BBC WM journalist blasts Conor Townsend for ‘bizarre’ West Brom penalty incident v Birmingham
BBC Radio WM journalist Ged Scott has torn Conor Townsend to shreds for conceding the penalty that led to West Brom losing 1-0 at Birmingham City on Sunday.
Lyle Taylor’s 67th-minute penalty was enough to secure all three points for Blues and humiliate an Albion side that has ended up getting nowhere near to winning instant promotion back to the Premier League.
It was a wretched game to watch and Townsend, 29, managed to provide the game-defining moment in the second half with a handball inside his own penalty area.
Onel Hernandez’s cross was blatantly handled by Townsend, leading to fierce criticism from Scott on BBC WM.
As quoted by BBC Sport’s matchday blog, Scott said: “Wow. It’s suddenly all happening here.
“Aside from the excitement of seeing that first shot on target, then came that bizarre piece of stupidity from Conor Townsend, stretching out his arm like a cricket umpire signalling a four to give away a needless penalty.
“And now we have two attacking Albion subs on.
“Steve Bruce had already countered before the penalty with the introduction of Grady Diangana, who scored a belter here when Albion last visited in December 2019.
“And now we have big Andy Carroll on too. He almost always makes something happen.”
Shameful
West Brom fans have not felt so disillusioned with their club in a very long time.
From the top, all the way down to the playing squad, it absolutely stinks and there needs to be a massive overhaul once the season is over.
Firstly, the better Guochuan Lai leaves this club for good, the better. Ever since he bought the Albion off Jeremy Peace, West Bromwich Albion have been on a downward spiral so the buck, ultimately, stops with him.
Ron Gourlay was vital in the appointment of Steve Bruce, who’s managed to turn West Brom’s poor campaign into a laughing stock.
Out of the four top West Midlands clubs, you could now argue we’re the worst after losing against Birmingham.
Bruce has failed to inspire the players, failed to improve performances and failed to provide results.
He’s a failure. Again.
And after Lai, Gourlay and Bruce go, we hope that pretty much every single one of those players also follow them out of the door because they’re absolutely stinking the place out right now.
It’s horror show after horror show, mistake after mistake, let down after let down.
They’re not fit the wear the shirt. And those above them aren’t fit for purpose.
In other West Brom news, a staff member has quit the Albion to join Wolves.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook for 24/7 updates on the Baggies plus more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.