Albion need to show they are up for the fight

Derby County v West Bromwich Albion; Pride Park, Friday 23rd January 2026, 8pm

When I witnessed an Ardiles-inspired team comfortably beat Port Vale at Wembley on 30th May 1993, my dream and fervent hope was that it would be the last time I would see my beloved Albion play in the third tier of English football. It’s been close to being dashed on a couple of occasions since – a last day escape at Fratton Park the very next year and, of course, Gary Megson guiding an underperforming team to survival with victory on the final day at home to Charlton Athletic in 2000. Tuesday’s capitulation against Norwich City has now put the spectre of third-tier football firmly back in the thoughts of all Baggies fans, raising serious doubts as to whether the current squad has the character for the battle ahead.

Survival in 1994 came from a worse position than faces the current team – Keith Burkinshaw’s team were 21st in the table with only 27 points after 28 games, while in 2000, another seven games would be played before Megson was appointed and Brian Little’s team had 29 points at this stage and, similar to the current team, lay in 19th place.

We should also reference the only season when Albion did succumb to the drop – in 1991, the club were still seeking Brian Talbot’s replacement after his departure in the wake of the infamous Woking defeat and game 28 saw Albion win 3-0 at Blackburn under the caretaker stewardship of Stuart Pearson to lift them to 15th place with 33 points – the dramatic collapse under new boss Bobby Gould was yet to happen, all the more incredible given that only two teams went down that season!

Another season worthy of note was 1995/96 when Albion were in the bottom three with only 28 points from 28 games and continued to flirt with the relegation spots until a certain Richard Sneekes was signed in March and fired Alan Buckley’s up the table in the final 13 games, only one of which they lost.

Unfortunately, the chances of Albion signing someone in the next week who could have the impact that Sneekes did thirty years ago is, perhaps, remote. A new goalkeeper in Max O’Leary has been signed, and we hope that one or two loan signings will help to boost the squad, but I expect inspiration will need to come from the existing squad and there was precious little of that on Tuesday night.

If there is a crumb of comfort to be taken from the defeat to Norwich, it is that it was a level of performance that was completely unexpected. It literally came out of nowhere. Sure, Albion have been poor on occasion this season, and they have had an issue with late goals and basic errors, but even the dreadful first half showing against Swansea City at the Hawthorns showed more promise than we saw on Tuesday. The crumb is, therefore, that it was a blip, a one-off, something that will soon be forgotten. Of course, if it isn’t, then we start looking at how to get to Mansfield and Stevenage.

Eric Ramsay also admitted to being surprised at the first half performance, and his three half time changes did little to impact that match. He has come in for criticism for the switch to a back three and, while it was clear that Mikey Johnston didn’t work at right wing back against Boro’, there was little to suggest in his first match that the defence would fail so spectacularly against Norwich. Sticking with the formation was not an unreasonable option.

At kick off on Tuesday, I thought Price at right wing back wasn’t a bad idea but, from what I saw, I’m not sure that Price himself agreed. I don’t remember him having one single positive impact on the match and seemed to just pass the ball back every time he got it. Up front, Ramsay switched things around and I think we all expected that Maja would operate centrally, but it was Grant who played through the middle with Maja off the right – it seemed a strange choice to me given that Maja is not the most mobile of players. The combination of Iling-Junior and Johnston on the left showed some potential – SIJ is the one player who seems to be enjoying this new formation, but the right side did not work at all.

After Tuesday, the smart money seemed to be on Ramsay reverting to a back four, but in his press conference on Thursday, Albion’s head coach seemed to be suggesting otherwise – “we’re not going to see huge swings from game to game in terms of how the team plays” was the quote reported by Lewis Cox of the Express and Star. And if you analyse the goals from Tuesday, they were not down to the formation, just bad defending.

Phillips backed off Schwartau to allow him time and space to fire in the opener; for the second, Phillips gets drawn out too easily to create the opening before Mepham dawdles as Ahmed, the goalscorer, trots past him on the edge of the box. Bielik wasn’t strong enough twice in the build up to the third, while Mepham was also beaten too easily inside the box. Mepham’s header out was a bit weak ahead of the fourth but, to be fair to Grant on the edge of the box, Chrisene got a bit lucky with the bounce and caught it really well. The fifth was a poor pass from Molumby before Mowatt pulled out of a challenge in the box, fearing a penalty – no defender made a challenge!

Each individual goal could have been prevented, as the vast majority of goals can be when analysed, but it was not the errors that led to the goals themselves that was the most concerning aspect of the performance – it was the lack of response to the situation. There was a distinct lack of energy from the first minute, and there was no discernible increase in effort as the game situation became progressively worse. Yes, Albion had a few chances, with Iling-Junior, easily the hosts’ best player on the night albeit that didn’t take much, having the best of them with a header from a corner and a shot that struck the post in the first half, and an effort that was tipped over the bar in the second, but there were never any signs that they were going to come back into the game as there had been against Boro’.

Ramsay’s fortunes have not been helped by the options in midfield. He has started both games with a central pairing of Styles and Bielik, neither of whom have been regulars in that position for Albion. Diakité has been absent because of the sad passing of his brother, while Mowatt and Molumby both came off the bench on Tuesday having been sidelined through injury. Whether it was down to his injury, I’m not sure, but Molumby looked lacking in his usual energy and fight on Tuesday when he came on at half time and Mowatt, too, was unable to make much impact. It was, all in all, a dreadful performance by pretty much the whole team.

A display such as we saw against Norwich cannot be repeated. A trip to Derby is probably the last fixture Albion fans wanted next given the club’s recent record there (read more on that below), but that shouldn’t really affect the players themselves. That the team are trying to avoid a club-record equalling eleventh successive away defeat, a record that has stood for 135 years, may play on one or two of the players’ minds, but Tuesday’s result is what they need to remember – they need to show a reaction and, ideally, get a result.

Eric Ramsay, of course, has some decisions to make. Eight goals conceded in two home defeats is probably the worst start to his Albion career that he could have imagined. His comments on Thursday suggest he is likely to stick with a back three – I think there was enough from Friday’s game to persist with it on Tuesday, but if he sticks with it at Derby, and it fails again, he will look very foolish. Stubbornness cost Valérien Ismaël his job four years ago, albeit I don’t see Eric losing his just yet.

I don’t envy him the choice of formation or players – one of the key attractions of him as a coach is his adaptability, and he now needs to show that in spades. One would hope that all of Diakité, Mowatt and Molumby will be available leaving him with better options in the middle of the park, but he still has the same problems elsewhere in the team. Iling-Junior has probably been the best performer in his two games, but he hasn’t shown that form too much when not playing at wing back, while right wing-back remains a problem position. Jed Wallace could play there, but I’m not convinced he could do it for 90 minutes, while a more defensive choice might be Campbell or the lesser-spotted Gilchrist. Alex Williams is, perhaps, one who might thrive there but he lacks experience and is only just back from injury – it would be unwise and unfair to drop him into a relegation battle.

As for the back three, none of Tuesday’s starters deserve a spot after that performance, but I would expect Phillips to play – he has been Albion’s most consistent defender this season despite a recent dip in form – while I would probably pick Campbell on the right and either Bielik or Taylor on the left. I think Mepham needs some time out of the team.

I think our strongest front three is Heggebø, Johnston and Grant, albeit only Johnston has been consistently dangerous this season. Ramsay brought Dike on in stoppage time against Boro’, but didn’t use him on Tuesday – believe it or not, the American has played only 32 minutes of Championship football this season in eight substitute appearances – Torbjørn Heggem has played more! I’m not sure how Dike is expected to get any match sharpness with so few minutes.

And what of the opposition? Their win at the Hawthorns in September was their first of the campaign, but a run of five successive victories in the autumn saw them climb into the top half of the table and they have bounced around mid-table ever since. January has seen them beat Middlesbrough before losing to Wrexham, both at home. Leeds also beat them at Pride Park in the FA Cup but they have since won twice on the road at Preston and Charlton leaving them in 10th place.

Although we fans may have preferred another opponent for this crucial game, it doesn’t really matter – the players need to show that they are up for this fight and put in a performance we can be proud of.

History

Albion have registered just one victory over Derby County in the last sixteen years, a run that includes eight defeats in twelve meetings, nine if you count the Rams’ penalty success earlier this season. In the league, Derby have won the last four meetings with Albion having not avoided defeat in a league match against the Rams since a goalless draw at the Hawthorns in September 2021.

The record is even worse when you only consider games at Pride Park. Since County moved there in 1997, Albion have recorded just two victories. They Baggies won on their first ever visit in a League Cup Second Round First Leg match in September 2000 – after Deon Burton scored from the hosts, Neil Clement and Richard Sneekes found the net in the second half so Albion took a lead into the second leg, which the Rams overturned with a 4-2 victory at the Shrine. The only other win for the Baggies at Derby’s new home was three years later when a late Rob Hulse goal earned Gary Megson’s team a 1-0 victory in August 2003. Since then, it’s been five defeats and two draws in seven visits to Pride Park in all competitions.

It’s not like the Baseball Ground was a particularly happy hunting ground for Albion either. Their record at County’s first stadium, the County Cricket Ground, wasn’t too bad in comparison. The clubs first met there in the first Football League season with the visitors winning 2-1 in September 1888 thanks to goals from Albion 19th century legends Billy Bassett and Tom Pearson. After two defeats and two draws in their next four visits, Albion won 3-2 in September 1893, Sammy Nicholls and Roddie McLeod (2) the scorers – also on the scoresheet that day was Cradley-born Steve Bloomer, the man who would score the first ever goal at the Hawthorns when County were Albion’s first opponents at their new ground seven years later.

Having won two of eight games at the County Ground, Albion would win just five of forty-seven games they played at the Baseball Ground, four of which came in something of a purple patch either side of the First World War. Albion won four successive matches at Derby in 1911, 1912, 1913 and 1919, the latter coming in the Baggies’ title-winning campaign – 20th December 1919 saw Albion’s biggest win in Derby when a brace from Fred Morris and further goals from Alf Bentley and Howard Gregory help the visitors to a 4-0 win. Of Albion’s eight other victories in Derby, only the 3-1 win in March 1911 was by more than the odd goal.

The Baggies last win at the Baseball Ground was in February 1978 when the clubs were drawn together in the fifth round of the FA Cup – Ron Atkinson’s team were 3-2 victors with Bruce Rioch’s brace for the hosts countered by a goal from Willie Johnston and a brace from Cyrille Regis. Albion would, of course, go on to lose to Ipswich Town at the semi-final stage.

Stat Attack

Current Form

All competitions; most recent game on the right

Last matches

Last meeting

13 Sep 2025 – League Championship
West Bromwich Albion 0
Derby County 1 (Weimann)

Last meeting at Derby County

26 Dec 2024 – League Championship
Derby County 2 (Yates, Holgate (o.g.))
West Bromwich Albion 1 (Diangana)

Last win

8 Jul 2020 – League Championship
West Bromwich Albion 2 (Diangana, O’Shea)
Derby County 0

Last win at Derby County

30 Aug 2003 – League Division 1
Derby County 0
West Bromwich Albion 1 (Hulse)

Albion’s Record against Derby County