Mowbray’s Baggies look to build on Pompey demolition at Plymouth

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·31 January 2025

Mowbray’s Baggies look to build on Pompey demolition at Plymouth

Plymouth Argyle v West Bromwich Albion; Home Park, Saturday 1st February 2025, 12.30pm

The Albion fans that will make the long journey to south Devon on Saturday morning will do so with a sense of renewed optimism. Defeat in Mowbray’s first game in charge left Albion fans thinking that it may not be that easy to transform the side quickly, but the demolition of Portsmouth at the Hawthorns last weekend has raised expectations once again.

There are a few caveats to that 5-1 victory over Pompey, not least that Albion were far from in control for the first 20 minutes as the visitors employed an effective high press. The opening goal owed much to poor goalkeeping but changed the entire game, while Pompey stopper, Schmid, also had a hand in the second as he could only parry the ball to Diangana’s feet. The fourth goal, however, was a thing of beauty. a demonstration of how possession football should be played. The build up consisted of no fewer than 40 passes lasting 2 minutes and 44 seconds with every Albion player touching the ball at least once; Alex Palmer started the move and had two further involvements, passes 15 and 38, as Mowbray’s team tried to find the opening, eventually doing so with a long pass over the top from Holgate to Diangana. I haven’t seen a TV angle that shows definitively whether Grady was onside, but the officials deemed that he was, so who cares?

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It should also be remembered that Portsmouth aren’t the best opposition, that was their sixth successive defeat on the road, but you can only beat what is in front of you and Albion did so decisively.

Saturday’s opposition are also at the wrong end of the table and on a dreadful run of form. Argyle’s only win since early November was a shock 1-0 win at Premier League Brentford in the FA Cup and they lost their last home game 5-0 to Burnley, a side who hadn’t scored more than twice in a league game since August. They did, however, earn a 2-2 draw at Sunderland last weekend and new boss, Miron Muslić, who took over from Wayne Rooney on 10th January, has had his first full week of training with the side in the lead up to this game having been dealing with midweek fixtures every week since his appointment. As a result, we could see a different approach from the Pilgrims which might need some tactical tweaks during the game, as well as some new players after they signed two defenders on Friday.

Of course, Mowbray is in a similar situation having had even less time to get to know his team. He surprised many last weekend in naming both John Swift and Jed Wallace in the starting line up, both of whom have been below their best this season, and was rewarded with a first goal of the season for both of them. Albion lined up without a recognised striker, with their top scorer available, Karlan Grant, on the bench, and still managed to score five goals, a feat that they had not achieved once under Carlos Corberán. Most opponents won’t be as accommodating as Portsmouth, of course, but Mowbray’s promise to “let the players off the leash” certainly seemed to have had the desired effect.

Mogga was boosted on Friday with the knowledge that Kyle Bartley would be available for Saturday’s match and that Daryl Dike is progressing well and could be available for selection within a few weeks. Furthermore, the news emerged late on Friday that the club had signed a second player in the January window. Following on from Northern Irish international midfielder, Isaac Price, who impressed in his debut from the bench last weekend, young striker, Will Lankshear has joined on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, although the 19-year-old will not join up with the squad until Monday.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see the same starting line up at Plymouth although, with another week to assess his squad, he may come up with some different ideas. Price and Diakité, who also put in another decent display off the bench, could certainly be in with a shout of a start while Grant can count himself unlucky to have been left out of the starting eleven last weekend. What would be a surprise would be if the attacking triumvirate of Johnston, Diangana and Fellows were broken up after sparkling against Pompey.

After last weekend’s performance, anything other than three points at Home Park would be a disappointing. The manner of the victory can only have built confidence in the squad and, with Argyle’s recent form, Albion should have too much. However, we all know that the Championship is unpredictable and Muslić will undoubtedly have some new ideas of his own to try out in this game, but Mowbary’s Baggies should hopefully be able to cope with anything the Pilgrims can come up with.

History

This Saturday will see the 39th meeting between Albion and Plymouth Argyle and the 19th at Home Park. The first meeting was in Division Two in September 1930 when Argyle won 2-1 at the Hawthorns and completed a league double with a 5-1 win in Devon. Despite those results, the Baggies were promoted at the end of the season (and won the FA Cup) while the Pilgrims finished in a lowly 18th place.

Albion found trips to Plymouth somewhat challenging in the 20th century. They won just twice at Home Park in 14 visits before the turn of the century. In March 1949, another promotion season for the Baggies, goals from Davy Walsh and Billy Elliott saw Jack Smith’s team come away from Devon with both points while on their next visit, some 14 years later in January 1963, a Derek Kevan double helped Archie Macaulay’s Albion win 5-1 in the Third Round of the FA Cup.

In the 21st century, however, it has been all Albion. In December 2006, a Kevin Phillips double earned a point for Tony Mowbray’s team in a 2-2 draw but the Baggies have won on each of their visits to Home Park since with a 3-0 win in February 2024 the club record league win at Plymouth.

Argyle haven’t beaten the Baggies since the shock 5-2 win at the Hawthorns in April 1993 when a Steve Castle hat trick helped defeat Ossie Ardiles’ promotion-winning team, and the Pilgrims’ last home win over Albion was 2-0 in a League Cup tie in August 1992 when England legend, Peter Shilton, was both manager and goalkeeper.

Since then, Albion have won seven and drawn two of the nine meetings with Plymouth Argyle, all of which have been in the Championship, recording league doubles in 2007/08 and 2009/10. Having won 1-0 at the Hawthorns in September, the Baggies have the chance of completing a second league double of the campaign in successive games.