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20 teams in 20 days – West Bromwich Albion

By on August 16, 2014

Manager: Alan Irvine
Stadium: The Hawthorns
Nickname: The Baggies
Finish Last Season: 17th

What happened? West Bromwich Albion had finally settled into top flight life, with three years comfortably mid-table. In 2012/2013 they even broke into the top half of the table, with a eighth place finish making them “the best of the rest”. They even began to attract some class players, Diego Lugano and Victor Anichebe joined the club in the summer of 2013. Then, last season, years of work towards mid-table stability unraveled spectacularly. They went through three managers in the 2013/2014 season, lost their shirt sponsor Zoopla after Nicolas Anelka’s controversial “quenelle” celebration, won just seven league matches, the tied lowest in the league, and finished just outside of the relegation zone. In the end, they were simply lucky not to find themselves playing in the Championship this season.

So what went wrong? Namely, they lacked the ability to finish off games. They drew four more times than any other side, with nearly half of their matches ending in ties. Their squad looked disjointed, and as the tactics changed with each manager they never managed to find their rythm. And the odd management system they employ, making managers more like head coaches, seemed to do more harm the good.

This coming season it is doubtful that the “quenelle” controversy will strike again, so at least they will have one less problem on their minds. New manager Alan Irvine’s last managerial job ended in relegation and disaster, but over the summer he did a good job in rounding West Brom’s squad and patching the holes. Five new defenders have been brought in, their €10 million signing of Brown Ideye has spearheaded the overhaul, a move that helps solve their goalscoring problems last season, and two more experienced midfielders in Chris Baird and Craig Gardner have signed. Anelka has been let go, along with many other fringe and aging players. Meanwhile, their promising younger players such as Saido Berahino and the newly signed Andre Wisdom will only continue to ripen.

This coming season they look largely different from their squad that kicked off 2013/2014. Gambles have been taken in multiple prominent signings who have yet to play in the Premier League, as well as Irvine, who despite a strong managerial record is at a lack of EPL experience. If they can mesh under Irvine, then their mid-table stability could return. But if not, then expect another hectic season.

Full Fixture List:
August 16: Sunderland (H)
August 23: Southampton (A)
August 30: Swansea (A)
September 13: Everton (H)
September 20: Tottenham (A)
September 27: Burnley (H)
October 4: Liverpool (A)
October 18: Manchester United (H)
October 25: Crystal Palace (H)
November 1: Leicester City (A)
November 8: Newcastle (H)
November 22: Chelsea (A)
November 29: Arsenal (H)
December 2: West Ham (H)
December 6: Hull City (A)
December 13: Aston Vila (H)
December 20: Queens Park Rangers (A)
December 26: Manchester City (H)
December 28: Stoke City (A)
January 1: West Ham (A)
January 10: Hull City (H)
January 17: Everton (A)
January 31: Tottenham (H)
February 7: Burnley (A)
February 10: Swansea (H)
February 21: Sunderland (A)
February 28: Southampton (H)
March 3: Aston Villa (A)
March 14: Stoke (H)
March 21: Manchester City (A)
April 4: Queens Park Rangers (H)
April 11: Leicester City (H)
April 18: Crystal Palace (A)
April 25: Liverpool (H)
May 2: Manchester United (A)
May 9: Newcastle (A)
May 16: Chelsea (H)
May 24: Arsenal (A)

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.