West Bromwich Albion 1 - Fulham 1

Summary:

One look at the scoreline probably tells you all you need to know. Poor first half, go into the break a goal down, rally in the second half, equalise and finally look like they might snatch a winner - but don't.

Actually, it was a poor game where the only thing that performed as it should was the new goalline technology, which showed that Matej Vydra's shot just made it over the line before being grabbed by Maarten Stekelenburg. The bad news was that Billy Jones had to go off before half time with a pulled hamstring and that new striker Thievy Bifouma was taken off at half time for being pretty much ineffective.

On the upside, denying Fulham a win combined with defeats for Cardiff and Sunderland to lift Albion into sixteenth place, though only one point above the drop zone.

Didcot Baggie:

A poor game from two poor teams. On balance a draw was a fair result, even if our goal was somewhat fortunate. All the usual Albion problems were in evidence - lack of creativity, misplaced passes, lack of finishing. Fulham came out wanting it more and pressed hard on the 50:50 balls. Saido and Jimmy had bad games. Theivy offered little other than crazy hair - we looked better when Big Vic (or "Victor Anchovy" as the woman next to me called him) came on - he can hold the ball up. Him giving Saido a mouthful summed up the afternoon.

So a must-win game was drawn. Where does that leave us. Slowly drifting towards relegation I suppose. I thought it might come down to the last game - now I'm not so sure. Maybe, just maybe, Cardiff, Fulham and Norwich or Sunderland may prove to be worse than us, but I doubt it. Our squad is poor - poor buys and poor man management have got us where we are. Pepe is no miracle worker. Blame the board and start thinking about the games against Wolves next season.

Paul Gainham:

With Mel?s protestation of ?you will see a new approach? - If this performance was a direct result of the training camp in Spain last week God Help us. This performance was a carbon copy of the worst of Clarke. Clueless formation, no tempo and an utterly predictable passage ? we start poor, they start well, they score, we fight back, get a draw.

How many times has that storyline played out this season? Answer way too many.

It?s clear the link between Mel and the players is not clicking yet ? one moment in the 1H where Mel was barking out instructions and Brunt looked terminally confused, seemingly gesturing that we needed more width. I don?t blame Mel, it was always going to take him 6-8 games before we see his style come through and remember he did not choose the players at his disposal.

What confused me yesterday was the pressing game I had seen in earlier games completely disappeared in the 1H and only re-appeared in the second when we were behind and had to push to get something.

Our midfield were really poor yesterday, Brunt the one exception. We left huge gaps between us and defence for Holtby to expose and we were slow and ponderous going forward often allowing Fulham to re-group.

Again, the substitutions seemed to work, one enforced with Jones coming off for Anichebe late in the 1H, Gera for Thievy and Vydra for Berahino gave us a better shape and more attacking threat.

I have seen Thievy a few times now and he simply is NOT the answer, he definitely is Sherjil McDonald Mk 2 ? some pace but no touch. Also really disappointing has been for the form and attitude of Berahino of late ? normally lads of his age come in, do really well and then fade a little before getting their second wind if they are good enough. I do wonder if he is the Billy big boots I keep hearing about and thinks he is too good for us. Saido ? you have proven or shown NOTHING yet, time to get your head down and prove you are worth the coverage you get because at the moment you are way, way short of being a PL player.

Player Marks

• Foster 7 Couple of really good saves, could do little with the goal
• Jones 5 Not his usual marauding self, subbed late in 1H with injury
• Ridgewell 4 Not much else to say that has not already been said
• Olsson 6 Good to see him back
• McCauley 5 Not as commanding as he has bee
• Morrison 4 Poor, kept making the wrong decisions
• Mulumbu 4 Poor did not get into the game enough
• Thievy 3 NOT the answer, incredibly poor touch and control hit a great opportunity straight at the keeper
• Brunt 6 The pick of a poor midfield, some good corners and balls into the box
• Amalfitano 5 Flattered to deceive, could not beat Richardson for pace. Moved to RB 2H where I think he is better
• Berahino 3 Lost, added little to the team

Subs

• Anichebe 7 Added some presence to the forward line and set up Vydra for the goal
• Gera 6 Added some energy and craft to a really poor midfield
• Vydra 5 Took his goal well, otherwise ran around like a headless chicken