Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox give their take on Albion's 1-1 draw at Oxford.
Karlan Grant continued his superb run of form to give Carlos Corberan's side a half time lead.
But they failed to find a second and Dane Scarlett headed in a stoppage time equaliser.
Karlan Grant continued his superb run of form to give Carlos Corberan's side a half time lead.
But they failed to find a second and Dane Scarlett headed in a stoppage time equaliser.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Buggies fans, welcome to Expressorstarter.com at the Kassam Stadium after Albion have suffered
00:12a little bit of a sting in the tail late on here, winning for large parts of the game.
00:18Dane Scarlett's late stoppage time header earns a point for Oxford. Coxie, for long
00:25periods it looked like West Brom had that game in their grasp, but they kind of threw
00:30it away at the end. Now, just going on fan reaction, I'm going to put it straight on
00:34you, whose fault is that on? Is it on the players, or is it on Carlos Corbera?
00:38I'll give you the boring answer of both. I mean, you said a little sting in the tail,
00:44I mean a big one really. How a long throw can change a mood really. I mean a draw, one
00:52of the most defeatist draws I've ever felt, I think. In all seriousness, there's a tail
00:57of a couple of throws at the end there, isn't there? We've just been discussing it, Carlos
01:00Corbera has referenced it in his first answer of his post-match interview. 92nd minute the
01:06equaliser I think, so just prior to that, Dan Albion's left. Decent move, winner's throw.
01:13And yeah, the head coach has referenced game management multiple times there. I think,
01:17I don't, I must have been typing live, so I don't really remember seeing it, but by
01:20all accounts, Torbjörn Eggen, left back, who had a good game, had a throw in, looking
01:25for a colleague in a box, looking for a runner, essentially ran through to keep her. And from
01:31there, the equaliser comes about, came from an Oxford long throw through Will Vaux's throw,
01:37so game management is the manager's real bugbear there. In terms of what you asked me, I suppose,
01:45and I've seen this online, some irritated fans from the subs.
01:49Yeah, could you argue game management from him in terms of the substitutes, kind of took
01:52Josh Madger off, who was that real focal point up top?
01:55He was asked, and he pointed out fatigue for Rakic, who I thought also had a good game,
02:01and Corberan did, and he fatigued for Madger, who for my money had a good game again, and
02:07I think he makes so much happen for Albion and Madger. And there's no strike on the bench,
02:12is there? So whatever happens when Madger comes off, it isn't going to work, or isn't
02:18going to work anywhere near as good. But look, the head coach has said fatigue for
02:21both of them, and if that's the case, that's the case, isn't it? And who's that on? It's
02:26on the players to be able to get through 90 better, maybe, I don't know. Off the back
02:31of an international break, you don't necessarily want to hear about that, but look, that's
02:35how he saw it. And it's on Corberan to make those substitute decisions, isn't it? And
02:40you live or die by them, and it's not gone their way today, and it's not gone their way,
02:44and it's resulted in four games, winless now, obviously, either side of the break.
02:49How the mood can change, I mean, at 1-0, do I think it was scintillating? No. Do I think
02:54it was brilliant? No, by any stretch. In fact, it was quite a forgettable game, really. However,
02:59what it was at 1-0 is a good result for a couple of reasons. These are unbeaten here.
03:04Obviously, you've got something about them. They're lively, but I think we're there to
03:07be got at today, really. And winning, playing not brilliantly, but a win still, and just
03:16putting an end to a little winless run. Three games, now becomes four, but it really feels
03:23like two points dropped, doesn't it? I was thinking after the game, and I don't want
03:27to be too reactive, and you can tell me if you agree with me or not, perhaps a club in
03:35and around the top two this season, going for that automatic, it wins that one or two.
03:39Or it doesn't concede that. And that's not saying that Albion can't go on and achieve
03:45great things this season. I fully expect them to be fighting for those top six places, but
03:49let's talk about the top two, three in the league or whatever. Look, Burnley were held
03:55here 0-0 not so long ago, so OK, but it was there for Albion today, wasn't it? And I think
04:01the manner of how the finale played out, there's a lot to be learned from that. They
04:05really need to look at themselves for that, for how cheap it was, giving away the throwing
04:10they had in the attacking position for how cheap it was defensively. We talk about Albion
04:13as the land of the giants, don't we? They've not won the first or second contact from Vux's
04:17long throw. There's a lot of other things to debate from today that perhaps we can save
04:24for another day, but just the whole point on the one goal lead and where's the second
04:29goal going to come from in terms of, did the Oxford keeper make another save? Palmer
04:34didn't to be fair, but that doesn't really make you feel much better, does it? Albion
04:39got in a lot of good positions, a lot of good opportunities to make that second goal, but
04:45the quality and decision-making in that moment, be it the shot, cross, how many did we see
04:50from the byline, crosses blocked or whatever, left a lot to be desired today when they were
04:55on the hunt for that second. It would have killed the game off and left everyone feeling
04:59a bit rosier, I think.
05:01It's basically Sunday up there, but the one final point I'll make is that if you want
05:07to be in and around those emotional spots, you can't go five unbeaten and they've got
05:11to do something on that tonight.
05:13Yes, a tricky game, isn't it? But Blackburn have started the season pretty well. I think
05:18dipped off a tiny bit from how the first month went, but today, now four, we've had a win.
05:24It's only the third time in Corbyn's three years that's happened, and it's never been
05:29five under the Spaniards, so they need to ideally pick up a victory at Ewo Park to extend
05:36that little record thing that they haven't gone five winless, because that's not a good
05:42run, is it? However you dress it up, four or five without a win, even if it features
05:46three draws, four draws, isn't a good run and isn't going to get you anywhere fast.
05:51One-nil today, I know it was the early kick-off, but Albion were going back top of the league,
05:54and that's another reason why it would have been a very rosy one-nil. Instead, we'll be
05:59looking over our shoulders at the league table in a couple of hours, won't we? Wondering
06:03if Albion are still going to be in the top six. It doesn't really position league table
06:07at this point in the season. It's early, isn't it? But I think the point you made about the
06:13manner of that late on and the game management as a program's real frustration leaves a lot
06:18to be unpicked and a lot to debate and wonder. Got to be better than that.
06:25Certainly have got to be better than that. Final score here at the Cassam Stadium, Oxford
06:301, Albion 1. We'll see you Wednesday, but all the rest of your reaction from this, go
06:34to expressandstar.com.