[Lets-talk-about-Teix]

All too familiar. At 2-2 I turned to a mate and said “We are going to lose this”. He nodded and said it feels strangely similar to the Cardiff game almost exactly a year ago when we threw away a lead at home to the bottom club with some ridiculously **** goals.

I wasn’t in favour of Pulis’s appointment but needs must. I thought he would remove this soft underbelly that has plagued us for years. After the goals we have conceded in the last 3 games I have genuine concerns whether he will. The QPR game was horribly reminiscent of the powderpuff displays under Irvine, and yesterday felt a lot like games under Clarke/Mel, but with worse football.  Watching some of our players treat the ball like a hot potato and just hacking the ball anywhere, without any thought was painful.

More than that, tactically Pulis was lost. Everyone could see Dawson was being roasted by Schlupp. So what do we do? Go to 5 at the back and expose our full back without any protection.  We’re playing at home against the bottom team in the league, do we really need 5 defenders? Wouldn't Sess have been a better option to take pressure off the defence rather than inviting pressure on to them? 

Football is such a simple game and I can’t stand it when managers try and turn it into some sort of tactical chess match. Just return to the 4-5-1 that has served us well for the past few years and that gets the best out of our most productive players (Berahino, Sess, Morrison) and get players back into the positions where they belong. 

Its Pulis’s stubbornness that concerns me. He hasn’t seemed to learn from his problems at Stoke and he certainly hasn’t learnt anything from his defeats here. I’m not sure whether he will, but I genuinely think JP has a decision to make in the summer, if he is still around. 

[WeeWillie]

All too familiar. At 2-2 I turned to a mate and said “We are going to lose this”. He nodded and said it feels strangely similar to the Cardiff game almost exactly a year ago when we threw away a lead at home to the bottom club with some ridiculously **** goals.

I wasn’t in favour of Pulis’s appointment but needs must. I thought he would remove this soft underbelly that has plagued us for years. After the goals we have conceded in the last 3 games I have genuine concerns whether he will. The QPR game was horribly reminiscent of the powderpuff displays under Irvine, and yesterday felt a lot like games under Clarke/Mel, but with worse football.  Watching some of our players treat the ball like a hot potato and just hacking the ball anywhere, without any thought was painful.

More than that, tactically Pulis was lost. Everyone could see Dawson was being roasted by Schlupp. So what do we do? Go to 5 at the back and expose our full back without any protection.  We’re playing at home against the bottom team in the league, do we really need 5 defenders? Wouldn't Sess have been a better option to take pressure off the defence rather than inviting pressure on to them? 

Football is such a simple game and I can’t stand it when managers try and turn it into some sort of tactical chess match. Just return to the 4-5-1 that has served us well for the past few years and that gets the best out of our most productive players (Berahino, Sess, Morrison) and get players back into the positions where they belong. 

Its Pulis’s stubbornness that concerns me. He hasn’t seemed to learn from his problems at Stoke and he certainly hasn’t learnt anything from his defeats here. I’m not sure whether he will, but I genuinely think JP has a decision to make in the summer, if he is still around. 

I agree with your points. TP has impressed me with the type of football we played against WHU, Soton and Stoke when we dominated the games keeping it tight at the back and creating our own chances.

However the last two home games and the Villa games have been a disaster. What amazes me is that some supports believe he can do no wrong, while Irvine was slated all the time (I'm not saying AI was right).

Tactically he got it wrong (I feel sorry for Dawson who is a CB but got beat every time by Schlupp......if only we had a FB with some pace!?) and yet there he is on MOTD blaming the defeat on one player (We all know Saido should have passed) A manager should back his players publically every time, what is that going to do for team spirit?

I still believe we will stay up, if only because the other teams are worse and have to play each other yet.

[betterthanbaird]

All too familiar. At 2-2 I turned to a mate and said “We are going to lose this”. He nodded and said it feels strangely similar to the Cardiff game almost exactly a year ago when we threw away a lead at home to the bottom club with some ridiculously **** goals.

I wasn’t in favour of Pulis’s appointment but needs must. I thought he would remove this soft underbelly that has plagued us for years. After the goals we have conceded in the last 3 games I have genuine concerns whether he will. The QPR game was horribly reminiscent of the powderpuff displays under Irvine, and yesterday felt a lot like games under Clarke/Mel, but with worse football.  Watching some of our players treat the ball like a hot potato and just hacking the ball anywhere, without any thought was painful.

More than that, tactically Pulis was lost. Everyone could see Dawson was being roasted by Schlupp. So what do we do? Go to 5 at the back and expose our full back without any protection.  We’re playing at home against the bottom team in the league, do we really need 5 defenders? Wouldn't Sess have been a better option to take pressure off the defence rather than inviting pressure on to them? 

Football is such a simple game and I can’t stand it when managers try and turn it into some sort of tactical chess match. Just return to the 4-5-1 that has served us well for the past few years and that gets the best out of our most productive players (Berahino, Sess, Morrison) and get players back into the positions where they belong. 

Its Pulis’s stubbornness that concerns me. He hasn’t seemed to learn from his problems at Stoke and he certainly hasn’t learnt anything from his defeats here. I’m not sure whether he will, but I genuinely think JP has a decision to make in the summer, if he is still around. 

I agree with your points. TP has impressed me with the type of football we played against WHU, Soton and Stoke when we dominated the games keeping it tight at the back and creating our own chances.

However the last two home games and the Villa games have been a disaster. What amazes me is that some supports believe he can do no wrong, while Irvine was slated all the time (I'm not saying AI was right).

Tactically he got it wrong (I feel sorry for Dawson who is a CB but got beat every time by Schlupp......if only we had a FB with some pace!?) and yet there he is on MOTD blaming the defeat on one player (We all know Saido should have passed) A manager should back his players publically every time, what is that going to do for team spirit?

I still believe we will stay up, if only because the other teams are worse and have to play each other yet.

What did he say on motd?

[wba_1996]

As for the McAuley/Lescott thing, I have been saying on here for at least 2 years that we need a younger ball-playing centre back to replace/understudy McAuley. Its ok playing one 32+ year old centre back but you need a bit of mobility to cover for them as well. It was glaringly obvious to me 2 years ago that GMac would start to decline, so why our joke of a recruitment team thought that a 35 year old McAuley would be able to keep up his performance levels I don't know. Yet again it smacks of the cheap option of leaving Olsson who is clearly not a capable back up. Now Lescott looks crap because both our centre backs are strong in the air but can't run for shit, meaning that every single through ball that gets through is likely to lead to a goal - even Zamora left them for dead last week. They are not helped, of course, by the fact that neither fullback has an ounce of pace either.

The only solution is to play Dawson at centre back with Lescott and play with actual fullbacks - but we can't have that can we?

The long-term solution is for our recruitment team to not be a bunch of idiots and for us to not go for the cheap option every time.

[May68]

The TP fans have been quiet this weekend. The football's been dire but at least we've kept it tight at the back. And now he's made The Hawthorns a fortress. And we have his inspiring transfer dealings over the summer to look forward to.

[brokenmanrepaired]

From the recent poor performances I fear the truth is that Pulis has now completely lost the dressing room. His egotistical rants to the press in the past four weeks blaming the players, social media and threatening a mass clearout in the summer has clearly alienated the players who no longer give a "cows connector" for him.

If I was being told I was no longer part of the future of the club I doubt I would be particularly motivated by the manager’s exhortations to lay down my life for the clubs premiership survival.

It is most disappointing to see an allegedly experienced manager make such an elementary error in man management as well as his glaringly incompetant tactics.

[tidy]

Guys that spent time biggin up Pulis can't even point to his 'record' any more.

13pts from a possible 36, and that includes games against Villa, QPR, Burnley and Leicester from which we gained ONE point, is an embarrasment.

The guy is a clown.

[DanTheSmethwickMan]

Tidy, include his fanatstic defensive record - 7 goals in 2 games against the bottom 2 clubs at home. 10 goals in 3 games....

[talkSAFT]

+ 4 conceded against the Seals, who hadn't scored a goal in 10 weeks (or whatever)

[valpayne]

I did say we wouldn't beat leicester and or the teams we expect to. Two reasons for this 1 ex baggie management Nigel Pearson back to haunt us as all ex baggies seem to do 2 They were always going to be hungrier than us in their position they've nothing to lose. That said its unforgivable to lose this most important memorable occasion game but thats Albion I suppose. I've lived with it for 40 years. I was to P****d off to say anything Saturday I'm just hoping that the other half of my prediction comes true which was we will get results where we least expect to because although everyone (footy fans not baggies) around me says we'e safe I'm glass half empty right now