Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox give their take on West Brom's defeat to Derby County. Albion were looking to go top with a win and had enough chances to win the game. But Derby struck late with an Andi Weimann goal to continue their hold over Albion in recent years.
00:00My name is Johnny Drury. I am here with Lewis Cox. He's back. I've got my mate back but he's
00:14brought the bad results back with him. Albion have been beaten 1-0 by Derby on this special
00:18125th anniversary game at the Hawthorns. It was against Derby, it was against John Eustace,
00:23so really Cox. We should have gone to the Buckeys before the game but however much money we got
00:28on Derby winning because for all Albion's dominance, they've come on stack again.
00:32I'm sure a few people watching this did just that to be honest. I'd like you to not
00:36end today on me if all being well. The big occasion, Derby, Eustace's record, Derby's sixth win in a row against the Albion.
00:47Whenever there's a big day of celebration obviously it tends to not go well.
00:52Look, all of that aside because I think deep down we know in football that to Ryan Mason, to these players,
00:59that stuff does, it means stuff but it doesn't affect, I personally don't think it affects the result.
01:05I mean Derby have Albion's number for whatever reason and there's something in that and I guess there's something in
01:10Eustace having Albion's number but we've just finished with Ryan Mason, haven't we?
01:16And he was quite strongly positive about today's performance, wasn't he? And he felt that his side deserved to win, I think.
01:25Certainly it was a 0-0 game and obviously Albion pushing, couldn't find the breakthrough.
01:30Did they test the goalkeeper enough, Zetterstrom? I'm not sure Albion did but moments weren't in their positions.
01:37I mean look, when you've got Alex Mowat clears off Derby's goal line doesn't he and we're sat there sort of head in hands thinking is this going to be Albion's day?
01:47I think if you look at it overall, you know Price's test of the goalkeeper in the first half, Mowat's cleared that one off the line that was going in,
01:56Wallace went close, Molumbi's had a couple including the one who's cracked the bar.
02:00For me, Albion did enough to win the game. If Albion would have come out with a 1-0 victory, I think everyone would have probably said it was a fair reflection.
02:07They certainly did enough not to lose the game but they've come kind of unstuck and I've just, I was in the middle of the right and I'm pretty saying,
02:15Albion, at most stages of the game today, Albion were around the 70% possession mark.
02:20It wasn't as high against Portsmouth but those two displays have thrown up one point and they're probably two out of the five.
02:28Albion didn't play bad today, they played okay, they played okay against Portsmouth.
02:31Two of the worst displays out of the five but in the other games, away from home against Stoke two weeks ago, Albion had less possession but on the break they created more clear cuts.
02:42Albion could have won two, maybe even three at Stoke.
02:45A team's not going to come out of home and say, come on to us, you're going to go and dominate the ball but there seems to be a bit of an issue there at the moment.
02:51When sides bank up, I will say Albion were probing more than they probably did in the past under Corbran.
02:57However, there's a little bit of an issue there that we've seen in the past of finding that bit of quality and bit of stardust to open up a side like Derby and Banking and kind of sit for the draw or wait to go and strike him and take the win like they did today.
03:13I think there's something in a lot of that. I think while Albion were the better side today and more deserving of the victory I thought and the stats kind of show, I still didn't think they were at their best today.
03:26And I think, you know, at times it could have been a bit quicker in the final third or the first half especially was, I don't say dominant, but it was really total.
03:36You know, Albion were almost camped in Derby's half, wasn't it?
03:39They just needed that bit more care or Devleman or Naus in the final third, that final moment across a few of them just, you know, caught attackers on the Hegeber price on their heels or Derby were able to clear.
03:52I mean, ironically, you know, we haven't mentioned Andy Vyman's name, have we?
03:56You know, the most Albion match of all match winners, six minutes from time, 34 years old, obviously here not too long ago.
04:04Scored a late winner here, didn't he?
04:07Blues, yeah.
04:08Against Blues indeed.
04:09And it was a wily old finish, wasn't it? Full of Naus, that kind of little moment of quality.
04:15All goals can see though, players have just kind of jumped in and Josh, I've seen a few comments, I can't agree with it.
04:21Josh Griffiths did it before, yeah.
04:23I need to sit back.
04:24He hasn't smashed it in the corner, you know, I don't want to put too much blame on Griffiths' dogs, I think he's had an excellent season so far.
04:29It's one of them, isn't it?
04:30It's an avoidable one, isn't it?
04:31Griffiths' weight would have been on the other side, and to go low, maybe it's quite hard to get down.
04:35I'm loathe to criticise cock, it was too much.
04:37No, no, I think it was a smart finish, but we would have been frustrated here at 0-0, I'm sure, and so would Ryan Mason.
04:45He had some interesting things to say, I thought, there in his post-match.
04:48Not least on, you know, without giving too much away, kind of ask for the mood and the message in the dressing room afterwards.
04:54Sort of, because most of his interview there had been positive hadn't it?
04:57It had been, you know, we played really well today, you know, which wasn't quite going for us, that sort of thing.
05:02So I kind of said, you know, can you give that message of, you know, positivity to his players and kind of, you know, play like that and we'll be okay type thing.
05:11And actually he was quite strong against that, he was like, I can't, I can't have that sort of positivity after a defeat like that, he said it's impossible.
05:19So I thought that was quite strong from the Albion head coach.
05:22Obviously ends the unbeaten league start to the season, to the Mason era, doesn't it?
05:27Bit of a reality check in a little sense.
05:29Maybe, I think most Albion fans lung in the tooth enough, had sort of little fears about today, didn't they?
05:38For the, you know, for the superficial reasons we mentioned earlier, for the external reasons we mentioned earlier.
05:44You and I both predicted a home win, didn't we, when we were speaking before the game.
05:48And that's because Albion, so far this season, had been the better side, got the better squad.
05:53I don't think Derby are any mugs, that side that Eustace put together.
05:56And I think John Eustace is a really good coach, manager.
05:59He set him up well, you can kind of see, and I think you can see the second half, Derby were just coming into the game a little bit more.
06:05Yeah, and another thing, you mentioned about them sort of camping in, happy for the point, looking to break.
06:10I wasn't at the Pompey game here last time.
06:12Probably similar, yeah.
06:14With no disrespect to Derby or Pompey, there's going to be quite a bit of that, I think, isn't there?
06:19Nothing new about Albion in the Championship.
06:21But it's lessons and steps for this Mason team, isn't it?
06:26This very new Mason team in its infancy.
06:30You know, there were changes today.
06:32We saw Illing Junior's debut from the bench, didn't we?
06:34I thought he did okay.
06:35Good delivery, got involved.
06:37Just set up a chance, I think Hegeber helped over.
06:40I think Hegeber struggled today, really.
06:42Didn't need to really sort of stamp himself on it, like he did at Stoke last time, for example.
06:46Different type of game.
06:47But Illing Junior was involved.
06:49Collier had more minutes and sort of got involved as, you know, obviously the two new full-backs
06:55who remained unused.
06:56So, too, I suppose we expect at some point will become more used.
07:00So, a lot to come.
07:02You know, challenges don't get any easier, do they, going to Borough?
07:06I snatched an equaliser today, didn't they, Borough, to preserve their unbeaten start.
07:11So, Friday night up there won't be easy by any stretch.
07:14That'll be a real test for this new side.
07:16I think a lot of supporters here will have left.
07:20And I think over the weekend will feel relatively cautiously optimistic.
07:25I feel deflated.
07:27You know, this is quite a sad way to end the unbeaten run and start, I think.
07:31Given the occasion and the manner of it.
07:34But if you were to replay this today ten times, I think Albion will win it on most occasions.
07:41I would say just there wasn't a plethora of chances, but there were enough good ones, I think,
07:46that would go in on another day.
07:48Now, that doesn't mask the fact that the keeper wasn't tested enough, et cetera, et cetera.
07:52But things to take, I think, and not to be too deflated.
07:56You know, an unbeaten start is never going to continue, obviously.
07:59So, if and when you do defeat, you know, take what you can from it, learn from it,
08:02and you'll hope for better on Friday night in the North East, eh?
08:06Yeah, I certainly hope so.
08:07On my way home today, I'm going to go stop at a police station telling my witness a robbery today,
08:11because I think it was a smash-and-grab-a-robbery.
08:13Well, it's too late to dial the emergency services for the...
08:17Well, I was just going to say, thoughts go to the dead third carcass that was on the pitch,
08:22just to shed some more light.
08:23Apparently, there's a peregrine falcon that lives in there.
08:25Two.
08:26Two peregrine falcons live in the roof of the Hawthorns, and one of those was the culprit.
08:29Well, we're wondering who it was, or what it was.
08:32Woodman Corner, we were told.
08:34I think they'd nest.
08:35And apparently, sort of, such bloodbaths are quite a common sight in this place in the week.
08:42I mean, I was trying to make some pun about Albion dishing out some.
08:46Bloodbaths here in 125 years.
08:49But, no, look, John Eustace was joking about it to the national papers, wasn't he,
08:55about how the delay in getting the poor-blooded carcass off helped his subs,
08:59and Ryan Mason sort of said, you know, quote-unquote,
09:03why did it take so long to get the birds' carcass off the pitch?
09:07I think it was one of the Albion docks in the end, wasn't it,
09:10that carried the lifeless thing off.
09:12But, yeah, just a footnote, look, it wouldn't have changed anything, I don't think.
09:15Frustration, not to be, I felt, today.
09:19Probably could have called that from the moment the pitch just came out, maybe.
09:23Could have done, yeah.
09:24But, here we are.
09:25Could have done, yeah.
09:26The birds go pretty summed up the day.
09:29Albion beaten by Derby again, beaten by John Eustace again.
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