'Instant impact': Lewis Cox & Jonny Drury on West Brom's 5-1 win over Portsmouth

Express & Star

Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox give their take on Albion's 5-1 win over Portsmouth. Grady Diangana netted twice, with further strikes from Jed Wallace and Alex Mowatt all coming in the space of 20 minutes in the first half. Albion had blown Portsmouth away already before John Swift added a fifth, and the boys discuss the win, Mowbray's return, the standout players and why we shouldn't get too carried away.

Transcript

00:00Baggies fans, welcome back to Expressandstuff.com, my name's Jonny Durie, I'm here with Albion

00:13Correspondent Lewis Cox. On a very very special day, Tony Mowbray back in the dugout and he's

00:17overseen a 5-1 walloping of Portsmouth. A perfect return for Mowbray, four goals in

00:24twenty the first half minutes followed by another one in the second half, it really

00:28could have been more. Coxie, Albion were purring at times today and it shows that even after

00:33maybe what, three or four training sessions, Tony Mowbray's had an impact on this side.

00:38Yeah, wow, I mean what a great day really. A great day because it was Tony Mowbray's

00:45return to the home dugout here anyway, after 5,000 days someone told me earlier. Did you

00:51ever sus that? Yeah, yeah, and I'm a little bit conflicted Jonny, I'll tell you for why.

00:58We were just joking about it in there with fellow colleagues weren't we, there's that

01:02bit of, let's not get carried away, and that's right because Portsmouth are poor, Portsmouth's

01:09rotated side after five changes are very poor. But on the flip side, we saw Mowbray's influence

01:17there in the second game after two training sessions, one training session since Borough,

01:23one signing, yes, but he was a sub, and what a difference. The thing I was going to say

01:29conflicted about not getting carried away, it's only quite recently we were doing, obviously

01:34we've done videos of these after every game, and we were doing videos on 11 draws in 12,

01:40and how often did we say, what can we say, same old story, and today, biggest win since

01:51December 2019, Slav and Swansea here wasn't it I think, almost bigger but for that annoying

01:57late consolation, I started the presser after the game by saying to Tony, perfect return

02:03to the home dugout after 16 years, and his first words were, well it was a bit annoying

02:06to concede that goal, so it's funny isn't it, because going back to the first Mowbray

02:12era here, it was, you score three, we'll score four type thing, don't care about clean sheets

02:19but he was irritated by that late one today and would have liked the clean sheet, but

02:23look, a magnificent day of attacking football really, and the influence after a few days,

02:30a couple of games, we'll get into it, the influence was players floating forward wanting

02:35to score, yes the last goal was 55 minutes and Albin didn't score late on after the changes

02:40but they could have, they tried, Mowbray's assessing the squad isn't he, and it was just

02:44a wonderful afternoon enjoyed by all of an Albion persuasion, and fans, those watching

02:51this, but those who come here and every game and away, who've seen too many 0-0's, too

02:55many 1-1's, deserve to watch this and enjoy this today, they certainly did, it felt as

03:00if it was kind of the day that Albion needed, like we say there, the win's caveated by the

03:06fact that Portsmouth left a lot of their big players, they were pretty dreadful, the goalkeeper

03:12decided to chuck the first two in, it was just a real confidence boosting day, confidence

03:16boosting win, but it is that, we've seen players today show quality that we've kind of maybe

03:23always known all along that they've had in the locker room, we just haven't seen on a

03:27consistent basis, we haven't seen them having shots from distance, just having a go, trying

03:32things, but it seems that, obviously we're not privy to what happens in training and

03:36what Mowbray's said to these players, but for me it seems like he's got a big needle

03:40of confidence and he's just shot it in the arm of so many of these players, and they've

03:45showed today what, probably in the back of our minds, we've all known that they're capable

03:49of, we've seen it more than others this season, and like we said, we're not going to get carried

03:55away because it's a poor Portsmouth team, however, so many good sides today and just

04:00so much more confidence from Albion.

04:02Yeah, I mean we're going to get on to it, but I want to talk at length about Grady being

04:08a best player on the pitch today, along with Mikey Johnson, who likewise you could say

04:13they were certainly Albion's top two performers today, and Dean Garner especially, what two

04:19goals to assist, but so much of the story today, Jed Wallis, John Swift, much maligned,

04:25often maligned this season, have had it tough, have barely featured, I think Wallis is maybe

04:30just his fourth league start or something, both of them scored their first goals today,

04:35Morris just described it as a false nine to me today, a bit of modern football parlance

04:39for you there Johnny, but led the line, Wallis led the line, something we were a little bit

04:46surprised with really, and John Swift played in the midfield too, on paper anyway, which

04:50we were a bit surprised with, now Tony's sort of gone into that and said, well actually

04:55Swift, kind of a bit of a number 10 because Callum Stiles from left-back drifts in to

04:59become a central midfielder, and that's really interesting to hear, and we saw it in the

05:04story today, and Higgins can cover Stiles and all of that, Tony was saying there, however

05:07there were big parts of the story today, and I think what you were just saying there about

05:11Wallis and Swift, they've had it tough, and today they've had a great day, especially

05:17for Wallis, his former side, and club captain, you saw how he celebrated that goal today

05:22Jed Wallis, it meant a hell of a lot, and I think this week in the few chats we've already

05:28had with Tony Mowbray, obviously it's January, so he's been asked about the January transfer

05:32quite a bit, and he spoke about it there, seemed quite optimistic about it there, didn't

05:35he, obviously we all know Albion are in for a striker, but the point he's been making

05:39over the week is that I'm focused on what I've got to work with, and the best out of

05:43these players, which hasn't been happening from an attacking perspective, he's put so

05:47much love on, in the press at least, on Grady, on Wallis, on Swift, we also know after listening

05:53to him just there, certainly on Grady, he's done it privately as well, chats with Grady,

05:58today against, yes, very limited opposition, he's got a five star, five goal win out of

06:04those tools at his disposal, that haven't been scoring all season, so we can take in

06:10the limited oppo and all of that, but credit to Mowbray I think, because he's inspired

06:16that group today to, yeah, some surprise changes, no Malumby illness, big player, no Grant,

06:24brought out of the side for Wallis, so a couple of big calls, he was ready, he just joked

06:29in there, wasn't he, for some kickback about that, if Albion didn't get the win today.

06:33I think it would have been, you look at the social media, yeah the reactions to the team

06:39news, it was expected, I knew it was going to be that way, people sort of criticising

06:42Wallis and Swift, I just want to finish off, we're going to, he's said so much in there

06:46in the press conference, we'll chew all over it in the podcast this week, certainly not

06:52sure we'll turn Mowbray's around, but like we said Ed, can't get carried away with the

06:57opposition, it is a good win and it's a real confidence boosting win, Albion have scored

07:01five goals today, but let's not get away from the fact that they still desperately need

07:06a centre forward, desperately need a centre forward, and people are looking at that today

07:09and going, Albion have scored five goals, maybe they don't need to bring in a striker,

07:13but they certainly do, Mowbray sounded confident that something will happen, he didn't go into

07:16specifics, he was confident that Ian Pearce and the hierarchy can kind of deliver, and

07:21I think if you put a centre forward, someone who, like you said in the week, lives for

07:24scoring goals, we saw today how Albion scored five without a recognised centre forward,

07:30you put someone in there, it's hard to find, if Evans and Kevin Phillips didn't, you're

07:34not going to find a Kevin Phillips in January, certainly with the money that Albion are going

07:37to spend, however, if you put someone in there who's got that knack of scoring goals, they're

07:41going to get chances, because we saw today, without a centre forward, there was a bucket

07:46load of chances. Yeah, massively, I mean Mowbray sitting along from here, last week against

07:52Stoke in the 1-1 draw, Albion had 23 shots, maybe a bit of a coincidence, I'm not sure,

07:57he went and spoke to them at half-time, didn't he? Borough away in midweek, a defeat, probably

08:02a deserved defeat, but had a little bit of a go, albeit looked at a tough night, 14 shots

08:07today, I haven't even looked at how many shots today, I mean, it's not a coincidence is it,

08:13in the game today, 4-0 up, we see Albion flooding forward 5-on-4 to score the 5th and 6th.

08:19I've just read, no, it's 5-on-2 for one of the goals as well, that's when you're only

08:232-0 up. Yeah, I mean, this doesn't really need saying, everyone will know this, but

08:29both of us, speaking for myself, a lot of love and time and respect for Carlos Corbijn,

08:33but a totally different mentality within the managers, isn't it? Totally different, and

08:40the point you're making about the striker, absolutely, the ownership will know that more

08:45than most, and so will Tony Mowbray. Today we waxed lyrical about Jed Wallace getting

08:51his goal and some nice little bits of link-up play, and John Swift had a good day today,

08:56he did what Swift does when he plays well and plays forward through the lines, tries

09:03to start attacks and things like that, obviously got his goal, which he should do so much more

09:08of, but the point is, Jed Wallace, a winger, led the line, we've graded Ian Garner, also

09:13not a striker, so that's where it is, and yes, there's Mowbray jokes, Devante Cole on

09:17the bench, Colin Grant on the bench, but that front line today tells you everything, and

09:22yeah, we do need to look beyond the scoreline a bit, and nobody, you know, Ian Pearce, Andrew

09:28Nestor, Shalim Kattah, they won't be distracted by the scoreline today, they'll know how the

09:32previous 27 or 28 league games have gone, and yeah, I'll be in a 5th, great, and hopefully

09:37the targets are finishing the top 6, but they will know that to score the goals needed,

09:42Mowbray said in there, didn't he, you want 60, 70 goals to get promoted, get play-offs,

09:46he said, what about having scored 32 before, whatever, before or after today?

09:50He scored 13 goals in 14 home games, not 5, that shows you, doesn't it?

09:55It needs addressing, but on the flip side, the bigger picture also has a potential Daryl

10:01DK return on the horizon, now, don't switch off at the sound of that, please, you know,

10:04we're not going to sit here and say DK's going to come back and fire Albin to promotion,

10:08or even stay fit for the remainder of the season, but he might, you know, he might,

10:12no-one knows that he won't, you know, hopefully he does stay fit, and then in 5 or 6 weeks

10:18maybe Josh Madger will be ready as well, so, you know, look, let's just bask in the glory

10:23of today, really, I can't even be bothered to get bogged down by the window, because

10:29a 5-1 win is most welcome after some of the many draws we've seen this season.

10:33Certainly, it's been a while since we've seen that many goals at the Hawthorns, a 5-star

10:37display from Albin in Mowbray's return, what a Saturday.

10:41Enjoy your Saturday night, have a few drinks and relax, because we haven't had that, like

10:45we said, too many times in recent years.

10:47Final score here at the Hawthorns, Albin 5, Portsmouth 1.

10:51All the rest of your reaction, you know where to go, ExpressAndStar.com.

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