Stoke City 0 - West Bromwich Albion 0

Summary:

Albion made it eight points from twelve after their fourth unbeaten game in a row thanks to a goalless draw at the Brittania.

Steve Clarke had a bigger pool of players to choose from thanks to recovery from injuries to Anelka, Gera, Vydra and Anichebe and chose the latter to play up front in the 4-2-3-1 formation that has served us so well over the last few seasons.

Albion probably had the better of the play and the chances but Asmir Begovic was in top form in the Stoke goal and several Albion players were denied in fine style.

The point leaves Albion in twelfth place, but level on points and goal difference with Aston Villa and Swansea.

Paul Gainham:

The sun shone, it was warm, no wind, no rain at the Britannia stadium of all places. And yet the result was the same as last year but in reality this was a completely different 0-0 affair to last years. We dominated possession and really could and should have walked away on the back of a 3-0 win minimum.

The thing we lacked most of all was tempo, oh and a goalscorer. Lukaku, why did you turn your back on us for the toffees, why?

With Anichebe back in the team it was the same 11 that started at ManU and yet we seemed off the pace for most of the game. The way to beat what is a very poor Stoke side, who must be relegation candidates on this performance, is to move the ball around quickly and go at them and yet apart from a couple of notable flashes, we did not keep that momentum and style of football up.

I really don?t know what Hughes? game plan is but Stoke were neither fish nor fowl. They have widened the pitch out from Pulis? time but their football was mix of some movement on the ground but also plenty of long hoofs.

Our front line struggled for most of the game. Amalfitano and Berahino were poor and well marshalled by Stoke?s back line. Anichebe was what Anichebe is ? a limited forward player. His touch and pace are non-existent. Yes he can get up to a ball but on the ground against Huth and Shawcross, he looked really poor.

Mulumbu and Jones were again the star players for me, Mulumbu really unlucky not to have claimed a penalty in the 2H when he was clearly fouled by Adam. I don?t blame Webb for missing this, he was unsighted, but the assistant who was literally 15 yards away, had a clear view and did nothing.

Sessegnon, apart from two really good chances missed, stood out as a beacon of hope in terms of his movement, trickery and willingness to run at people.

Player Marks

• Myhill 8 Another really competent, solid performance
• Jones 9 Excellent again, both coming forwards and defending
• McCauley 8 Great performance again, kept Stoke attack quiet
• Olsson 8 Ditto McCauley, was calm, assured and ran the defense well
• Ridgewell 5 Usual performance, poor defending, poor distribution going forwards. How many times will we say this before he is changed
• Mulumbu 9 Excellent again ? full of energy, drive and his defensive qualities were again brilliantly executed
• Yacob 8 Not as ?fancy? as Mulumbu but again did the simple task of breaking Stoke?s play up really well
• Sesssegnon 8 At times, this guy is electric. Missed a couple of really good chances hence me giving him 8 but he looked our most dangerous player
• Amalfitano 5 Poor. Stoke had done their homework and kept him quiet and mostly out of the game
• Berahino 5 Ditto Amalfitano. A poor showing, Stoke nullified any threat from him
• Anichebe 4 A big lump. Really poor touch, no pace ? this guy cannot be the answer!

Subs

• Morrison 6 did not get overly involved in the game
• Anelka 4 Useless, slow, disinterested
• Long 6 Only had 15 mins, did not do much

Clarke 8 Bold selection, subbed Amalfitano and Berahino when he needed to, but bringing Anelka on a mistake.

oshawabaggie:

Watched the game in Gullivers bar, Pattaya, Thailand where football is popular but a distant second to an even older sport. We totally dominated the game and should have won by 3 or 4 goals but just couldn't take our chances - Sessegnon being most wasteful. The ref shouldn't be paid for that awful performance. He ignored Stoke fouls all over the pitch and missed a nailed on penalty on Mulumbu. I thought it was a good all round team effort. But Anichebe lacked an edge and seemed to be complaining a lot. Amalfitano had perhaps his least effective game for us - pondering his future? I would have jumped at 5 points from our last 3 games, but it could easily have been 9! Good team selection by SC and good positive substitutions. Perhaps an upset at Liverpool next week?

Things looking pretty good I would say.

Derby Bernie:

What an amazing performance by the referee. Howard Webb was more like a spectator than an official - he let everything go - however brutal. Unfortunately Stoke have had many years of practise at being brutal - so it suited them far more than us. Mind you our defence stood up to the violence really well (and dealt out their share). But I think Saido found it all a bit too intimidating for him.

Overall, Albion were much the better team - particulartly in a footballing sense. We missed a couple of sitters in the first half and the miss by Sess at the death was unbelievable, but it was a great save though.

Our tactics seemed to be spot-on with Anichebe taking a battering up front in order to create space for our more nimble players to run into. Slick passing and good movement enabled us to create a number good chances.By the end of the first half Anichebe looked shattered (and battered).

Time for a substitution? No, it didn't come until well into the second period. At this point the tactics turned bizarre. The Head Coach (for reasons only he could understand) moved Anichebe onto the left wing. A big battering striker he may be but a winger he aint. (Has Chris Brunt done something wrong?) The replacement striker (Anelka)didn't seem over interested. He strolled about, played a few 10 yard passes (not all to an Albion shirt), didn't win a ball (or even bother to challenge for it).

Long eventually came on for Anichebe and his enthusiasm and ability to win balls helped us to finish strongly. Why didn't he come on earlier?