West Bromwich Albion 2 - Bristol City 2

Date:	Saturday 9th January 2016
Competition:	FA Cup (R3)
WBA: 5.1	Foster 5.3, Chester 2.8 (Dawson, 63 5.7), McAuley 5.5, Evans 6.3, Brunt 5.3, Morrison 6.5, Fletcher 5.6, McClean 5.1 (McManaman, 63 6.0), Sessegnon 6.8, Rondón 3.9, Lambert 3.1 (Berahino, 63 6.2) Unused subs: Myhill, Yacob, Gardner, Gamboa Manager: Tony Pulis 5.4
Bristol C: 5.9
Scorers:	Berahino (67), Morrison (95)
Referee:	Graham Scott 5.4
Attendance:	24,917 Home Fans 5.4 Away Fans 6.8

Pete Cottrell:

Lacklustre game despite the 4 goals. With only half a decent striker on the pitch the Baggies ought to have had the game sewn up by half-time, but as a team display it was pretty dire. I lost count of the number of times that Sess dribbled the ball into a decent position, looked up and found no one to pass to so either tried to walk the ball in (and eventually lost possession) or had to pass it backwards. On the other wing, Brunt and McClean had presumably been re-living the Irish Troubles in the dressing-room and refused to pass to each other, while down the middle, Morrison and Fletcher tried to get the two lumps of lard masquerading as strikers into the game - which was tantamount to giving the ball back to the opposition. I did wonder if Rondón and Lambert knew that one of them would be substituted eventually and (given the torrential rain and greasy pitch) wanted to make sure it was them, so tried to play even worse than the other. In the end it was Lambert who was haule d off - perhaps on the basis that he was getting worse and worse whereas Rondón did improve slightly in the second half. If Pulis and Peace had any hair left, they would have pulled it out at the thought of the £ millions wasted on those two. Not helped by the fact that there was another donkey at right back (reputed to have cost us £8 million) who if anything was even more inept.

Individually, Evans, Morrison and Sessegnon all played well and each could claim MotM, but I'll give it to Jimmy for his goal (7 marks each). Fletcher, McAuley and Brunt (apart from his unwillingness to pass to McClean) were OK (6 marks each). Foster's kicking was atrocious and unfortunately his one good save fell at the feet of an opponent for their second goal, and McClean just had an off-day (5 marks each). Rondón, Lambert and Chester: no more to be said (3 marks each). All the subs were better than those whom they replaced.

With Sick Vic Anichebe unavailable for 80% of the time, it's grossly unfair on the rest of the team who know that they have to do the strikers' jobs as well as their own because it is the only way that we're going to get the ball in the net.

Mark Koppel:

Although an FA Cup game, and against Championship opposition, today still strangely went to prove a few things we have thinking for some time this season:

Something has gone badly wrong with James Chester.
Rondon cannot hit a barn door from 5 yards.
Rickie 'The Lump' Lambert is too slow.
Foster, when under pressure, starts to get very nervous, symbolised by his wayward kicking.
McManaman runs direct at defences and makes things happen. We would be mad to sell him.
Saido is a class act and we would be even more mental to sell him.

Overall a great game and great atmosphere, and one we did not deserve to lose.

Player Ratings:

Foster 5 - Ok his first game back, and very wet conditions, but in the second half there were signs of a 'Villa Away' type wobble again.
Chester 2 - For those old enough to remember , this was Scott Darton all over again. His nerves are completely shot to pieces and in the end was subbed because he couldn't even role the ball, when not under pressure, just 4 yards to another West Brom player. The main difference is that Scott Darton did not cost £8million.
McAuley 6 - Played ok and his basic passing was more or less accurate. Nearly turned into trouble a couple of times second half but without damage as it wasn't against Jamie Vardy.
Evans 6 - Maybe he doesn't like the rain. Played very well first half but not so after the break. Although I was in the Brummie today it looked like he went to ground unnecessarily for the free kick for their first goal. But then rescued us all with a great header to Morrison after 94.5 minutes.
Brunt 6 - Like Evans rescued himself with a very accurate free kick for the equaliser. Otherwise his crosses today were inconsistent at best.
Morrison 7 - Like last Saturday , was the best central midfielder on the pitch. Worried when he went down injured at 85min point given the games we now have to play. But sublimely timed run to get equaliser.
Fletcher 6 - Cannot remember him making any mistakes but not the driving Fletcher he has been in some previous matches.
Sess 6- Would have got a higher mark but the final ball today was nearly always a let down. On the plus side he did run at Bristol directly and effectively.
The Fenian 6 - Had the best shot of the game before anyone scored, and does run his socks off. But not much impact otherwise.
The Lump 2 - If he shaved his huge beard off would that help him lose weight and become more mobile ?
Rondon 3 - This year's Brown Ideye ? Different type of player admittedly but equally ineffective. Today's failure to score a golden opportunity(and not even hit the target) now goes with the ones against Stoke Away, Villa, Liverpool, West Ham, and Spurs.

Subs:

Saido 8 - First shot goal , Second shot on target. If anyone else says "get rid because he is difficult to manage" I will scream. Get over it(including you Pulis), we need his goals.
Calum 7 - The ability to make things happen and cause problems for defenders. As per Saido, if he is "difficult" Mr Pulis deal with it, that is your job.
Dawson 6 - Better option than Chester and because the latter was having such a mare, he had to bring him on.

Talyllyn Baggie:

It was one of those games wher an early goal would have settled things down & we would have seen it through. Sess in the first half ran riot and as has been said before, with a better final ball we could have achieved that.

I must congratulate the determination of the Bristol team & their raucous support, although I was disappointed that, unlike our last league encounter, none of the came dressed as the wurzels!

I know that the conditions were poor, but some of our passing in defensive areas was woeful and put Foster under unnecessary pressure to clear.

So a replay at Ashton Gate - the only time I have been there is for a Rolling Stones concert in 1982. The support act, the J Geils Band gave them a run for their money, just like city did to us. Let's hope we can headline properly on the night to come.