The West Bromwich Albion cult hero sees similarities between the Baggies promotion-winning sides he played for and Slaven Bilic’s current crop.
West Bromwich Albion cult hero Andy Johnson is no stranger to promotion glory with the Baggies and, in conversation with the official WBA website, he has claimed that Slaven Bilic’s current team is already showing some signs of being of the same calibre.
The 45-year-old joined West Brom in 2001, arriving at The Hawthorns during Gary Megson’s tenure, and helped the Baggies reach the top flight in his first season in the navy and white, before contributing to a swift return following relegation two years later.
Johnson shared his five essential points which, together, make up a promotion-winning side – a “decent manager”, a “mental toughness”, togetherness within the squad (“I really feel we’ve got all that at the moment”), the supporters, and finally the winning habit, on which he elaborated with an eye on the current setup.
“We’ve proved early on in this season, we’ve gone a goal down in many of our games, it’s only three games this season that we’ve gone ahead in, yet we’ve only been beaten once,” Johnson told the Baggies website. “We’ve shown that steel. You’ve got to have that winning mentality, that winning habit. Knowing that if you do go a goal down, it’s alright, we’ll score one, or two.
“And that’s the sort of thing, when you’re winning all the time, that it gives you. That habit. I’ve seen a lot like it this season so far, we’ve only lost once since the beginning and that’s the sort of thing you need to get promoted. You’ve got to go on runs and you’ve got to put them in at the right time. I’ve seen clear signs of it this season that we’re capable of putting these runs together.”
West Brom are currently top of the Championship table on six wins, four draws and just one defeat, putting them level on points with Nottingham Forest, and are away at Middlesbrough in their upcoming fixture this Saturday.
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