Jeff Stelling shares West Brom downside after statement Portsmouth win
West Brom fans will be expecting to see big wins every week after they thumped Portsmouth 5-1 at The Hawthorns, Jeff Stelling has said.
Speaking on talkSPORT (27 January, 7:24am), Stelling and Ally McCoist were delighted to see the Albion record such a resounding victory in Tony Mowbray’s return to The Hawthorns dugout on 25 January.
Grady Diangana’s two goals and assists led the Baggies into a 4-0 lead at half-time and they added a fifth early in the second period, but Stelling pondered whether Mowbray had now set the bar too high.
“It’s brilliant, the only downside is, Baggies fans are going to expect that every week now,” he said.
McCoist added: “We spoke about it before, just a great guy and it’s a great story – Tony’s a big diamond.”
Tony Mowbray secures dream Hawthorns return at West Brom
Baggies fans couldn’t have had a better day on Saturday, as their side who for much of this season have struggled to gain the initiative and put teams to bed, put in a five-star performance to vanquish Pompey.
With Diangana coming to the fore and Mikey Johnston also running the visiting defenders ragged as Albion moved up to fifth in the Championship table, Mowbray’s side’s display was a breath of fresh air.
Goals in large quantities being hard to come by this season was exemplified by The Hawthorns’ scoreboard not updating until just before half-time, with their first four goals scored in a 19-minute spell.
The Baggies have already received two major pieces of good news in recent weeks with the emotional return of Mowbray to Albion and the capture of Isaac Price, with this win capping things off in style.
Hopes of a finish inside the play-off places will now become expectations after such a dominant victory, but with Mowbray at the helm, he’ll have The Hawthorns faithful dreaming of 2008 all over again.
In other West Brom news, Albion’s star player against Portsmouth is attracting transfer interest from clubs across Europe.
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