After a heavy home defeat by Chelsea, Tony Pulis appears to be on the brink of the sack after Albion’s worst Premier League start for 12 years. This season’s record after first 12 games is only better than that achieved in the Baggies’ first three Premier League seasons when the squad was not packed with internationals with vast Premier League experience.
More than the results this season, it was the performance on the pitch that said to me that Pulis is not the man to turn this around. After a bright start, they simply fell apart defensively, a sign of a group lacking in confidence and in need of a change.
Yesterday’s 4-0 defeat matches Pulis’s worst as Baggies manager with his two other 4-0 defeats coming last season at home to Manchester City and away to Albion’s next opponents, Tottenham Hotspur. Albion are yet to concede five under the Welshman, but you wonder whether that might change next week should he still be in charge.
Game 13 has not been that lucky for the Baggies over the years, with just three wins and two draws in the eleven seasons to date. However, if you are looking for positive omens, Albion have never lost a Premier League game on 25th November – their two matches on that date were a 4-2 away win at Sunderland in 2012 and a 2-2 home draw with Aston Villa a year later.
| 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 | |
| 2002/2003 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 20 | 10 | 18th | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 19th | 26 |
| 2004/2005 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 9 | 17th | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 17th | 34 |
| 2005/2006 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 22 | 8 | 17th | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 19th | 30 |
| 2008/2009 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 11 | 19th | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 20th | 32 |
| 2010/2011 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 21 | 16 | 11th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 5 | 11th | 47 |
| 2011/2012 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 10th | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 10th | 47 |
| 2012/2013 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 13 | 23 | 4th | 6 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 8th | 49 |
| 2013/2014 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 11th | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 17th | 36 |
| 2014/2015 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 17 | 13 | 13th | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 13th | 44 |
| 2015/2016 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 14 | 13th | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 14th | 43 |
| 2016/2017 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 9th | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10th | 45 |
| 2017/2018 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 10 | 17th | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 4 | ||
| Comparison of Equivalent Fixtures^ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| 2016/2017 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 16 | 21 |
| 2016/2017 Results | Chelsea (H) | L | 0-1 | ||||
| Tottenham Hotspur (A) | L | 0-4 | |||||
Results
| 2002/2003 | 02/11/2002 | Manchester City (H) | L | 1-2 | Clement |
| 2004/2005 | 06/11/2004 | Southampton (A) | D | 2-2 | Earnshaw (2) |
| 2005/2006 | 05/11/2005 | West Ham United (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2008/2009 | 08/11/2008 | Liverpool (A) | L | 0-3 | |
| 2010/2011 | 10/11/2010 | West Ham United (A) | D | 2-2 | Odemwingie (pen), Ibanez |
| 2011/2012 | 19/11/2011 | Bolton Wanderers (H) | W | 2-1 | Thomas, Long |
| 2012/2013 | 17/11/2012 | Chelsea (H) | W | 2-1 | Long, Odemwingie |
| 2013/2014 | 25/11/2013 | Aston Villa (H) | D | 2-2 | Long (2) |
| 2014/2015 | 22/11/2014 | Chelsea (A) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2015/2016 | 07/11/2015 | Manchester United (A) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2016/2017 | 21/11/2016 | Burnley (H) | W | 4-0 | Phillips, Morrison, Fletcher, Rondón |
| 2017/2018 | 18/11/2017 | Chelsea (H) | L | 0-4 |
Next Matches
| 2002/2003 | 09/11/2002 | Bolton Wanderers (A) | D | 1-1 | Dobie |
| 2004/2005 | 14/11/2004 | Middlesbrough (H) | L | 1-2 | Earnshaw |
| 2005/2006 | 19/11/2005 | Everton (H) | W | 4-0 | Ellington (2), Clement, Earnshaw |
| 2008/2009 | 15/11/2008 | Chelsea (H) | L | 0-3 | |
| 2010/2011 | 13/11/2010 | Wigan Athletic (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2011/2012 | 26/11/2011 | Tottenham Hotspur (H) | L | 1-3 | Mulumbu |
| 2012/2013 | 25/11/2012 | Sunderland (A) | W | 4-2 | Gera, Long, Lukaku (pen), Gardner (o.g.) |
| 2013/2014 | 30/11/2013 | Newcastle United (A) | L | 1-2 | Brunt |
| 2014/2015 | 29/11/2014 | Arsenal (H) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2015/2016 | 21/11/2015 | Arsenal (H) | W | 2-1 | Morrison, Arteta (o.g.) |
| 2016/2017 | 26/11/2016 | Hull City (A) | D | 1-1 | McAuley |
| 2017/2018 | 25/11/2017 | Tottenham Hotspur (A) |
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the Premier League table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.
^ Fixtures against promoted clubs are compared against fixtures against the relegated clubs from last season with the club finishing 1st in the Championship compared against the club finishing 18th in the Premier League, 2nd compared with 19th and the play-off winners compared against the club who finished bottom.
