00:00Baggies fans, welcome to ExpressSR.com, welcome to a third straight frustrated post-match
00:13video shall we say, Coxy. Albin held to a nil-nil draw by the Millwall bus, fair play
00:19to them, they parked it, they didn't move it, the driver, I think the driver Neil Harris
00:23must have lost the keys or something because they parked the bus, they did it to perfection
00:27and Albin just couldn't find a way through, one good chance all game from Josh Madger
00:33and yes, Coxy, frustration, one point for nine but then to make you feel a bit positive
00:41going into the break, Albin a fourth, so let's focus on today for now, frustrating, kind
00:46of didn't grab the initiative at times Albin, it was quite laboured, don't get me wrong
00:52it's probably hard to get through, it wasn't two banks of four, it felt like ten banks
00:56of four, well it was nine players behind, yeah, frustration but Albin just didn't have
01:00the answer, no, I thought they might have had the answer, he won't sell any DVDs will
01:05it today, no, or any VHS, no, it's not going to trouble Orange Crush at the top of the
01:10Albion DVD charts shall we say, yeah I mean to be honest we should have predicted it really
01:16shouldn't we, Albion and Millwall, the last three here have been goalless, I think Albion
01:21have been a seven winless against the Lions now, so not favourable opposition really,
01:27which is interesting I mean by and large I think when they're away they come with a certain
01:32style and reputation don't they Millwall and Neil Harris doing that today, he's not apologised
01:37for it, he's openly admitted it there in the press conference, I mean we will add that
01:42they had chances Millwall didn't they, they had a couple of moments, arguably if you look
01:46at it Millwall had a really good chance in the first half and they had a couple in the
01:49second half, certainly a three header, but the point I was going to make is, and they
01:53were probably better than what Albion can play, going and playing like that is a backhanded
01:57compliment isn't it, look at what Albion have done this season, the attacking players they've
02:02got, but let's have it right, the attacking players were not on song today, they weren't
02:09on Tuesday night either, I mean Klaus Coburn was a little more upbeat than I would have
02:15thought in his press conference, yeah he was a bit, a bit more of a springer's stepper,
02:20a bit more in his voice, yeah well I think one of his quotes I haven't listened back
02:25yet was actually that he preferred today than Middlesbrough, I mean look Albion lost the
02:31other night, they've drawn today, but I think Middlesbrough are a better team the other
02:34night clearly, and I thought Albion had maybe had a little bit more about them on Tuesday
02:39than they did today, Albion made one big chance today didn't they, and it came after
02:4515 minutes, against a team that quote unquote part of the bus, that's never a good look
02:49is it I don't think, because that means, well 75, showing some maths there, 75 minutes of
02:56the rest of the game, without a clear chance, and that leads to a frustrated crowd, frustrating
03:03fans, atmosphere, didn't really get going did it, I mean not helped by the din in the
03:09away end, is there a more annoying noise in football, I'm not so sure, maybe the supporters
03:15down the road, they're a bit more annoying, well yeah, yeah, yeah, but one thing that
03:18got me in that first half, and I got sick of myself saying this last season, and I thought
03:24today was a little bit of a throwback to times last season, Albion's display wasn't bad today,
03:32but when they went up through the gears, the tempo was good, they carved out that chance,
03:37they made some brave passes, I hate, Jonny Brown's going to hate me for saying this,
03:42but breaking the lines, Jonny's going all against modern football, yeah I am, just to
03:47warn you, do you know what I mean, yeah, breaking the press, through the lines, but when they
03:51did that, they carved them open, it was still a difficult chance, it'd come to him quick,
03:55but when you play laboured and lethargic football, like Albion did in the second half, it allows
03:59Millwall to get into their position, do you know what I mean, I'm not a professional footballer,
04:03I'm not a manager, but I've just wrote a piece about it, I don't think the way Albion set
04:07up today, lost in the game, they just didn't show that urgency when they need to keep moving
04:12the ball quickly, because when they did it in that first half, they pulled Millwall out
04:14of position, Fallows got in, they had a chance, I'm not going to say you're going to do it
04:18for 90 minutes of the game, but it's just a bit of lack of urgency.
04:23Well Jonny, on that, and I'm not going to disagree with you, but in a roundabout way,
04:27I'm going to put that to the head coach, who didn't agree with you really, I didn't
04:32agree with the point.
04:33He knows a lot more, he's got a UEFA pro license and I haven't.
04:37There are different ways of seeing the game, and clearly elements of today were what Corbran
04:43wanted, obviously not the final moment, which involved a lack of chance, shot, accurate.
04:50Well that chance was Corbran's dream wasn't it, if you said that to me, they pulled him
04:53this way, they pulled him that way, they kept the ball in.
04:54That was the point I was just going to make, that was a great move and the one and only
04:58clear chance, and that came via patience, and biding your time, and then an incisive
05:05pass by Ajayi.
05:06But it came via moving the ball quickly as well didn't it, you showed patience in the
05:10second half, but they just didn't move the ball.
05:11I absolutely take your point, and I thought, my question to Carlos was, there's a balance
05:16to be struck is there, surely, between.
05:17I feel like I need a screen here, like Gary Neville, just to drag players around and show
05:21you what I mean.
05:23Hopefully we're more popular than Neville and Carragher, I don't know.
05:26We're not as advanced as Sky Sprawl.
05:28Smaller budget.
05:29I asked Corbran whether there was a balance between patience, that I just mentioned, pulling
05:37opposition side to side and waiting for the moment, and taking too many touches, or maybe
05:43going the wrong way, that you need to find a nice middle ground, and I personally think
05:48that's the case really.
05:51You can't waste too much momentum and positioning by going the wrong way, or taking an extra
05:56touch per player.
05:57I think that's the point you're making isn't it, passing for passing's sake is one of your
06:02favourite lines, isn't it Jonny?
06:03Do you know the worst ones?
06:06I'll save this for the podcast, no I'll save that for the podcast, because I can turn that
06:10into a five minute rant.
06:11Yeah I'm sure you could, but Corbran's response was that he didn't see a lack of tempo or
06:16urgency today, and that's fair enough, he knows best, but a lot of people watching this
06:24and having watched the game will see it differently.
06:30This is a longer debate for a different time isn't it, but this week, which has been a
06:33tough week, three games, just one point from a possible nine, two blanks here in a few
06:39days.
06:40We've seen the squad used haven't we, and we've already talked about this on Wednesday's
06:44part of maybe the video on Tuesday from here, but we've seen the squad used a bit, changes
06:48today, four changes, a side lot in the line-up that I think everyone wanted to see didn't
06:53they?
06:54Dean Garner, Johnson starting for the first time in the three behind the striker, Molumbi
06:59back in midfield, Fellowes back in the side, I think Corbran made the point there and a
07:04few others have made the point, to me Bongo, Tony Brown being one of them as well, when
07:08the wingers are shackled and the full-backs defended the wingers so well, it's not as
07:14far as to say they've been found out, but they've just been defended really well, where's
07:18the next moment coming from?
07:19Corbran made a big point of corner runners he kept calling it, and I think he means third
07:26man runs going beyond your wingers, so a Dean Garner or a Madger or a Molumbi or a Moat,
07:33making those third man runners, sorry, sorry, but you know running
07:38off the wingers to give different options to then Furlong and Higgum joining as well,
07:44I wrote that midway through the game in our blog and the report, I think it lacked, not
07:50just someone taking responsibility with the ball but players willing to go beyond, there
07:54were times where Johnson had it on the left touchline or Fellowes on the right and Madger
08:00pretty isolated in the middle really, it'd have to be like a 1 in 100 cross to pick him
08:05out for a header, but the spaces in between where maybe you want Grady, I thought he did
08:11alright today, Dean Garner, or maybe Moat's run or Molumbi's run wasn't there, and that's
08:15not knocking Moat as well because I think if most of the side showed the urgency that
08:22Moat shows then Albin are in a good place, I think he's still the one, the heartbeat
08:27really, but I just think it lacked that kind of off the ball and on the ball but off the
08:33ball inspiration really that was going to pull Millwall apart because their shape was
08:39very much, they had a front man but a very offered nine really behind the ball and it
08:46was going to take a lot to break them down and Albin didn't have it today, didn't have
08:49it Tuesday either against a totally different opposition, Corbans remained sort of steadfast
08:55in his opinion that it was only that first half at Hillsborough last week that had been
08:59a poor half of football, some will disagree with that, that's fair enough, but it's been
09:05a poor week, it's checked the progress at the start hasn't it, but as you said right
09:09at the top was it still 4-4, did I see two points off top I think, but I think as we
09:15didn't need to, I mean we probably did didn't we, but as we didn't need to get carried away
09:20looking at the table after six games, we still don't after nine, Corban made a little point
09:26just quickly that at some stage soon the table will settle down and teams will sort of slot
09:32where they are and I think Neil Harris did say that he didn't want to put too much pressure
09:37on Albin as a team that are right up there but he says they've got a top six squad and
09:41we know I think and everyone watching this I think will know that it's a better squad
09:45than last season, the very top is a poorer quality league and yeah it's still a new squad
09:54a lot of new players finding their way, Carlos said to me that Johnson will show more, he's
10:02struggled so far hasn't he, but early days he will show more, Fellowes had it tough today,
10:08I thought Dean Garner did as well as can be expected and Corban thought he did actually
10:12showed a lot and managed to stay on the pitch given injuries he's had so good for Grady,
10:19Magic takes that chance on 15 minutes, it's a different game isn't it and that's what
10:22the frustrating thing is but we can't really cling or take too much solace from that because
10:26Albin had to create more opportunities of that vein and didn't so a disappointing day
10:31Johnny a disappointing day and now we have to wait two weeks which is also very annoying.
10:39One point from nine, poor week, let's write it off and go again after the international
10:43break.
10:44Final score here, Albion nil, Millwall nil, all the rest of your reaction you know where
10:48to go, expressandstart.com
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