Albion’s Second Tier Season Comparison – 28 games

If Tony Mowbray had any misconceptions about Albion’s problems this season, the 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough aptly demonstrated the current squad’s deficiencies. The Baggies looked good between both boxes for much of the match competing well against a well organised team of good footballers, but they lacked the clinical touch in front of goal and were beaten by two excellent goals.

Furthermore, the bench offered little in the way of impact which reinforces the case for significant reinforcements before the window closes. Of course, the financial situation will dictate how significant those reinforcements will be, but we have to trust Mowbray to advise well on them and to also get more out of the squad that is already there.

Looking ahead to Saturday, Albion have won game 29 in each of the last two campaigns by a single goal, but it proved pivotal in 2021/22 – the 2-0 defeat at Millwall proved to be the last game of Valérien Ismaël’s tenure although the Frenchman’s side had more points than this season’s team at the same stage.

There are eighteen games of the campaign remaining so a possible 54 points available – Gary Megson’s 2001/02 team achieved a remarkable 42 points in that period while Denis Smith’s side in 1998/99 won just 17 points including a run of just six points earned from the final ten matches of the season. Corberán and Bilić both earned 30 points in 2023/24 and 2019/20 respectively, as did both of Mowbray’s teams in 2006/07 and 2007/08. I suspect Albion will need slightly more than 30 points from the remaining games to make the play-offs this season.

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
1988/1989 28 12 10 6 46 27 46 5th 8 4 2 28 11 28 4 6 4 18 16 18 9th 72
1989/1990 28 7 10 11 46 48 31 17th 4 5 5 28 26 17 3 5 6 18 22 14 20th 51
1990/1991 28 8 9 11 34 36 33 15th 5 6 3 16 11 21 3 3 8 18 25 12 23rd 48
1993/1994 28 6 9 13 39 46 27 21st 5 6 3 25 19 21 1 3 10 14 27 6 21st 51
1994/1995 28 9 7 12 25 34 34 16th 8 2 3 14 9 26 1 5 9 11 25 8 19th 58
1995/1996 28 8 4 16 33 48 28 22nd 6 2 6 18 17 20 2 2 10 15 31 8 11th 60
1996/1997 28 7 13 8 44 45 34 17th 3 7 5 25 24 16 4 6 3 19 21 18 16th 57
1997/1998 28 12 6 10 29 28 42 8th 8 2 5 16 13 26 4 4 5 13 15 16 10th 61
1998/1999 28 12 6 10 50 44 42 8th 9 0 5 30 20 27 3 6 5 20 24 15 12th 59
1999/2000 28 5 14 9 24 32 29 19th 2 8 4 12 15 14 3 6 5 12 17 15 21st 49
2000/2001 28 15 5 8 37 31 50 4th 9 2 3 23 14 29 6 3 5 14 17 21 6th 74
2001/2002 28 14 5 9 33 23 47 6th 8 2 4 17 7 26 6 3 5 16 16 21 2nd 89
2003/2004 28 14 9 5 39 23 51 2nd 7 5 2 19 10 26 7 4 3 20 13 25 2nd 86
2006/2007 28 13 7 8 51 33 46 4th 11 2 1 35 12 35 2 5 7 16 21 11 4th 76
2007/2008 28 15 6 7 62 35 51 1st 9 4 1 37 14 31 6 2 6 25 21 20 1st 81
2009/2010 28 15 8 5 58 31 53 2nd 8 2 4 29 15 26 7 6 1 29 16 27 2nd 91
2018/2019 28 14 8 6 57 35 50 3rd 7 5 2 33 18 26 7 3 4 24 17 24 4th 80
2019/2020 28 14 11 3 50 31 53 1st 6 6 2 30 20 24 8 5 1 20 11 29 2nd 83
2021/2022 28 12 9 7 34 22 45 5th 8 5 1 21 8 29 4 4 6 13 14 16 10th 67
2022/2023 28 11 8 9 38 30 41 6th 6 4 4 20 14 22 5 4 5 18 16 19 9th 66
2023/2024 28 13 6 9 40 27 45 5th 9 3 2 24 11 30 4 3 7 16 16 15 5th 75
2024/2025 28 9 14 5 33 24 41 7th 5 7 1 14 7 22 4 7 4 19 17 19
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.

Results

1988/1989 11/02/1989 Barnsley (H) D 1-1 Goodman
1989/1990 03/02/1990 Oldham Athletic (H) D 2-2 Robson, West
1990/1991 16/02/1991 Blackburn Rovers (A) W 3-0 Robson, Goodman (2)
1993/1994 01/02/1994 Grimsby Town (A) D 2-2 Taylor, Fenton
1994/1995 01/02/1995 Watford (H) L 0-1
1995/1996 10/02/1996 Southend United (H) W 3-1 Hunt, Taylor (2)
1996/1997 18/01/1997 Oldham Athletic (H) D 1-1 Taylor
1997/1998 27/01/1998 Ipswich Town (H) L 2-3 Murphy, Flynn
1998/1999 16/01/1999 Norwich City (A) D 1-1 Bortolazzi
1999/2000 22/01/2000 Nottingham Forest (A) D 0-0
2000/2001 13/01/2001 Queen’s Park Rangers (A) L 0-2
2001/2002 01/01/2002 Stockport County (H) W 4-0 Roberts, Johnson, Dichio (2)
2003/2004 17/01/2004 Burnley (A) D 1-1 Horsfield
2006/2007 12/01/2007 Luton Town (H) W 3-2 Koumas, Phillips (2)
2007/2008 19/01/2008 Cardiff City (H) D 3-3 Bednár, Albrechtsen, Johnson (o.g.)
2009/2010 03/02/2010 Blackpool (A) W 3-2 Bednár (2), Dorrans (pen)
2018/2019 21/01/2019 Bolton Wanderers (A) W 2-0 Rodriguez, Field
2019/2020 20/01/2020 Stoke City (H) L 0-1
2021/2022 26/01/2022 Preston North End (H) L 0-2
2022/2023 20/01/2023 Burnley (A) L 1-2 Furlong
2023/2024 20/01/2024 Norwich City (A) L 0-2
2024/2025 21/01/2025 Middlesbrough (A) L 0-2

Next Matches

1988/1989 18/02/1989 Bradford City (A) L 0-2
1989/1990 10/02/1990 Oxford United (A) W 1-0 Shakespeare
1990/1991 19/02/1991 Middlesbrough (A) L 2-3 Bannister (2)
1993/1994 05/02/1994 Sunderland (H) W 2-1 Donovan, Fenton
1994/1995 05/02/1995 Charlton Athletic (H) L 0-1
1995/1996 17/02/1996 Tranmere Rovers (H) D 1-1 Hunt (pen)
1996/1997 25/01/1997 Ipswich Town (A) L 0-5
1997/1998 31/01/1998 Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) W 1-0 Hunt
1998/1999 23/01/1999 Watford (A) W 2-0 Sneekes, Angel
1999/2000 29/01/2000 Swindon Town (H) D 1-1 Hughes (pen)
2000/2001 20/01/2001 Sheffield United (H) W 2-1 Fox, Hughes
2001/2002 12/01/2002 Grimsby Town (A) D 0-0
2003/2004 31/01/2004 Watford (H) W 3-1 Horsfield (2), Hughes
2006/2007 20/01/2007 Leeds United (A) W 3-2 Greening, Kamara (2)
2007/2008 29/01/2008 Preston North End (A) L 1-2 Gera
2009/2010 06/02/2010 Plymouth Argyle (A) W 1-0 Cox
2018/2019 02/02/2019 Middlesbrough (H) L 2-3 Rodriguez, Gayle
2019/2020 28/01/2020 Cardiff City (A) L 1-2 Austin (pen)
2021/2022 29/01/2022 Millwall (A) L 0-2
2022/2023 03/02/2023 Coventry City (H) W 1-0 Diangana
2023/2024 03/02/2024 Birmingham City (H) W 1-0 Weimann
2024/2025 25/01/2025 Portsmouth (H)

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