09-01-2015, 13:25
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2015, 13:25 by Ska'dForLife-WBA.)
Tony Pulis couldn't have wished for a better start to life as Albion manager than seven goals and a clean sheet from his new team, however humble the opposition. But now, of course, the real test: getting it done against a relegation rival after scarcely more than a week in charge. Time to hit the ground running.
![[Image: tumblr_lrxtxv_Fn_IT1qk85u1o1_500.jpg]](http://s28.postimg.org/nki9jsna5/tumblr_lrxtxv_Fn_IT1qk85u1o1_500.jpg)
The pundits and the fans are, for once, unanimous: now that Albion have appointed Tony Pulis, Premier League safety is a mere formality, and we can all put our feet up and look forward to the summer. There's only a simple bit of box-ticking left in the form of breezing our way through a few silly football matches with effortless ease, and then it's smiles and sunshine. (In fact, if you get to work lighting the barbecue now, you might even have it ready for the first sausages by July).
Of course, it's never that simple. Tony Pulis - like Alan Irvine and Pepe Mel before him - has inherited a team who've made a nasty habit of bottling the most straightforward games for two whole years, and in that time, wins have become as rare as a five-fingered hand at Molineux. The mentality has to change, the tactics have to change, our talented players have to get their act together, and from the jumble of egos and villains in the dressing room, Tony somehow has to forge a real team spirit.
The signs were good against Gateshead. After a turgid display for most of the first half - presumably courtesy of the now-former backroom staff - Pulis seized control of the situation and got the team to something approaching their best. But we have to get ourselves in gear tomorrow. A slow start could well be punished by a Hull team who blow hot and cold, but have inflicted more than one bloody nose on the road this season. It's time to take the initiative and start pressing the advantage when we have it.
It's still a bit too early in the season to be labelling games as "must-win", but this fixture is an obvious target for points in a pretty nightmarish schedule, and at the very least, we have to consider it a "must-not-lose" match. Let's see what the new-look Albion are capable of.
Albion welcome yet another new coach to the dressing room in the form of motivational speaker "Happy" Norman Gorman.
The pundits and the fans are, for once, unanimous: now that Albion have appointed Tony Pulis, Premier League safety is a mere formality, and we can all put our feet up and look forward to the summer. There's only a simple bit of box-ticking left in the form of breezing our way through a few silly football matches with effortless ease, and then it's smiles and sunshine. (In fact, if you get to work lighting the barbecue now, you might even have it ready for the first sausages by July).
Of course, it's never that simple. Tony Pulis - like Alan Irvine and Pepe Mel before him - has inherited a team who've made a nasty habit of bottling the most straightforward games for two whole years, and in that time, wins have become as rare as a five-fingered hand at Molineux. The mentality has to change, the tactics have to change, our talented players have to get their act together, and from the jumble of egos and villains in the dressing room, Tony somehow has to forge a real team spirit.
The signs were good against Gateshead. After a turgid display for most of the first half - presumably courtesy of the now-former backroom staff - Pulis seized control of the situation and got the team to something approaching their best. But we have to get ourselves in gear tomorrow. A slow start could well be punished by a Hull team who blow hot and cold, but have inflicted more than one bloody nose on the road this season. It's time to take the initiative and start pressing the advantage when we have it.
It's still a bit too early in the season to be labelling games as "must-win", but this fixture is an obvious target for points in a pretty nightmarish schedule, and at the very least, we have to consider it a "must-not-lose" match. Let's see what the new-look Albion are capable of.
Classic Match
West Bromwich Albion 2-0 Hull City
Football League, Second Division: 10th December 1988
"Classic" is probably stretching it a bit for this, but two goals from Don Goodman and a penalty save from Stuart Naylor? It's just about the archetypal late-Eighties Albion game!
"I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to choose between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I should make straight for West Bromwich." - J.B. Priestley