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West
Bromwich Albion v Charlton Athletic
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 11th December 2004, 3.00pm. |
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Match
Preview |
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 |
| Result |
West Bromwich Albion |
0-1 |
Charlton Athletic |
| Scorers |
None |
Matthew Holland (30) |
| Attendance |
24,697 |
| Teams |
4-4-2
1 - Russell Hoult (GK)
19 - Neil Clement
16 - Cosmin Contra
22 - Bernt Haas
6 - Darren Purse
2 - Riccardo Scimeca
8 - Jonathan Greening
10 - Andy Johnson
34 - Robert Earnshaw
11 - Zoltan Gera
25 - Nwankwo Kanu |
4-4-2
(GK) Dean Kiely - 1
Talal El Karkouri - 15
Jonathan Fortune - 24
Hermann Hreidarsson - 12
Luke Young - 2
Matthew Holland - 8
Radostin Kishishev - 7
Danny Murphy - 13
Shaun Bartlett - 17
Dennis Rommedahl - 19
Jerome Thomas - 14
|
| Substitutes |
29 - Tomasz Kuszczak (GK)
4 - Thomas Gaardsoe
7 - Jason Koumas
9 - Geoff Horsfield
17 - Rob Hulse |
(GK) Stephan Andersen
- 16
Paul Konchesky - 18
Bryan Hughes - 20
Jason Euell - 9
Francis Jeffers - 11 |
| Substitutions |
J Koumas for C Contra (55)
G Horsfield for Z Gera (88) |
P Konchesky for D Rommedahl
(65)
B Hughes for J Thomas (85) |
| Yellow Cards |
None |
None |
| Red Cards |
None |
None |
| Referee |
C Foy (St Helens) |
With around 60% of
the possession, Albion had plenty of the ball in this game, but
produced an inept and impotent performance. Albion's most dangerous
moment came from a mishit cross from Clement that somehow found
it's way through to be cleared off the line by Danny Murphy. It
was painful to watch, immensely frustrating and has led me to believe
that it will take a miracle for this side to escape relegation.
I'm struggling to find any highlights to talk about in this report,
so I'll just list what I think was wrong with what happened at the
Hawthorns yesterday.
Firstly, Big Dave was lost to a late injury but rather than bring
in Gaardsoe as a straight replacement, Robson made the bizarre decision
to put Scimeca in central defence and put the shamoblic Bernt Haas
at right back. Haas has been poor in every virtually game he has
played this season, and although Scimeca is by no means a great
right back, he's certainly a better option than that Swiss cheese.
And as for Gaardsoe, he must be wondering what is happening since
Robson has been at the club. I can understand that Purse and Moore
have retained their places - Moore has been playing well and, Purse
has retained his place based on performances earlier in the season
- but Tommy's only appearances have been in midfield!
After a dreadful display against Portsmouth, Purse should've played
yesterday, but only because Big Dave was injured. If Moore is fit
next week, Gaardsoe should partner him even though Purse might be
more motivated against his old club. Charlton were very poor yesterday
but still created two or three excellent chances thanks to inept
defending - Scimeca, Haas and Purse were all poor and only Clement
from the back four emerged with any sort of credit.
In midfield, Johnson was simply awful, Greening was below par and
while Gera and Contra worked hard, they had little help and were
eventually substituted. Koumas came on and added a little spark
on occasion - indeed, he looked like the only player likely to open
the visitors up, but he faded towards the end as the game petered
out.
Up front, Kanu was a complete waste of space while Earnshaw got
absolutely no service and looked ineffectual. Horsfield came on
too late to make any sort of difference.
Yes, the players were poor, but as at Portsmouth, Robson must take
a significant portion of the blame. After decent displays against
Boro and Arsenal, his teams have failed and his tactics have looked
flawed. Haas should be languishing in the reserves, Koumas should
be more involved despite his poor displays earlier in the season,
but perhaps the biggest criticism is that the players looked devoid
of any sort of motivation. Unless that changes soon, the battle
against relegation will be lost before the end of February.
It is almost certain now that Albion will be bottom at Christmas
and will have that statistic to battle against as well. There is
a flicker of hope in that the January transfer window is around
the corner, but even Robson will have difficulty attracting players
to the Hawthorns. Two weeks ago, I was hopeful that Albion could
produce the goods to pull away from the foot of the table, but after
two disastrous defeats, that hope has all but gone.
I've always been optimistic about Albion's chances, but I saw no
reason for optimism in yesterday's performance. Should Albion be
relegated again this year, I foresee another long absence from the
top flight. This is Albion's big chance, but it's fading fast.
Marks
Russell Hoult - 5 - Still lacking confidence.
Neil Clement - 6 - MOM. Best of a very bad bunch.
Cosmin Contra - 6 - Worked hard to little effect.
Bernt Haas - 4 - Offered absolutely nothing and defended poorly.
Darren Purse - 4 - Seems to have lost the plot.
Riccardo Scimeca - 4 - Not a right back, but certainly not a centre
half.
Jonathan Greening - 5 - Below par.
Andy Johnson - 3 - Dreadful, Robson's early positive influence has
lapsed.
Robert Earnshaw - 5 - No service, no impact.
Zoltan Gera - 6 - Worked hard but lacked support
Nwankwo Kanu - 4 - Did nothing.
Jason Koumas - 6 - Most skillful player when he came on, but couldn't
open the door.
Geoff Horsfield - 5 - No time to make an impact.
Bryan Robson - 4 - Bad decisions all over the place. He needs some
inspiration and, admittedly, some help from his players.
Jon Want, 12th December 2004.
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