'Shocker': Lewis Cox & Jonny Drury analyse West Brom's defeat at Plymouth

Express & Star

Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox give their take on Albion's shock defeat against Plymouth. The Baggies were looking for their second win on the bounce and went in front 16 minutes from time through Jayson Molumby. But the game turned when Plymouth were awarded a controversial penalty that Ryan Hardie dispatched. And then Hardie took advantage of a mistake at the back to fire in the winner minutes later.

Transcript

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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