[Albion] The first sign that we were in big trouble

[neilbard]

@Home to Wolves for me..

 

[Boston28]

When we didn’t sell Stephens to Burnley, making him an undroppable player we defended in the market, was the beginning of the end for me. Everything bad, the complacency, the negativity, the lack of technique, the lack of even an average passing game, flows from this one deficient player.

And even now he’s nailed on to play every game still to come this season. Just drains all hope

I hate to single out players when as a team we are playing so badly but you just know unless suspended or injured he will be in every starting line up from now till the end of the season...depressing!

 

[Tooting Gull]

Walking to the station tonight I heard another fan say they remember looking at the live table when 2-0 up at West Ham on Jan 2 - and that struck a chord because I did exactly the same thing in my seat at the London Stadium. That would have had us in the top half, three places higher than it finished at 2-2. And so many points clear of teams that we now trail by several points it hurts to think about it. That's my 'moment'. Closely followed by an even worse collapse at Fulham.

 

[pasty]

Talking about this in the pub, post match tonight. General consensus of opinion was the 2-0 up, lose 4-2 at Fulham was the turning point. Not been the same since then.

 

[saafend_seagull]

Talking about this in the pub, post match tonight. General consensus of opinion was the 2-0 up, lose 4-2 at Fulham was the turning point. Not been the same since then.

Results not been the same but performances have been identical. Been saying it on here since October we are doomed. This negative style of playing for 0-0 in every game never works out in the long run. If hughton stays I can’t get excited at all, as we will be in the same position if we go straight back up with a very limited prem manager.


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[AK74]

The Craven Cottage scoreboard at full time.

 

[mreprice]

Taking 32 minutes for our first shot at home to Huddersfield was when I realised we could be in big trouble

 

[SollysLeftFoot]

Hardly. Conceding 4 to Fulham was a bigger clue but we’ve been poor most of the season. Chickens have come home to roost now though.

Yep, when it became very apparent 4 3 3 was just not for us. The manager didn't change his approach, didn't integrate Andone more often (because Murray offers more defensively) but it's the fault of our recruitment strategy.

Not because our manager couldn't see the glaringly obvious problems with 433

 

[Stat Brother]

@Home to Wolves for me..

The last sign being away to Wolves.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Erm no. We’ve been in trouble ever since Bernardo was ripped to shreds away to watford.


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At right back!!!

But Watford was abysmal


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[Sussex Nomad]

Mostly good comments on this thread, but don't forget Hughton's mantra when we have lost. "We'll learn from this". When did we stop learning and start putting things right?

 

[theboybilly]

Watford away on the opening day and a failure to recruit since. Easy to say but we were just so awful at Vicarage Road after being told a new pressing game was about to be unleashed after practicing it all pre-season. In all honesty I cannot remember a truly excellent all-round performance that didn't rely on under-performing (Man United) or poor sides in general. We deserve to go down. I am thoroughly brassed off this morning

 

[Deleted member 2719]

It was the moment Hughton repeatedly put 10 man behind the ball, yes his first season, hence my reluctance to renew my ST.
Football should not be played that way all the time and at home.

Yes he got us promotion, but boy he was backed well with investment, TB decided to go for it that season because he didn't have a petulant manager like Poyet.

He was always going to revert its in his nature, not to lose, it needs more of how can I win.

 

[Brovion]

Hardly. Conceding 4 to Fulham was a bigger clue but we’ve been poor most of the season. Chickens have come home to roost now though.

Conceding four IN ONE HALF as well. The Millwall game merely showed the level at which this team will perform in the Championship.

 

[Kuipers Supporters Club]

Leicester at home, being so cautious against 10 men.

 

[trueblue]

Walking to the station tonight I heard another fan say they remember looking at the live table when 2-0 up at West Ham on Jan 2 - and that struck a chord because I did exactly the same thing in my seat at the London Stadium. That would have had us in the top half, three places higher than it finished at 2-2. And so many points clear of teams that we now trail by several points it hurts to think about it. That's my 'moment'. Closely followed by an even worse collapse at Fulham.

Agreed. At 2 up at West Ham, it felt like it was all coming together. And at Fulham, we were good in the first half.

But both games proved there was a price for sacrificing pragmatism for a more attacking approach and set off the downward spiral that’s led to the point where we now no longer even have the confidence to get the basics right.

 

[ruthers]

The first sign of the teams mental & physical fragility was losing the Championship to Newcastle, despite multiple opportunities to finish the job. Losing the Bristol City last home game and the whole club seemingly not being too bothered about it.
Got away with it last season. This season teams know to press us without fear of being undone. No ambition against top 6 teams (forget the Man U & Arsenal wins when they were in Mourinho & Wenger turmoil respectively).
Tactically it’s been awful to watch. God knows what Trollope brings to the table but Hughton probably doesn’t need this at his age and I suspect will move to other ventures soon. Best option would be for him to move ‘upstairs’ in some kind of administrative role maybe.
Big problem who to get in to replace him though. Simply can not afford another Sammi Hypia moment so I suspect Bloom will persevere despite the 8000 season ticket waiting list dwindling to nothing.

On a positive note maybe Palace will beat Cardiff and together with their 6 point gift keep us up for more agony next season....surely they’d want that!?

 

[kevo]

As others have said, we've been pretty poor all season. In terms of when I thought we might actually go down, the defeat against Southampton. Until then there was a big enough buffer. And it was a poor display, in which we failed to attack mediocre opposition and looked bereft of ideas and confidence.

 

[kevo]

The first sign of the teams mental & physical fragility was losing the Championship to Newcastle, despite multiple opportunities to finish the job. Losing the Bristol City last home game and the whole club seemingly not being too bothered about it.
Got away with it last season. This season teams know to press us without fear of being undone. No ambition against top 6 teams (forget the Man U & Arsenal wins when they were in Mourinho & Wenger turmoil respectively).
Tactically it’s been awful to watch. God knows what Trollope brings to the table but Hughton probably doesn’t need this at his age and I suspect will move to other ventures soon. Best option would be for him to move ‘upstairs’ in some kind of administrative role maybe.
Big problem who to get in to replace him though. Simply can not afford another Sammi Hypia moment so I suspect Bloom will persevere despite the 8000 season ticket waiting list dwindling to nothing.

On a positive note maybe Palace will beat Cardiff and together with their 6 point gift keep us up for more agony next season....surely they’d want that!?

I was wondering about Trollope too. What is his role exactly? I can see how Hughton might not be the best motivator in the dressing room. Is that Trollope's job? What if Calderwood had stayed?

 

[Sorrel]

The three wins in November could have been the sign of a great season - if we can win when not playing well, then imagine what we could do once we clicked into place. But it never did.