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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