Albion’s Second Tier Season Comparison – 34 games

The title of this update is no mistake – Albion’s promotion challenge is now over. A second home defeat of the season leaves the Baggies some eight points shy of the top six with twelve games remaining. Not insurmountable in itself, but when you take into account the fact that there are another six clubs between Albion and sixth spot, with all but one of them having a game in hand and all of them in better form than Steve Bruce’s side, the size of the task is clear.

Albion’s run of form is such that only Peterborough United, the only side they have beaten in the last 13 games, are below them in the form tables whether you look at the last six, eight, ten or twelve matches.

They were perhaps a tad unfortunate against Swansea, hitting the post twice in what was a game between two very poor teams, but it was the visitors who managed to find the net thanks to some quite frankly appalling defending.

Steve Bruce has not been able to get any sort of reaction from the players, but has stuck with the same senior squad. Perhaps the introduction of Quevin Castro and the limited impact he made (albeit he was the only Albion player to register a shot on target) explains why he has not been willing to trust in the U23 squad, but with the season now effectively over (assuming you think they have enough to stay out of the bottom three), I wonder if it is time to try.

Unfortunately, however incapable you may think the senior players are, many are on long contracts and it will not be easy to do any sort of clear out in the summer. The club needs some massive changes, but it is difficult to see how they will be achieved in the short term.

A return to the Premier League looks a long way away at the moment.

Home Away Season End
Pld W D L F A Pts Posn* W D L F A Pts W D L F A Pts Posn Pts
2000/2001 34 17 8 9 47 39 59 5th 11 4 3 30 18 37 6 4 6 17 21 22 6th 74
2001/2002 34 18 6 10 38 24 60 4th 11 2 4 20 7 35 7 4 6 18 17 25 2nd 89
2003/2004 34 17 10 7 46 30 61 2nd 9 5 3 24 13 32 8 5 4 22 17 29 2nd 86
2006/2007 34 18 8 8 61 38 62 2nd 13 3 1 39 14 42 5 5 7 22 24 20 4th 76
2007/2008 34 17 7 10 70 42 58 4th 11 5 2 43 17 38 6 2 8 27 25 20 1st 81
2009/2010 34 18 9 7 67 38 63 3rd 10 2 4 34 16 32 8 7 3 33 22 31 2nd 91
2018/2019 34 17 9 8 67 43 60 4th 7 6 4 37 24 27 10 3 4 30 19 33 4th 80
2019/2020 34 18 12 4 62 36 66 1st 7 7 2 34 22 28 11 5 2 28 14 38 2nd 83
2021/2022 34 12 10 12 35 32 46 13th 8 6 2 21 10 30 4 4 10 14 22 16
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.

Results

2000/2001 24/02/2001 Portsmouth (H) W 2-0 Roberts, Chambers
2001/2002 19/02/2002 Millwall (A) L 0-1
2003/2004 02/03/2004 Norwich City (A) D 0-0
2006/2007 20/02/2007 Cardiff City (H) W 1-0 Ellington
2007/2008 01/03/2008 Plymouth Argyle (H) W 3-0 Gera, Miller, Bednár
2009/2010 06/03/2010 Queen’s Park Rangers (A) L 1-3 Brunt
2018/2019 23/02/2019 Sheffield United (H) L 0-1
2019/2020 22/02/2020 Bristol City (A) W 3-0 Robinson, Robson-Kanu (2)
2021/2022 28/02/2022 Swansea City (H) L 0-2

Next Matches

2000/2001 03/03/2001 Blackburn Rovers (A) L 0-1
2001/2002 23/02/2002 Portsmouth (H) W 5-0 Roberts (2), Sigurðsson, Dobie, Bališ
2003/2004 06/03/2004 Coventry City (H) W 3-0 Hughes, Hulse, Kinsella
2006/2007 24/02/2007 Leicester City (A) D 1-1 Kamara (pen)
2007/2008 04/03/2008 Sheffield Wednesday (A) W 1-0 Phillips
2009/2010 09/03/2010 Sheffield Wednesday (H) W 1-0 Koren
2018/2019 01/03/2019 Leeds United (A) L 0-4
2019/2020 25/02/2020 Preston North End (H) W 2-0 Robson-Kanu, Livermore
2021/2022 05/03/2022 Hull City (A)

If you cannot see the tables, click here.

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