West Bromwich Albion 2 - Nottingham Forest 2

Date: Tuesday 12th February 2019 Live on Sky Sports
Competition: Sky Bet Championship
WBA:
5.0
Johnstone 6.0, Holgate 5.5, Dawson 4.7, Adarabioyo 5.1, Gibbs 5.9, Harper 6.9, Livermore 4.5 (Barry, 64 6.4), Johansen 5.5 (Hoolahan, 70 5.4), Murphy 4.5, Rodriguez 6.1, Gayle 6.0
Unused subs: Bond, Bartley, Mears, Field, Tulloch
Manager: Darren Moore 5.0
Forest:
5.5
Scorers: Murphy (54), Rodriguez (89 pen)
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire) 4.3
Attendance: 22,691   Home Fans 5.5   Away Fans 6.1

Brendan Clegg:

Pretty woeful and that bench looked so bare. I know we had big injuries but I’d have found a way to get Montero into the squad tonight.

We started well enough but gave away another diabolical goal - overplayed by Dawson but then still with enough cover.

After that we were rubbish - Murphy was incredibly bad; no strength, no intelligence, hoping for long balls rather than looking for the ball. Only Harper had a go in our midfield and at least JRod/Gayle ran hard but their decision making was poor.

We had a 10 minute spell before half time when we moved the ball quickly and looked a threat and simply by upping the tempo we equalised after the break with a sloppy goal that followed a wonderful Harper volley off the bar from 20 yards that deserved more.

At that point it looked like we might go on to win it but we conceded another park goal from a long throw - could SJ have come to collect or punch it and where was our defence.

I felt after that we ran out of ideas, the introduction of Hoolahan didn’t really help and we got massively lucky with a dodgy penalty.

Forest looked more dangerous on the break and SJ did make one brilliant save before our equaliser to keep us in the game.

Automatic promotion is fading away. Our home form is atrocious and we seem to be tactically inept - bereft of a plan B and getting stuck in a predictable rut as we were earlier in the season with 3 at the back.

  • SJ - 7 One terrific save ultimately earned us a point.
  • Holgate - 5 Great player but petulance is starting to be an albatross around his neck. Temper made him sloppy.
  • Daws - 6 Did okay but some terrible passes when options were really lacking.
  • Tosin - 5 Not going to slaughter him but gave it away cheaply or got lucky too often. Wasn’t looked after very well by seniors around him.
  • Gibbs - 6 In this system he has these wonderful bursts forward before realising there is no wide pass on and having to check back. Decent - probably lucky with the shot tug at the end.
  • Livermore - 5 I’ve seen goalkeepers with a better first touch and range of passing. Always looked for the ball. Unfortunately.
  • ‘Andy’ Johansen - 5 Ran about a lot, offered little and gave the ball away. (There’s only 2 AJs)
  • Harper - 7 Some big moments. Still lacks a bit of stamina but he’s starting to look undroppable. Trust him more than the others in there.
  • Murphy - 4 Apart from the goal and a 5 minute flurry before half time I thought he was worse than what Burke would offer. Looks some way off it.
  • JRod - 6 Ran, fought, never looked a threat. Genuinely think he’s a midfielder being played out of position now. Reliable penalty under pressure.
  • Gayle - 6 Kept chasing but what a waste out there on the wing.
  • Barry - 6 Kept it well enough.
  • Hoolahan - 5 Loads of effort but the body can’t do it anymore.

I can’t be the only person dreading Saturday.