No points from six for the Baggies yet it's difficult to remember two less heartfelt defeats than those at home to Wigan Athletic and away at Manchester City this week, writes Warren Stephens.
Saturday's 3-2 reverse against Wigan was disappointing, but seemed to somehow get lost in a whirlwind of emotion surrounding the fortunes of our neighbours.
Nevertheless it was a poor return against a team who, on the evidence of their second-half performance, were more desperate for a result than we were and were helped along the way by some questionable defending, not for the first time in recent games.
The game was probably far too open from the start, I'm not sure we're good enough to get away with that and Wigan scored goals at crucial times, including just after we'd replaced Markus Rosenberg and Romelu Lukaku with the slightly less attack-minded Jerome Thomas and James Morrison.
I can see why Steve Clarke might have wanted to wrestle some more control in the middle of the pitch, the game could've easily swung either way at that point, but you could argue it took some attacking impetus away from us and Wigan duly benefitted with a goal soon after.
Tuesday's defeat at Manchester City was slightly less discouraging. The pre-match build-up was dominated by talk of Clarke's starting line-up and a switch to a 3-5-2 formation. I read multiple posts across social networking sites prior to the game labelling Clarke insane, questioning his selections, expressing despair and predicting a heavy defeat.
As it happens we gave a fantastic account of ourselves and were narrowly beaten 1-0. City themselves made multiple changes to their starting line-up, which by my rough calculations reduced the initial cost of their starting eleven to a mere £200m; Albion's by contrast cost around £7m.
That we then ran last year's Premier League champions so close is of great credit to the players. I believe we had about twenty shots on City's goal, I'm not sure too many teams will do that regardless of what personnel City field.
Whilst we could've conceded one or two more, Joe Hart was certainly the busier of the two keepers and Markus Rosenberg tested the strength of City's crossbar with a rasping free-kick.
The last time an Albion manager's selection was so vehemently called into question was probably Stoke City away under Roy Hodgson in 2011, when Gabriel Tamas and Marc Antoine Fortune were called in from the cold. We drew that game 1-1.
I'm not suggesting that some fans are always wrong and managers are always right, far from it, but I think sometimes we have to remember that the manager works with these players every day and sees things that we don't.
If Steve Clarke saw fit to drop Gareth McAuley and Ben Foster then I'm sure it's with good reason, perhaps in the former's case it's that he's 33 and feeling a little heavy-legged after a long season. To overly-criticise blindly before a game without fully understanding or acknowledging any reason behind a decision is a little unfair I think.
I actually think the 3-5-2 formation seemed to suit us. I'm not generally a massive fan and it's also worth remembering that we were up against a City side renowned for being narrow, but Billy Jones is as much a wing-back as a full-back anyway, we can pack the midfield and have two upfront which causes the opposition problems. It'll be interesting to see if we use it in the future.
One of the notable highlights of the last two games has been the sparkling emergence of Markus Rosenberg. I think it's fair to say he's had a rough season, mostly limited to substitute appearances in a wide position he's unfamiliar with. It's probably akin to playing Bob Taylor or Kevin Phillips on the wing and then judging them on their performances there.
Against Wigan and City, occupying more central positions, Rosenberg showed us why he's played in La Liga and the Bundesliga and why Albion were convinced to sign him last summer. He may also have given us hope that all might not be lost should Romelu Lukaku return to Chelsea next season. I'm sure I'm not the only Albion fan that will be chuffed if Rosenberg gets a goal or two before the season is out.
This Sunday we head to Norwich for the final away game of the season, cue the fancy dress outfits. I believe the theme this year is a Romelu Lukaku tribute along with the traditional beach party. I bought quite a convincing Lukaku-esque wig from a fancy dress shop earlier this week, unfortunately most of the dreadlocks have already fallen out so I'll probably look more like Richard Chaplow.
Swansea City are right on our tail and given that there's a reasonable chance we'll lose our last game against Manchester United, it'd be nice to secure an 8th place finish this weekend and pass the much talked about 50-point mark. It'd also be a shame if having spent almost the entire season in the top eight, we relinquished that position now.
Losing can become an infectious habit and it'd be ominous to finish the season with a run of defeats. Another away performance like that at Southampton would certainly be nice. Come on you Baggies!
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