West Bromwich Albion 5 - Hull City 2

Date:	Saturday 20th August 2022
Competition:	Sky Bet Championship
WBA: 7.1	Button 6.5, Furlong 6.8 (Phillips, 74 5.3), Ajayi 6.6, O'Shea 7.7, Townsend 6.7, Molumby 6.5, Yokuslu 7.7 (Robinson, 75 6.1), Wallace 6.3, Swift 6.9 (Livermore, 84 5.0), Diangana 8.3 (Reach, 84 4.7), Grant 5.7 (Gardner-Hickman, 84 6.2) Unused subs: Palmer, Bartley Manager: Steve Bruce 5.9
Hull: 5.3	Ingram, Coyle, Figueiredo, Greaves, Elder, Jones, Slater, Williams (Covil, 86), Tufan (Woods, 21), Tetteh, Estupiñán Unused subs: Baxter, Cannon, McLoughlin, Jones, Mills
Scorers:	Elder (37 og), Swift (48), Furlong (55), Grant (70 pen), O'Shea (85); Estupiñán (77, 90)
Referee:	James Bell 5.9
Attendance:	22,003 Home Fans 7.0 Away Fans 5.5

Brendan Clegg:

I was optimistic for today and we were certainly due a win. Bruce changed Livermore for Mulumby for a bit more mobility and I honestly thought Robbo might get the nod up top but Grant kept his place.

I thought the first half was a repeat of Cardiff. We were on top but toothless and starting to look a bit desperate. Hull are a poor team with decent forwards so they actually looked more likely than us to score and we had a great recovery tackle from Grady and a decent save from Button to keep us level.

I thought that we were decent enough in 1st half but Grant was terrible and Swift didn’t do enough. Fortunately we got the goal, the proverbial ‘off someone’s backside’ type, and then we closed out to half time.

2nd half was better as you could see the relief at being ahead, the belief and confidence come back. Even Grant improved and Swift played with swagger after his goal. The other goals were decent and Grady was unlucky to hit the post.

The goals we conceded were poor but I think our 4 goal cushion played a part in those... Ajayi took no risks on the physical side.

The number of subs all sides make does change the game and it went stale again.

A step in the right direction but we have to follow it up at Huddersfield and we have to get 2 forwards in.

Button - 7 Some big saves and sensible ball use.
Furlong- 7 Good goal and bags of effort.
Ajayi - 7 Another mostly dominant performance.
O’Shea - 7 Strong and used it well. Delighted for him and the academy
Townsend - 7 Constant raids and good partnership with Grady.
Yokuslu - 8 Too god for this league.
Mulumby- 7 Was brilliant for us apart from the final 3rd where he was atrocious. Just relax!
Wallace - 6 Good running but was quite predictable
Swift - 6 Great goal and livened up after bit. We need more.
Diagana - 9 Superb going forward but looked after the ball and tracked back. Wasn’t rocket science to play him on the left and feed him early.
Grant - 4 Good penalty and looked better after his goal but hold up and link play was awful.

Subs all get a 6 - they did a job.

Baggyjon:

First and foremost a very welcome 3 points.

However as we have seen before the opposition set out their stall to frustrate and catch us on the breakout. We huffed and puffed and counted ourselves a bit fortunate to go in at halftime thanks to Button and an own goal. Once again our requirement for a centre forward to hold up the ball and dominate the box was highlighted.

That goal turned the game as Hull tried to be more expansive in the second half leaving gaps which were for 25 minutes ruthlessly exposed.

What was becoming a thrashing stuttered as Bruce replaced Furlong having his best game for yonks by Phillips who was brutally exposed. How long does it take Bruce to realise that TGH is a far better bet? I understand that Brighton are sniffing around.

Phillips did redeem himself with an inch perfect cross for captain O'Shea but once Yoko left the field we became very exposed down the middle.

However a vast improvement with improved games from Molumby, Townsend, Swift, Grant and the outstanding Diangana. O'Shea and Ajayi looked solid enough and are forming a solid partnership.

Still a long way to go.