenty minutes. The midfield after that was Gera, Chaplow, Wallwork and Inamoto and for the first time in God knows how many years I was proud of the football my team was playing.

So what on earth has gone wrong? Why has BR's team become reminiscent of one of Gary Megson's on a bad day? Does he know? Does anyone know? Why does he keep making inexplicable decisions? Harewood, Ashcroft, Johnson (and yes Earnshaw last season) have all proved that good "Championship" strikers can score goals in the Premiership. Last season Ellington was better than any of them and when he gets a game (against Bradford) he shows what he can do but then for the Charlton and Blackburn games, Campbell (who has scored three goals in God knows how many outings) is chosen ahead of him. I would think that Chaplow, Carter and in particular Ellington must be in danger of being thoroughly demotivated. The Duke must wonder why he ever left Wigan.

Robson presumably bought Ellington, Carter, Chaplow, Kirkland, Kamara and Davies because he saw them as improvements on what we had yet Carter and Chaplow have had to wait in line behind the substandard AJ. The defensive mindset started at Chelsea - when we went for a damage limitation exercise and ended up on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline. And the defensive mindset douesn't work - or it has only worked once when we got a draw at Highbury last season. On every other occasion it has failed, as it's almost bound to. Our defence isn't good enough to keep clean sheets in the Premiership if it doesn't get any relief for 90 minutes.

Of course it is much too early to call for Robson's head and the fans that are doing so are typical of the "easy fixers' with which football is rife. Eight months ago we had Charlton and West Ham fans calling for the heads of Curbishley and Pardew. But I for one hope that sooner rather than later he gets out of this defensive mindset, picks a team - particularly at home - to attack, and remembers the qualities that got us out of the mire last season. And trust your attacking midfielders, Bryan. If Inamoto and Chaplow - like Koumas before them - or going to spend their time "tracking back" how much energy will they have for the creative work at which they excel?

I live in hope that things will change and that BR will remember the old adage of his mentor, Ron Atkinson, that attack is the best - though not the only - form of defence.

Dave Watkin:

This weekend Albion made a good start to the game, but when Rovers upped the tempo in the second half the Baggies couldn't seem to hold onto possession and were hanging on for the draw until substitute Kuqi struck two late goals.

Chris Kirkland gave a sound performance in goal and in general the defence performed well, with Martin Albrechtsen terrific, in perhaps his best game for the club. Richard Chaplow justified his selection with a battling display, but although the midfield caused the home side problems in the first hour, afterwards they failed to impress. None of the front runners looked dangerous.

The defence picks itself at the moment. The problem position is the holding player in midfield, with Wallwork well below his form of last season and Johnson and Scimeca never really up to it. I wonder though if any of the fringe midfield players, Inamoto, Carter and Chaplow, really fit into that mould? Lack of goals is becoming a serious worry and I certainly don't see Campbell as the answer. The formation against Bradford City once Kanu came on was our most productive, but would it work in the top flight?

This wildly optimistic (4-3-1-2) side might be exciting, but a little lightweight especially against Arsenal: Kirkland; Albrechtsen, Davies, Clement, Robinson; Gera, Chaplow, Greening; Kanu; Ellington, Kamara

TEAM NEWS

Bryan Robson brought back Martin Albrechtsen after suspension for Watson and chose Richard Chaplow ahead of Johnson in midfield. Diomansy Kamara was selected as a fifth midfielder with Earnshaw omitted altogether, as the side lined up in 4-5-1 formation.

HIGHLIGHTS

Albion got off to a good start and twice threatened to open the scoring. Martin Albrechtsen made a great run down the right and hit an early cross aimed for Campbell at the back post, the ball eluded the last defender but the Albion striker failed to connect. Then Richard Chaplow began a move by slipping the ball out wide left to Diomansy Kamara. The winger cut the ball back from the by-line, Chaplow played it goalwards and it was deflected to Jonathan Greening, who from a narrow angle thumped a shot which struck the near post and rebounded to safety.

Blackburn looked to have suffered a blow when after a quarter-of-an-hour Bellamy limped off and was replaced by Kuqi. However the newcomer immediately demonstrated his power in the air, by rising to head just wide.

The Albion midfielders seemed to be frequently switching positions, perhaps to confuse the home defence and maybe it was working as the visitors had at least as much play as the home side during the first half.

Albrechtsen came to the Baggies rescue early in the second half, when he brilliantly intercepted Kuqi's cross, just before it reached Dickov in front of goal.

Just before the hour mark came an incident which could and in my opinion should have brought a red card from referee Uriah Rennie. Martin Albrechtsen embarked on a high speed run down the right wing and Nelson cynically came across to viscously chop him down. The player only saw yellow and maybe this was a turning point.

Shortly afterwards the referee turned down appeals for a penalty when Davies robbed Dickov in the area, TV shows there was contact but that the striker went down very easily.

There followed a period of sustained Blackburn pressure. The home side won a series of corners which Albion defended strongly, but the Baggies couldn't seem to gain any respite by winning and holding possession. Albrechtsen blocked a goalbound shot and Kirkland saved at full stretch as the Baggies held on.

The introduction of Nathan Ellington for Campbell and Geoff Horsfield for Kamara made little difference, before in the 80th minute Blackburn made the breakthrough. Pedersen swung a corner in from the left and KUQI headed powerfully home from close range.

Albion pushed forward for an equaliser, but in the 89th minute they gifted Blackburn a second goal. Greening wide right and midway in the opposition half passed back to Wallwork in the centre circle and he then inexplicably hit a chest high pass back to the last defender Davies. Under pressure he attempted a back pass from just inside his own half which was woefully short of the keeper and it was KUQI who won the ball and easily netted the clinching goal.

ALBION FORMRATE : POOR

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH : MARTIN ALBRECHTSEN

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Albion are several points short of even the most pessimistic of pre-season forecasts from our relatively moderate opening fixtures. However fortunately, there are seven clubs currently with six or less points. After last season anything is possible but NOT if supporters get on the backs of certain players. The rule should be, criticise whosoever you like between games but once eleven players and the Manager are out on the pitch get behind them ALL for ninety minutes. Only Clubs who are united get out of trouble.

AND FINALLY

How long, if ever, since EVERY West Midlands club, ALBION, Villa, Blues, Wolves, Coventry and Walsall, all LOST on the same weekend?

Baggins:

After redundancy last November, I thought long and hard about renewing my season ticket this season. Eventually, I decided to downgrade from the East Stand (No Smoking - what a joke!) to the Woodman Corner to save a bit of my scarcer funds. I am really angry with myself as I feel as though I've been ripped off ?450 just to watch absolute garbage. The only good thing about matchdays now is the beer and the crack with my mates before kick-off.

Anyway, I listened to the game on Radio WM and just knew that a goal was coming second half the way we were playing. When it came at around 80 mins, I switched the bloody thing off because I was so angry. Angry with the plan of playing one old and slow striker who hasn't scored in ages. Angry with the continued selection of out of form players (Wallwork). Most of all, angry with the negative tactics, The only good point about today, was that the clown Andy Johnson was nowhere to be seen but I suppose he'll be back for the next game!

There is something seriously wrong at our football club despite all the positive PR on the official website. Most of the decent players are grossly underperforming. Others must have given up on ever getting a chance. Take Kuszczak who has always performed well. If I was him, I would be looking for a move in January - I mean being kept out of the side by a loan player who is using the club to prove his fitness. Ellington, Inamoto, Carter and Chaplow must be wondering why on earth they signed for us the with the opportunities they've been given. Clement is no CD and continually found wanting at the back (remember Fulham away and Blackburn at home last season). And finally, if Robson doesn't rate Earnshaw why didn't he let him go to Wigan?

It's beginning to look like Christmas 2004 all over again.