The Robins up next as the transfer window beckons

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·21. Dezember 2024

The Robins up next as the transfer window beckons

West Bromwich Albion v Bristol City; The Hawthorns, Sunday 22nd December 2024, 3pm

Albion welcome Bristol City to the Hawthorns this weekend for what will be the Baggies’ third Sunday game of the month, with another still to come at Bramall Lane next weekend. They will be looking to kick off another unbeaten run having lost at Watford last weekend after a run of twelve games without defeat. Their opponents are winless in three and have picked up only five points from their last six games.

The smart money might be on a draw for this match with both teams fond of a stalemate this season. The Baggies have a division-high of eleven draws this season while Liam Manning’s team have nine to their name including their last two matches. The Robins sit in eleventh place, five points below Albion, with a perfectly symmetrical record of six wins and six defeats with 26 goals scored and 26 goals conceded. They have performed marginally better on their own patch this season overall, having earned one more point at Ashton Gate than on the road.

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City have been somewhat inconsistent in recent weeks, winning at Norwich City, thumping Plymouth Argyle 4-0 and earning a creditable 1-1 draw at Sunderland, but also losing 3-0 at Portsmouth and being held at home by QPR last weekend. English-born Albanian international, Anis Mehmeti, leads the Robins’ scoring charts with six while Bermudian Nahki Wells is just one behind. The midfield pairing of skipper, Jason Knight, and Max Bird have been key for City this season with both having featured in every league game notching up eight assists between them.

Albion’s own midfield pair of Alex Mowatt and Jayson Molumby have been just as important this season with six goals and an assist between them but, more importantly, the Baggies appear to function much better when both of them are in the side. As the January window approaches, the deficiencies in the squad come into focus and central midfield is certainly an area for concern. While Mowatt and Molumby have performed well but there is very little to back them up. Uroš Račić has had one or two promising performances but has failed to really deliver while Ousmane Diakité has evidently not impressed Corberán enough in training to earn much game time.

The other obvious area of weakness is at centre forward. With Albion now playing with two up front, Josh Maja and Karlan Grant are being forced to start every game – Daryl Dike remains unavailable while the only other recognised striker in the senior squad, Devante Cole, is another that has apparently been deemed not up to it by head coach, Carlos Corberán.

Furthermore, with Paddy McNair’s loan coming to an end and Semi Ajayi out injured for some time yet, there is also an argument for recalling Caleb Taylor from his loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers, although it is not a straightforward decision – Taylor is getting much needed first team experience at Adams Park and, if he were to return to the Hawthorns, he would most likely only earn a place on the bench. It may be better for him to stay out on loan, but the club’s needs may be more suited to his being recalled.

How best to address these deficiencies is something that Corberán along with Andrew Nestor and the recruitment team will have been working on in recent weeks. The financial situation remains challenging and it will be another difficult balancing act in January.

The head coach must focus on another three matches before the window opens starting with Sunday’s visit of Bristol City. The Spaniard suffered another injury blow this week with the news that Callum Styles has an issue with his hamstring and is unlikely to feature over the next week. The Hungarian international has been performing well at left back and, while Heggem will be able to slot into that position, it leaves the Albion defensive line very short of cover.

Albion have generally performed well since the switch to 4-4-2 at Hull City last month and they were a tad unfortunate to be beaten last weekend, but it is with the front six of Molumby, Mowatt, Fellows, Johnston, Grant and Maja that they look their most dangerous. Unfortunately, they cannot play every match without suffering some drop off as we have seen at various times this season, albeit Grant seems to be a consistently high performer this season.

Corberán will do what he feels best for the team in his selections this week, but you feel like Albion need two wins to get them back on course for a play-off spot. The Baggies look to have resolved their scoring problems at home, scoring twice in each of their last three at the Hawthorns, and they managed a clean sheet last week – let’s hope for more of the same.

History

The Robins’ last win at the Hawthorns was the last home game before Carlos Corberán took over at the Hawthorns. Richard Beale was in caretaker change when Nigel Pearson’s team won 2-0 at the Shrine with goals from Joe Williams and Nahki Wells. Since then, the Baggies have won two and drawn one of the league meetings between the sides, with City winning the FA Cup tie at Ashton Gate in January 2023.

None of the current Baggies squad has ever played for Bristol City, and the only one of the Robins’ squad to have previously played for Albion is Taylor Gardner-Hickman, currently on loan at Birmingham City. Other current players to have featured for both clubs include Callum Robinson, who had a loan spell at Ashton Gate from Aston Villa a decade ago and spent three-and-a-half years at the Hawthorns, Chris Wood, one of whose many loan spells from Albion was at Bristol City in 2012, Jonathan Leko, who also had a loan spell with the Robins during his time at the Hawthorns, and Andi Weimann, of course, who was on loan at Albion from City last season.

Baggies legend, Chris Brunt, had a season with Bristol City after leaving the Hawthorns in 2020 while Peter Odemwingie scored twice in seven appearances for the Robins in a loan spell from Stoke City in 2016. A few other strikers have played for both clubs including Simon Cox, James Quinn, Bobby Gould and Jason Roberts, but none more memorable than Super Bobby Taylor who was signed by the aforementioned Bobby Gould for Albion in January 1992 moving from Bristol City for the princely sum of £300,000.

Nicky Shorey, who spent two seasons at the Hawthorns between 2010 and 2012, would go on to spend the 2013/14 season at Aston Gate while one of Gary Megson’s deadline day signings in March 2000, Tony Butler, moved to the Robins when he left Albion in 2002.

Two popular Albion goalkeepers from the nineties, Stuart Naylor and Alan Miller, both went on to play for the Robins – Naylor moved to Ashton Gate on leaving the Hawthorns whereas Miller had a brief loan spell with the Robins in 2000.

Mickey Mellon and Paul Mardon, who both played for the Baggies in the nineties, both started their professional careers at Bristol City while Nicky Reid, who scored in the 1993 Play-Off Final at Wembley, had a brief loan spell at Ashton Gate from Manchester City immediately before he joined the Baggies.

Finally, winger/full back Clive Whitehead, who made nearly 200 appearances for the Baggies in the eighties, had spent eight years at Ashton Gate before moving to the Hawthorns. He had the dubious honour to play for two relegated teams in 1985/86 having had a brief loan spell from Albion to Wolves during the season with both sides suffering relegation at the end of the campaign, the Baggies dropping to Division Two while their Black Country neighbours dropped to Division Four.