West Brom performances delight BBC pundit, tips Steve Bruce disappointment
West Brom have been “really good” so far this season but haven’t got the points to show for it, according to former Baggies player Carlton Palmer.
An up and down start to the campaign has appeared consistent on paper in that the club have already recorded six draws, and sit in 16th place in the Championship with just nine points, which he says Steve Bruce will be unhappy with.
Periods of games have been very good, and there has been a tendency to dominate proceedings without making it count before going behind and having to battle back, as an inability to take chances continues to bite them.
Speaking to Football League World Palmer said: “I think it’s a solid start to the season. They’ve had difficult games as well to play.
“Steve will be disappointed in terms of the points tally. I think they should have about 15 or 16 points. That’s genuinely what they should have.
“I mean, having watched the Burnley game they deserved to win that game. They’re playing particularly well. They’re creating an awful lot of chances. But the performances have been good, really good.”
Frustration
The deadline debacle has only added to a feeling that this season is going to be one of promise but near-misses, with every game but one this season a draw or decided by the odd goal.
The anomaly is the swashbuckling 5-2 win over relatively high-flying Hull City on 20 August, which showed what this side is capable of on their day.
Chances were taken in that game but more often than not they aren’t to the same degree, forcing the need for fight-backs, which have at least frequently been forthcoming.
In the ongoing absence of Daryl Dike, whose status as the mythical answer to the goalscoring question feels like it will inevitably end in disappointment when he is eventually available, Karlan Grant is again the leader of the line, and while he remains an important Baggies player he is not prolific enough to turn some of these draws into wins.
With Callum Robinson now gone the options in attack are even fewer, although late-window signing Brandon Thomas-Asante popped up with a 98th-minute equaliser against Burnley last time out.
The points tally Palmer thinks is fair would put the Albion in the top three and have the promotion prospects looking a lot more rosy, so if they are truly performing as well as that they will need to start finding the net on a more regular basis soon before this season gets away from them.
In other West Brom news, activity at Chelsea was behind one of the club’s failed moves on transfer deadline day.