[Albion79]

I totally agree Jacko, Bartley is what he is, a no nonsense championship defender.

By asking him to play out from the back we are doing him or us no favours, to me if he plays in a back 3, he has to play in the middie of the 3, he does seem the most vocal, but also play him down the centre, let him try and attack and win the ball, play to his strengths and the two centre halves either side of him cover him and try to do the playing out.

The problem at the moment with that is neither Dawson or Hegazi inspire confidence as the 'ball players' i dont think Dawson has ever been great on the ball but he is okay and at this level we should be okay with him there, problem is this season he has struggled so far. Hegazi just reminds me too much of Matt Carbon, can look really good but you know there is a stupid mistake or dodgy pass waiting to happen.

It looks like at least one of Bartley or Hegazi has to play but i would give Tosin a run of games and line up with -

Dawson - Bartley - Tosin

IF we did go up then Dawson would be the obvious candidate to move into the centre of the back 3 replacing Bartley and get two other ball playing centre halfs either side of him but with what we have now we have to make the best of it.

[tuamigos]

Quite simply you can't make Gary Strodder into Franco Baresi.


Bartley would probably be an okay Championship stopper (though he has also looked poor aerially in both boxes) but this playing out from the back is not remotely his game and this is where Jones is letting Moore down imo.

I think some people are very quick to defend Darren Moore based on his past connections with the club, the same people are saying that Darren Moore is his own man and in control of things.
Darren Moore is Head Coach, therefore all decisions playing are his (allegedly) and he should be judged on what goes on the pitch now not what happened on the pitch 15 years ago.
Surely if Jones has suggested that we play out from a back three the way we currently are, Darren Moore is surely savvy enough to see and say that we don't currently have the players to be able to do that comfortably.

[Atomic]

I totally agree Jacko, Bartley is what he is, a no nonsense championship defender.

By asking him to play out from the back we are doing him or us no favours, to me if he plays in a back 3, he has to play in the middie of the 3, he does seem the most vocal, but also play him down the centre, let him try and attack and win the ball, play to his strengths and the two centre halves either side of him cover him and try to do the playing out.

The problem at the moment with that is neither Dawson or Hegazi inspire confidence as the 'ball players' i dont think Dawson has ever been great on the ball but he is okay and at this level we should be okay with him there, problem is this season he has struggled so far. Hegazi just reminds me too much of Matt Carbon, can look really good but you know there is a stupid mistake or dodgy pass waiting to happen.

It looks like at least one of Bartley or Hegazi has to play but i would give Tosin a run of games and line up with -

Dawson - Bartley - Tosin

IF we did go up then Dawson would be the obvious candidate to move into the centre of the back 3 replacing Bartley and get two other ball playing centre halfs either side of him but with what we have now we have to make the best of it.

In style I agree to some extent but Hegazi is much better. Carbon used to hit 60 yard passes all the time the amount that he actually executed correctly were very rare he was actually awful at it. Hegazi's passing is much better.

[zippyandbungle]

How's he been dealt a bad hand?
Who signed Bartley?

The will they /won't they appoint him saga
No one should have to come in to a club after Pullis and then Pardew
Transfer window
Dawson
Foster

I think it's fair to say it's not been stable and well strategised ?

[tuamigos]

The will they /won't they appoint him saga
No one should have to come in to a club after Pullis and then Pardew
Transfer window
Dawson
Foster

I think it's fair to say it's not been stable and well strategised ?

I agree it was/is a mess and that's why IMO we needed an experienced head coach. I don't think DM has the experience or the nouse to turn this around in the time scale expected by a fan base that in the main expects to be in the play offs at least at the end of the season.
I hope I'm totally wrong

[zippyandbungle]

I agree it was/is a mess and that's why IMO we needed an experienced head coach. I don't think DM has the experience or the nouse to turn this around in the time scale expected by a fan base that in the main expects to be in the play offs at least at the end of the season.
I hope I'm totally wrong

I don't think anyone is fully happy
But
There are considerations,we speak for the need of experience, but we had Pullis and Pardew who are "experience"
We say that the club won't play the kids and promote from within, but Moore used to manage the kids and he got promoted from within

West Bromwich Albion is not currently an easy place to ply your trade, we have been used to (relative) success , we have players who don't seem to either want to be here or haven't settled, we have disjointed unclear ownership and direction

Interesting years ahead

[beechyboy90]

Think we need to give tosin a go as Bartley scares the life out of me

[baggie82]

Clearly uncomfortable in a three as a left sided centre back. Hegazi in the middle is a passive lump and Dawson trying to sort it all out. Clearly doesn't work.

[wbawill]

Agree that Dawson - Hegazi - Bartley is not a back three that is going to get promoted, unless things dramatically improve. Unfortunately Adarabioyo doesn't seem like the answer either and I'm not sure any of them is particularly playing worse than the others.

[1954]

Agree that Dawson - Hegazi - Bartley is not a back three that is going to get promoted, unless things dramatically improve. Unfortunately Adarabioyo doesn't seem like the answer either and I'm not sure any of them is particularly playing worse than the others.

I could understand you saying that BEFORE the game but not after. Thought all 3 of them had good games today (However that might be down to today's poor opposition)

[mulliganstired]

I could understand you saying that BEFORE the game but not after. Thought all 3 of them had good games today (However that might be down to today's poor opposition)

There looked like a bit more cohesion today, but maybe that was Millwall being fairly poor/slow up front.

[KN22]

Give the guy a break please. He (Bartley) played really well today I thought.

[TheJacko2000]

Give the guy a break please. He (Bartley) played really well today I thought.

Let's not get carried away, there was only one major rick, which is of course an improvement on his previous performances.

[tuamigos]

Hopefully that performance can give him a bit more confidence.
He didn't have a lot to phase him yesterday but he concentrated and did his job well.
Hope he gets better again in the next game.

[elkiellis]

Sorry but I think he is the worst centre half ive ever seen at the Albion,i go back to the early 70s Wile and Robertson,awesome partnership,and ive seen a few bad ones but this guy is a another level,i actually think we could play any outfield player in the entire squad and they would do a better job.

[baggie82]

Sorry but I think he is the worst centre half ive ever seen at the Albion,i go back to the early 70s Wile and Robertson,awesome partnership,and ive seen a few bad ones but this guy is a another level,i actually think we could play any outfield player in the entire squad and they would do a better job.

Bit over the top IMV given the dross we’ve had over the years. Happy to keep him this season and sell in the summer if we go up. Hegazi isn’t good enough either. Our squad essentially is strong at this level but relegation material in the premiership.

[liverbaggie]

I thought hegazi has been a decent signing good enough for the prem.
Who would you have instead?

[17GD]

It's unfair to compare him to anyone other than a current player. Football has changed a lot over the past decade, let alone 40 years.

Mardon, Raven, Strodder were all faves of mine, but would they hack the current playing style? Not overly convinced they would. In the 90s we were a poor to average division one team. The Championship is much tougher than it was back when.

I'd say the problem with most of the CBs I've seen at west brom is distribution. Olsson is one of the most recent cases. Could never doubt his commitment or desire, but he couldn't pass to save his life. And he was another one who had his hands all over the opposition.

[LiamTheBaggie]

He's poor.

Plays with a laid back attitude and parades around in a half arsed manner. I wouldn't mind it if he could play.. !

[tuamigos]

He's poor.

Plays with a laid back attitude and parades around in a half arsed manner. I wouldn't mind it if he could play.. !

I like the way he struts around telling the rest of the players to calm down after he's played the ball to the opposition of played a hospital ball.
He's definitely not cut out for the system were playing.
Might (I say might) be ok in a straight back 4 if he hasn't got to play football too much

[beechyboy90]

He struggles playing left side as a right footer needs to play in the middle or the right of the 3. Defiantly the weak link at the moment

[seteefeet]

He struggles playing left side as a right footer needs to play in the middle or the right of the 3. Defiantly the weak link at the moment

It would suggest that he is the least uncomfortable of the 3, so the other two must be real bad!!
I just think the style of play leaves us a bit exposed and we are not used to it after Pulis and his 9 behind the ball.
Not only are we the top scorers in the league though, we also have the 2nd best goal difference so, our balance of defence / attack  is also better than 22 other teams.

[beechyboy90]

It would suggest that he is the least uncomfortable of the 3, so the other two must be real bad!!
I just think the style of play leaves us a bit exposed and we are not used to it after Pulis and his 9 behind the ball.
Not only are we the top scorers in the league though, we also have the 2nd best goal difference so, our balance of defence / attack  is also better than 22 other teams.

Fair points. I'm not convinced Dawson would be any good left side.
In relative terms our attack v defence isn't an issue as we seem to keep out scoring teams. However GD is inflated by the +6 v QPR. We are conceding over a goal a game on average.

Team needs second clean sheet to further build defensive confidence if we manage that in an away game that would do so twofold.

[WBArgo]

I think he would be fine in a typical back 4 but in our back 3 system he is badly exposed. The other two can just about do it but it's an ask too far with Bartley.

[FallOutBoy]

I think he would be fine in a typical back 4 but in our back 3 system he is badly exposed. The other two can just about do it but it's an ask too far with Bartley.

Strikes me that he's on the wrong side of it. Hegazi is more comfortable on his left, and so it should be Dawson-Bartley-Hegazi. Might not solve all the problems, but balances it better.