[Blue Baggie]

It's a matter of opinion, obviously, but I don't think we were even that 'shocking, awful ' in the first half.
Newcastle were very sharp* and, as a lot have said, Brunt and Barry just didn't have the legs and so we were looking very vulnerable whenever they ran at us.
But I still think that we looked OK apart from that - toothless maybe, but fairly neat in possession, wanting to play the game in the right way.

*their guy with the dreadlocks who hit the post with that cracking shot looked very, very good and ran the show in the first 45  

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I totally understand some being happy with the positives to come from the game, but it depends on your out look. Where as I see the PL as a cash cow others see it as the target. I still feel the greatest moment in my WBA lifetime is winning the FA Cup. We constantly look to make excuses every year why as a club it's no longer worth winning. We're either focused on relegation or promotion. Do we have a hope of getting within 3 wins of winning the PL, I don't think so. Did we get within 3 wins of winning the FA Cup yes and we play our reserve squad against a full strength PL team who are struggling against relegation. I get so disappointed we treat the cup with such contempt. It's a wonder any fans bother going to watch or even support a club that can't be bothered. We only put on 1 or 2 first teamers and we almost won. I'm not happy with the club, the management and for me promotion will not make me forget how poorly us the fans are respected and treated.
Rant over.

Blue, I also remember our cup win in 68, and regret the way that this great competition is now treated as second best. Big time.
BUT.... I think that you were saying that lots of players were looking 'leggy' a couple of games ago...... so they have been rested here.

It's a Catch 22 thing but I personally can understand the club treating promotion as our priority - as you say the PL is the Cash Cow that, as a business, they cannot ignore.

Interesting how we all have slightly different thoughts and views on the same issues though!

Problem is I'm not convinced the "leggy" issue is fatigue - IMO it's not due to games played, our most energetic player by a long way was Krov last night.
Pereira our worst performer against wigan had just had a suspension he should have been fresh. His recent celebrations showed he was at 110%.
It wouldn't be so bad if it was one or two players who had an off day, but often it's the whole team. I am beginning to see a pattern now that our first half performances are poor in the majority of our games. We come alive in the 2nd half - we often come back from losing positions, some think this shows fight and determination. For me we have got it all wrong, if we can't get going quickley we must learn how to contain the opposition and stop them from playing for 20-30 minutes.Then we should push on when they tire a little, we appear to be at our most dangerous when we should be tired, so the fatigue problem doesn't compute with me. Logic tells me we can't be tired everytime we play a team at home from the lower part of the table. It's cannot just be a coincidence.
So that tells me it's a motivational / mental issue. Hence me continually raving we need a captain who can keep a bunch of multi-millionaires focussed.
Sure we have different opinions as to how we improve and what the underlying issues are, that's what this forum is for.
I'm always interested to read other posters opinions and thoughts, but please - not if it's "YOUR OPINION IS CRAP" as some poster do? It may well be, but I would prefer to see exactly what they/you see as our issues are and how they believe we can improve.