Off to Preston
No chance of a lay in today (I normally don't get up until 10am!) as I depart for Preston at 9.15am, and with all honesty, I was depressed at the prospect – this will teach me the stupidity of buying tickets for consecutive away games having had to suffer the Barnsley performance.
Having had the pleasure of visiting the county of my birth on Tuesday it was now a day for guerrilla-style action as I entered the enemy territory of Lancashire with only the disguise of this Black Country accent and the addition of a flat cap (I made that bit up).
An extremely windswept journey up the M6 had me reminded of an away day at Stoke about three years ago which saw lorries overturned on the motorway and the news the game had been postponed. I wondered if I could get as "lucky" again today. Preston is another Albion graveyard over about half-a-century.
As usual I arrived early but on this occasion the refreshment stand was open which was a nice change compared to Barnsley.......hopefully not proof that Lancastrians are sharper than us Yorkies!
Having travelled on my own I looked out for any familiar faces on arriving in the ground but found only one, a bloke who I used to sit behind in the Brummie. I say "used to" because he moved at the start of last season due in no small part to the disagreements some of us used to have with him about Gera. For some reason he hated Zolly whereas the rest of us loved him.
It was time to make up I decided so I offered the olive branch of a handshake which he accepted but on shaking hands he only appeared to have one finger.........I was too embarrassed to look down so I hope it was his finger he'd offered me to shake!
Team selection
No surprises to see RDM adopt a 4-5-1 formation and comforting to see Cech back in the side and a wise move to partner Mulumbu with Jara which freed up Dorrans to roam......I thought this gave us a solid base.
Meite for Martis had the look of re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic but obviously something had to be tried; and at least Meite does look more comfortable when he actually gets to the ball. Martis always tends to look like a man trying to stamp out a small camp-fire when he attempts to trap the ball.
Most of you will no doubt have watched the game live at home or on the highlights last night so there's not much point in me describing all the action infinitum so I’ll just try to give an idea of how it actually felt sat there live at the game.
In truth it felt VERY comfortable. The most comfortable I’ve felt in a game away from home for a long time but then again I did miss the ‘Boro match.
What I mean to convey is that we controlled and dominated large passages of play with the midfield being excellent in movement, passion and ball retention. Cech was a bit off the pace but gave us balance and seemed to help Mattock's confidence.
I'm no Mattock fan so far but he had the best game I’ve seen so far and Zuiverloon was much improved, although still not back to his best.
Olsson was the main man as always at the back but Meite did okay but next week....who knows?
Dorrans ran the show but Mulumbu and Jara were excellent, especially in the first-half, as we ran rings around their midfield. The sales of Chaplow and Carter looked to be good business as they offered virtually nothing. However Brunt was once again infuriating mixing moments of great awareness and skill with bits of stupid passing whilst doing lots of arm waving and moaning at everyone, including the ref.
Bednar worked hard but never seemed likely to really threaten, although to my mind he should have had a penalty as he was flattened from behind. Without a replay I couldn't say if he took the dive but it looked "nailed on" to most Baggie fans.
Substitutes
Koren and Reid replaced Brunt and Cech with Koren busy as usual but didn't really change the feel of the game. Reid is a concern to me. I cannot fathom how we thought this guy was worth a punt as he's no better, yet possibly worse, than Sherjill MacDonald. I see no long term future for him at Albion....Sorry Reuben.
In conclusion
A return to form for the Albion but perhaps aided by playing a team who wanted to play football and were willing to attack. Our lack of firepower will still haunt us against teams that shut up shop and we need to see how this formation works against the more physical teams in the division; but at least the ship has been steadied.
The fans
A good travelling contingent of around 1500+ I would estimate and a special mention to Batty's group and another group of guys on a 50th birthday trip who took everybody down memory lane at half-time with a competition on the concourse, under the away stand, to outdo each other in singing songs from the 60s and 70s. Everyone from Bill Shankly and Bertie Mee, through to Willie Johnston and Joey "no brain" Mayo getting a mention...everyone watching on seemed to really enjoy it so well done lads and lasses!
I made a speedy getaway at the end and raced down the M6 to try and get home in time for the second-half of the Stourbridge vs Evesham match and arrived with 15 minutes to go...............and watched another 0-0 draw!
Not often I watch two goalless games and arrive home with my glass half full but yesterday was that day....come on Albion time for a four match winning streak now I think.
Apologies if I missed anything important folks but I was only second reserve for the reporting job today (the Teixeria of correspondents) so I’ve cobbled this together today just to help Donny out.