Yesterday, 16:57
In all fairness, there have been worse starts to a job. King Luis II, for instance, hardly had a whale of a time during his twenty-minute-long reign over Portugal, the entirety of which was spent in a gunfight with revolutionaries whilst bleeding from a hole in the cranium; and the less said about Ben Sliney's first day as head of air traffic control operations for the United States of America on Tuesday 11th September 2001, the better. But even so, Eric Ramsey's opening seven days at the Hawthorns have ostensibly consisted of him pondering the achievements of old Coup-Slew Lou and Benny Boom Boom and saying "hold my beer."
After back to back home defeats, the second of which was comfortably our most humiliating at this level in history, it's tempting to say that the only way is up, but of course there's another (and perhaps likelier) option. It doesn't help that tonight we visit Derby, where our last success came in summer 2003. The recruitment of keeper Max O'Leary is the one ray of hope in a dark and dismal week, giving us a potential - and much-needed - improvement between the sticks, but it's still difficult to see how we come away with any kind of result this evening, barring a miracle.
Assuming Ramsey is with us for a while yet, he'll need a little bit of leeway; but it's self-evident that so far, he's taken Mason's team and managed to make them even worse. Having made that catastrophic first impression, his chances to win back any charity or goodwill are limited, and will begin with tonight's showing, if not the outcome.
After back to back home defeats, the second of which was comfortably our most humiliating at this level in history, it's tempting to say that the only way is up, but of course there's another (and perhaps likelier) option. It doesn't help that tonight we visit Derby, where our last success came in summer 2003. The recruitment of keeper Max O'Leary is the one ray of hope in a dark and dismal week, giving us a potential - and much-needed - improvement between the sticks, but it's still difficult to see how we come away with any kind of result this evening, barring a miracle.
Assuming Ramsey is with us for a while yet, he'll need a little bit of leeway; but it's self-evident that so far, he's taken Mason's team and managed to make them even worse. Having made that catastrophic first impression, his chances to win back any charity or goodwill are limited, and will begin with tonight's showing, if not the outcome.
"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