Some West Bromwich Albion players believe Steve Bruce has made tactical mistakes particularly during the recent absence of Championship veteran Jake Livermore, as reported by The Athletic.
The last time West Brom met Hull City, Karlan Grant’s second-half winner lifted Valerien Ismael’s side up to third in the table. Four points adrift of the automatic promotion positions and just six off the top.
Back then, on November 3rd, even the most pessimistic of Baggies supporters would have struggled to believe that they’d be closer to the bottom than the top when en route to Humberside just four months later.
A much-needed, morale-boosting 2-0 win away from home ensured that Bruce got his first win as West Brom manager at the sixth time of asking on Saturday afternoon.
It may be too late to salvage their promotion hopes. Like offering someone a Strepsil while the priest reads the Last Rites.
Nonetheless, West Brom’s first win since January 22 – and only their seventh in 25 league fixtures – pierces the gloom somewhat.
According to The Athletic, this a Baggies squad horrifically low on confidence. A talented crop of players reduced to a shambling wreck by a dreadful end to the Ismael era and a fraught start to the Bruce one.
A win, any win, no matter how it came about, could have an invaluable impact on the mindset, the morale, of the West Brom roster.
Can West Brom still end up in the play-offs?
It is understood that some in the Baggies dressing room have had concerns about Bruce’s tactics.
His decision to stick with a midfield three during Livermore’s suspension raised eyebrows. Furthermore, some believe that West Brom are actually weaker defensively than they were under Bruce’s predecessor.
The Baggies had conceded eight goals in their previous five games before securing a belated clean sheet at Hull. The statistics bare out those concerns.
It remains to be seen whether that 2-0, Grant-inspired win at the MKM Stadium is this the start of a late charge? Or the latest in a series of false dawns?
The result leaves West Brom 13th in the table. But, such is the nature of this most topsy-turvy of divisions, Albion are still just six points adrift of the play-offs.
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