00:00Welcome to ExpressAndStart.com. My name's Jonny Tureri. I'm here with Lewis Cox, who
00:12is down at Home Park after Albion have somehow lost by two goals to one against Plymouth.
00:17Jason Molumby putting Albion ahead, looking like they were well on their way to three
00:22points on the road before a controversial penalty and a late goal from Ryan Hardy.
00:28Coxy, I don't know how Albion have lost that game. I know Tony Mowbray said he's bemused
00:34how Albion have lost that game. A hugely frustrating afternoon for Albion.
00:39Massively, Jonny. It feels like a real setback today. It's only one game, isn't it? It's
00:44only three points. But there's a massive opportunity today against the division's bottom side and
00:50look, football doesn't always play out like that, doesn't it? You don't always win by
00:55facing the bottom side, but an opportunity to put rare back-to-back wins together. That
00:59hasn't happened anywhere near enough, has it? Opportunity for a rare away win, full
01:03stop.
01:04I think Albion's last win on the road was at Hull, November 10th, obviously under the
01:08previous head coach. Nine games since now, including today, they've been winless. Eight
01:13in the league. It was just a real opportunity to put a bit of a marker down and build a
01:17bit of momentum and rhythm here.
01:21I had a bit of confidence coming here, I've got to say. I thought Albion would be all
01:24right off the back of last weekend and the early signs under Tony Mowbray, but not to
01:31be. It was a final 15 minutes of chaos, wasn't it, really, that have decided this game. It
01:39looked like Albion had done enough and that kind of patience. We'll get on to it, but
01:45we were just chatting off camera there, weren't we? I actually kind of agree with most of
01:51what Tony Mowbray said after the game. The performance generally was okay. It was lacking
01:55in the final third, as it has been for a lot of the season. Then you've got the whole number
02:00nine debate. Obviously, Will Lancashire, new loan signing, wasn't involved today. But Albion
02:06didn't have anywhere near enough chances or shots today. Clear cut openings or work the
02:11keeper enough for the amount of ball they had. I think that's 70% in possession, but
02:16it yielded just 12 shots and four on target. The numbers were similar for Plymouth, to
02:21be honest. But they went at it. Tony made three changes on the outer to try and inspire
02:29his side. It looked like they'd worked. Obviously, they worked for the breakthrough, didn't they,
02:34with Molumbi with 16 minutes to go. To be honest, that felt like the moment. That felt
02:38like a big match winner. It felt like a huge goal in front of the away end. But yeah, things
02:44conspired against Albion for a bad finale. It was sparked from the decision, wasn't it?
02:51The moment of controversy. Albion were a bit wobbly, I think, generally in defence. A couple
02:57of personnel. Stiles, Higgins certainly didn't have good afternoons. But that decision to
03:03award the penalty for the equaliser, a handball on Callum Stiles by referee Dean Whitestone.
03:11Just a really poor decision, I think. Really, really harsh on Albion. It can be really hard
03:15done by that one. I think the handball rule, we know you hear it each weekend, don't you?
03:21Certainly in the top flight. It's just an unclear shambles. And I think we had a really
03:25clear example of it today for the referee to give it that quickly when a shot from a
03:31couple of yards away is rocketed against Stiles. It hits at least one part of his body, maybe
03:36more, before it hits his outstretched arm. I just think that's so harsh. And Albion didn't
03:42recover from it. It certainly changed the outcome and momentum of the final 15 minutes
03:47of the game. Obviously, Plymouth scored the spot, kicked to equaliser, could have gone
03:51and got a second. Alex Palmer makes a big save. But then, you know, Hardy, who scored
03:56the penalty, gets the match-winning second, doesn't he, in the 88th minute. And what a
04:00sting in the tail that is. What a setback and a body blow that is. Even a point, Johnny,
04:04if we were speaking here at 1-1, that penalty decision would have cost Albion a win. But
04:08they'd have took a point at 1-1. We'd have been bemoaning it, wouldn't we, and would
04:12have said it was a poor outcome, really. But to lose it, to take nothing from today, Tony
04:18Mowbray said to me it was a stunned dressing room. And he found it quite remarkable that
04:22Albion have lost the game. And I tend to agree. However, look, I don't think Albion were brilliant
04:27today. I don't think they were very good today either. But I thought they'd done enough.
04:32Food for thought. You know, a lot of things coming out of that. I thought there were some
04:37really bad individual displays, you know, off days. I thought Higgum had a poor game.
04:41He was out of position a lot. And, obviously, Edmund Styles could have really done more
04:45to prevent the winner. Albion were kind of open at times today, Coxey. And I know Carlos
04:50Corbrandt's talked about, you know, obviously getting more bodies in the box, getting forward,
04:54but also kind of not losing the foundations that were built by Carlos Corbrandt.
04:59Tony Mowbray has, Jonny. He's been talking about it. Yeah, not Carlos.
05:02No, but the foundations that were built by Carlos Corbrandt. But they went a little bit
05:10out of the window today. Albion were very open. And I know they were chasing the game
05:15and they obviously got the goal. But even when they went 1-0 up, they did look very
05:20open at one all as well. They looked very open. Does that strike you as a bit of a concern
05:25and, you know, somewhere that Mowbray might have to try and strike a bit of a balance?
05:29I understand what you're saying, definitely. Plymouth, I think for 75 minutes really until
05:36the opener, were resilient, very rigid, a back five, very well drilled. It was 10 men
05:45behind the ball. Their new defenders came in and had good debuts. And it looked like
05:50a head coach that had really organised the side. However, they did show a threat, didn't
05:55they? Once or twice when they were on the counter or breaking clear. So yes, they were
05:59behind the ball, but they did show they wanted to cross the halfway line. From an Albion
06:04perspective, there's so little time, wasn't it? Between the opening goal being 1-0 up
06:10and the equaliser, it's hard to tell. Then when it's 1-1 at the end, I was speaking to
06:14someone in the press box during the game, during the closing stages. And, you know,
06:19I'm sure Plymouth would have been, you know, people looking from the outside see Plymouth
06:23bottom. They haven't won in 15 league games before today, and it's nil-nil. And I think,
06:27well, Plymouth probably have a point against West Brom, but actually Plymouth need to go
06:30and win if they will have any chance to stay up under this new head coach. And they are
06:34backing him by spending, then Plymouth need to win games. And we saw that today. Muslic,
06:39the boss, made offensive changes, you know, to try and win it, even when it was level.
06:44And eventually, certainly once Albion made the breakthrough, it did entice Plymouth out.
06:49I mean, they got Albion, didn't they? They got Albion. Look, it wasn't a defensive-minded
06:55Albion side. The midfield, I know there'd been changes by the finale, but midfield has
07:01Swift in it, then it has an Isaac Price in it. And the backline, you know, had very shaky
07:07moments, didn't they? Let's be honest. There's a real setback for the baggies today, a real
07:12setback. And I feel dreadfully for the 1,700 who travelled here at early hours, a ridiculous
07:18decision and scheduling from Sky to put it on early. Travelled all the way, you know,
07:22it's pretty much their whole weekend, isn't it, whether they stayed over last night. A
07:25lot of sympathy for them, because I thought the performance was okay and could have been,
07:30maybe it should have been enough to win the game. But it wasn't better than that, I don't
07:34think. And I am shocked at Plymouth winning that as well from where it was in the 75th
07:41minute, but not because Albion were brilliant, if you see what I mean. So, a step back, I
07:46think from last weekend, look, we didn't get carried away by last weekend, it was five
07:50goals against a home where Albion are strong against a poor rotated side. And it can be
07:56difficult here. Yeah, look, they haven't won for ages and they were swept aside by Burnley
08:00last time and all of that, I get it. But if the game goes the wrong way here from the
08:04off, as it kind of did for Albion, they didn't get that early blow, then this crowd can get
08:08partied on, they were loud. And look, they defended 10 men behind the ball and did it
08:13really well and inflicted a body blow or two at the end. But let's have it right. I
08:18think Plymouth were given a big helping hand today by that decision, certainly. And I think
08:23if the decision doesn't go there, I think Albion set up the game, to be honest, it changed
08:26the complexion of the final part of the game. And it's a real shame that that moment, that
08:30Molumbi goal, great Jed Wallace assist in front of the away end, it was a really good
08:34goal, really good moment. It's a shame it'll sort of be forgotten really and written off
08:38because it would have been nice to have been the match winner. But I suppose we go again
08:42and see how much damage come the end of these three o'clock fixtures today, where that leaves
08:48Albion in the playoff race, in the push. Obviously, other things going on, aren't there? Will
08:52Lancashire has been brought in from Spurs as the kind of number nine that's missing
08:56at the moment. Obviously, he wasn't registered in time to play today. He'll be around it
08:59for his debut next week. We've got the transfer deadline day on Monday. Are Albion going to
09:04do any more business? Asked Tony Mowbray that there. He was a little bit coy. I'll be writing
09:09that up soon. Let's see the stuff going on. But yeah, improvements on that needed. Certainly,
09:16certainly a very frustrating day down here in Devon.
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