It’s always a danger that, at this time of the season, teams begin to switch off and begin thinking about next season, or, perhaps, just a holiday. Complacency sets in, results vary from the wonderful to the disastrous; and, sometimes, a team can soon find themselves in a battle they never thought they were in.
Since Tony Pulis’ arrival at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich Albion have looked to move away from any relegation concerns with five wins from his first eleven games in charge. However, the 4-1 drubbing by QPR at home showed there is still a long way to go.
Seven points clear, seven games to go; is it enough?
Of the seven games Albion have left, over half are against teams in the top five of the Premier League; Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. It will be concerning to many Albion supporters that, after Leicester this coming Saturday, the two ‘winnable’ games are both away from home.
Despite Pulis winning five of his first eleven, he still has yet to see Albion win away from home. In truth, the performances from Albion when playing away from home have been nothing short of shambolic at times. There seems to be a mantra of grinding out a 0-0 on their travels, then try to find the points at home.
In the six away games Pulis has watched over, Albion have had 109 shots fired at them, defended 33 corners, conceded eight goals and scored only four. It’s not been pretty to watch, and it has left travelling Albion fans asking when they will see a win again. The first journey Albion make is against a resurgent Crystal Palace, who seem determined to achieve as much as they can. They then travel to Manchester United and follow that with a trip to Newcastle.
It is, then, ultimately important that Albion try to acquire as much as they can at The Hawthorns, and they will need to start by focusing on this weekend and the massive game against Leicester City.
Albion cannot afford a performance like the one against QPR which saw them enter the dressing room at half-time 3-0 down. Simply, Albion need to win. Anything else would be not good enough, and would consign the Albion to an absolutely nail-biting finale to the season as you do wonder where else the points will come from.
Leicester will also fancy their chances, and feel it is more of a must-win game for them than West Brom. A good 2-1 win against West Ham has boosted morale at the club, and the Foxes will take even more comfort from the way that QPR dismantled the Albion on Saturday. Barring the game against Chelsea, it’s possible to see Leicester picking up points in every game and they will want to start the climb back up the table with a win this weekend.
The game against Leicester is also equally as massive due to the day it is on; the newly-designated Jeff Astle Day.
Jeff Astle was, and is, a West Bromwich Albion legend. The goalscorer of the FA Cup winning goal against Everton in 1968, his name is still sung by the fans today. There is even a bridge officially known as ‘Astle’s Bridge’, due to the graffiti that would be painted on it, cleaned off by the council and then painted on again. “Astle is the King”, it would read; it now has a plaque in its place.
Astle passed away in 2002, due to brain trauma. In the end, he could not remember any of the 174 goals he scored for Albion, let alone the goal that won the FA Cup. A large campaign run by Astle’s family, “Justice for Jeff” was carried out and any fan that has seen Albion will notice the banner unfurl in the ninth minute of every game as the family waited to hear more from the FA about the investigation in to brain injuries they were promised.
The family have now called an end to the “Justice for Jeff” campaign, and, in turn, have started the Jeff Astle Foundation with the help of the club. On Saturday, the Jeff Astle Foundation officially starts, and the club have decided to commemorate it by naming Saturday as Jeff Astle Day.
For only the second time in Premier League history a team will wear an old kit, as the Albion line up in the white kit that they wore in the 1968 FA Cup Final; the kit so synonymous with Jeff Astle. For the football purists, also, the numbers will go from 2-11 with no names or sponsors on the shirt. Spare a thought for the referee on the day.
It will also be worth sparing a thought for Saido Berahino or Brown Ideye, as one of them will wear Astle’s coveted number nine.
Albion will be hoping that the occasion inspires them to a strong performance and a win; otherwise those remaining six games will see several people in the Black Country with a distinct lack of finger nails.
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