[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

The start to Corberan's reign left much to be desired, but after a great deal of huffing and puffing on Tuesday night, Albion at last produced the win that was needed to give the new era some positives to build on. It's not an overnight transformation, and the struggle will still be uphill, but for the moment, hope is alive.

With two matches remaining until the month-long break for the Festival of Human Rights Qatar World Cup, there are half a dozen points up for grabs, but none of those six will be easy to claim, and the three down at Loftus Road on Saturday are the Holy Grail as far as Albion are concerned. QPR are on their best run of home form in over five years, while Albion's three wins so far remain the lowest number in the division. The pitfalls of trying to Megson our way to a result are obvious, as our habit of falling 2-0 behind in the first half-hour after two shots on target is well documented, but if we're capable of defending as a team and absorbing QPR's pressure, and can make the ball stick to a target-man up front every now and then, or even just hit fast on the break as we did at Reading... it's not entirely out of the question that we could make the afternoon worthwhile. In the circumstances, a draw would be job done.

[talkSAFT]

Woo-hooo! 1-0 up 70 mins (Bartley)

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Great result! Play-offs here we come.

[Baggie_One]

Good result, scrappy, but who cares
Whoooop

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Bartley's had some very justified stick in the last couple of months, but when he stands up and makes himself counted, it translates into points. Wish it happened every week.

[Blue Baggie]

A grafted result, exactly what we need. Some 1 - 0 wins - clean sheets.
They all build confidence. Making us hard to beat and working as a team. Nice to see Swift more involved today.
Early days for Corby but we're moving in the right direction.

[valpayne]

1-0 to the Albion 1-0 to the Albion

[Stairs]

Bloody Hell. I could start to believe. This is the problem with a half full mindset. I get positive very quickly

[drewks]

Haven't seen any of the games but it seems that, with a bit of organisation, discipline, and increased fitness and confidence, this group CAN be more than competitive at this level....... as we all knew!
Mr Bruce: hmmmm....... if you get another job in football, that club's chairman /owner need their head(s) examined

[Slick_Footwork]

Missed yesterday's game but it was a much needed win on the road.

I'll not comment on the performance because you can't see much from the highlights, but credit to Corberan for quickly recognising some of the problems from Richard Beale's team selections which filtered into his woeful selection in his first game against Sheffield United. The changes have resulted in 2 wins from 2. Scrappy wins, yes, but wins nontheless.

Firstly, dropping the woeful back 3 and returning to a back 4 with players playing in their proper positions has resulted in 2 clean sheets.

Reinstalling Bartley, for all his faults, means we have a centre half at centre half rather than a full back there. This at least gives us aerial presence in both boxes as Barts has always chipped in with goals. We've won 2 games from set plays which is vitally important when you're not creating anything from open play. Under Bruce and Beale in particular, we had no set play threat from defence.

He was brave enough to drop Townsend for Pieters, despite us winning in the week, which I respect as Townsend has been woeful for about a year now.

Finally, I think the decision to start Phillips up top was a good one. He's not a forward, but he's the one fit player we have with the power and touch to actually hold the ball up top. You don't get that with Grant or Thomas Asante. Fair play to Corberan for quickly seeing we need a presence up there and at least picking the best option from what little we have. If Phillips is going to play out of position, I'd much rather see him up top than at right back or wing back.

I appreciate a lot of fans will be disappointed with Corberan dropping Gardner Hickman, but my personal opinion is you need 2 sitters when you're starting with a forward and 3 attacking midfielders. I see Gardner Hickman more as someone who will be competing with Rogic / Swift for that position at the head of the diamond. So while it's sad to see him dropped, I understand it and think the signs are that Corberan is starting to get the basics in place and focusing on strengthening the spine of the team.

If Ajayi and Dike come back and stay fit, that will make a big difference as both offer strength in the air which will give us added impetus from set plays. Arguably, Dike should improve us from open play 2, but we've seen so little of him that's purely speculation.