West Brom v Brighton: The Baggies view with WBA Latest

The Premier League relegation battle is a dogfight which Brighton cannot seem to escape – even after going unbeaten for six games and winning against Spurs and Liverpool, we find ourselves talking to West Brom fan site WBA Latest about a six pointer between Baggies and Seagulls at the Hawthorns.

Not that there is much sympathy from the Midlands. West Brom have been in the bottom three for virtually the entire season. They sacked the popular Slaven Bilic in favour of calling upon Sam Allardyce to carry out his normal miracle work, but this looks like it is a job too far even for a renowned escape artist of Big Sam’s talents.

Is there any hope? What happens to Big Sam if West Brom go down? How different is the Premier League compared to when the Baggies were last in the top flight? And most importantly, how is our favourite Tyson Fury look-a-like David Button getting on at the Hawthorns?

Those were just some of the questions put to David Moore from WBA Latest ahead of Albion v Albion.

How are West Brom finding their return to the Premier League after a two season absence?
It seems a distant memory to what it was like before. A once beautiful game that has been ruined by VAR and the money in the Premier League, which is now so huge that a team like ours without backing from the board is really left without much of a chance. It has been a really tough season with little to cheer about and its clear we lack the quality to properly compete.

Most of the football world was pretty aghast when Slaven Bilic was sacked. What did Baggies fans make of the decision?
The fanbase was in uproar because after years of Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew disconnecting with supporters, Bilic actually galvanised Baggies fans. He brought in flair players and for much of the first half of last season, we blew everyone in the Championship away.

However, it was a season of two halves and from Christmas onwards our results dipped, leading to us crawling over the line. We never got going after lockdown and Brentford should really have got promoted ahead of us with that poor form continuing into the Premier League.

Personally, I was not too gutted because I think our summer recruitment was poor and the relationship between Bilic and the board had become untenable.

What are your thoughts on Big Sam so far? Is he the man to keep West Brom up when not sat in Chinese restaurants drinking a pint of wine?
West Brom fans were divided when Allardyce was appointed. Our first few results were poor but it was also clear that he was shocked by our lack of quality at this level.

His recruitment in January was fantastic and finally we finally look a Premier League team but sadly it is too little too late. Had we had the team we have now over the course of the season, or even if we had signed them at the start of January, things might be different.

Allardyce is still splitting opinion, but we are now leaning towards a majority wanting him to stay on for next season regardless of which division we are in.

Who have been your stand out performers this season? Any disappointments?
Stand out performers are no question, Matheus Pereira and Sam Johnstone. Both have undoubted quality and no fan would begrudge them making a move in the summer to stay in the Premier League.

Disappointments have been Grady Diangana and Karlan Grant, both signed in the summer for £15 million plus and neither have made an impact at all really.

What did you think of our last meeting at the Amex back in October?
Brighton 1-1 West Brom was a classic game of two halves. Brighton were better in the first half, Albion better in the second half. It was two teams trying to play the right way but both of whom were lacking quality in vital areas.

If you had to give Graham Potter one piece of advice for beating West Brom, what would it be?
Exploit the wings. We lack experience at full back and we lack quality in defence, so play through the channels to create chances. Any high crosses into the box would be wasted as our defensive strength is in the air.

We have to ask about David Button, a goalkeeper who never really got a chance at Brighton because of the form of Maty Ryan which ironically deserted Ryan as soon as Button left. How has he been getting on in his limited game time at the Hawthorns?
Just like with you, he has lacked game time since joining us but I think a number of fans were pleased with his appearance in the derby win at Wolves.

Should Johnstone move on for next season as he deserves to for his performances, then most fans would be happy to see Button getting game time as he seems a solid goalkeeper.

And finally, what is the WBA Latest prediction for West Brom v Brighton?
The optimist in me says 2-1 to the Baggies, the realist says a 1-1 draw that is no good to either team.

Thanks to David for answering our questions ahead of West Brom v Brighton – you can read up on the Baggies before the relegation six pointer at WBA Latest and why not swell their following on Instagram even further than their current 24,000.