A late turnaround in the match at the Valley did Albion a favour - sound familiar? After a late equaliser on the last day of last season that sent Palace down and ensured Albion's Premiership survival, Charlton did it for the Baggies again on Monday afternoon when two late goals against Portsmouth transformed what looked to be three points for Pompey, and the first nail in Albion's coffin, into an unlikely home victory. Unfortunately, unlike 15th May 2005, Albion failed to do their bit. A mere point against Bolton means that that first nail is still firmly in place, and the drab performance suggests that the Baggies do not have the strength to force it out, and the odds are that Pompey will hammer in the second when they face already-relegated Sunderland at Fratton Park on Saturday.

It looks as if Albion are going down with little more than a whimper. Far from a gritty determined performance in what was the biggest game of the season so far, the Albion players produced a nervous and lacklustre display that, coupled with a Bolton display that was unambitious and evidently lacking in confidence, must have bored the pants off any neutral Sky viewers.

Nathan Ellington was once again absent, presumably due to his toe injury, although rumours of a pre-match bust up with Robson are hardly symptomatic of a happy dressing room. Albion started with a 4-4-2 with Campbell and Kamara up front, but it seemed to have reverted to a 4-5-1 fairly quickly as Greening switched into the right of central midfield three, with Kamara and Gera attempting to support Campbell. The decision to play Watson at right back was probably correct given Bolton's aerial prowess, but Albrechtsen's pace on the wing was certainly missed from an attacking point of view. The biggest shock was to see Andy Johnson given another start in place of the suspended Ronnie Wallwork. A chance to play a real attacking line-up in a must win game squandered, in a big way.

It was a frustrating evening for Albion fans has the team rarely looked like breaking through a solid Bolton defence. There seemed to be just one tactic - to hit a long ball to either Campbell in the middle or Gera on the right, and feed off the scraps. It rarely looked like working. Campbell won his share of the headers, but Kamara and Gera were rarely close enough to take advantage. The balls to Gera sometimes looked like paying off, but Gera is nowhere near the player he was at the moment, and many of his headers were misplaced. Albion looked at their best on the rare times when they played it through midfield on the ground, but they did it infrequently. It was perhaps a combination of nerves and the fact that Bolton did pack out the midfield and made it difficult to find space. I assume Bolton's formation was the reason for Robson's early switch to a five man midfield - an attempt to match them in the centre of the park - but with Johnson rarely looking comfortable on the ball, Gera lacking the quality we expect from him and a lack of movement up front, it was ultimately flawed, and Robson failed to change it early enough.

The changes when they came were the right ones, but as has too often been the case, they were too late. Kanu and Nicholson looked as if they could cause one or two problems, but twenty minutes was not long enough for them to get into the game and change it. The one change that the midfield was crying out for didn't happen. Johnson did what he does best, and did it to an acceptable standard, but the midfield needed another man comfortable on the ball with the vision and the ability to produce the killer ball - AJ is not that man. Inamoto seemed the obvious choice, and even Carter could do a better job that AJ, but neither was introduced.

Having said all that, Albion still had chances to win the game. For the first five minutes, the last ten before half time and the latter stages of the game, Albion looked as if they might create a chance or two. In the end, it was just two real chances. Kamara had a clear sight of goal but had his effort blocked by Jaaskelainen when the 'keeper should have been given no chance, and in injury time, Clement had a free header from a Watson cross that he put over, with Quashie behind him perhaps in a better position.

Bolton should have won it at the death when Davies produced a Kanu-esque miss from two yards, but it would have been an injustice for either side to win the game. Both teams looked like they were on the runs they are both on.

The one bright moment for Albion was another excellent performance from Curtis Davies who repelled everything that came near the Albion box. One unnecessary sliced clearance aside, when he either didn't get or didn't hear a call from Kuszczak, he was immaculate - it would be a shame if he were to leave in the summer, but he should be playing Premiership football.

The result leaves Albion three points from safety with a tough trip to Newcastle to come. I am pretty much resigned to playing in the Championship next season as I just cannot see how Albion can win at the moment, and they probably need to win all three remaining games. We saw a miracle last season, but I'm not sure if miracles come this big.


Marks

Tomasz Kuszczak - 7 - Much better kicking; had little to do otherwise.
Neil Clement - 6 - Did OK, but should have done better with the header late on.
Curtis Davies - 8 - MOM. Another excellent performance.
Paul Robinson - 7 - Certainly committed, got forward well and defended OK.
Steve Watson - 7 - One or two good moments, calm under pressure.
Jonathan Greening - 6 - Industrious but failed to produce the spark required.
Andy Johnson - 5 - Difficult to criticise him personally, but he must know he is not good enough.
Nigel Quashie - 6 - Occasional flash of good play, but failed to get a grip of the game which is what was required.
Kevin Campbell - 6 - Once again, did little wrong but never looked a threat.
Zoltan Gera - 6 - One or two sparks of brilliance, but still well below par.
Diomansy Kamara - 6 - If only he could finish.

Nwankwo Kanu - 6 - The odd moment, but didn't really get into the game.
Stuart Nicholson - 6 - Some good runs, good touches, promising but not on long enough.

Bryan Robson - 4 - Missed an opportunity. The Pompey result should have been motivation enough, but there was no spark and it needed changing at half time to inject some inspiration. Time is running out for Mr Robson.


Jon Want, 18th April 2006.