Lewis Cox's analysis: Gulf obvious to see as West Brom move focus on to clear priorities
A heavy defeat at Bournemouth was not wholly unexpected, but proved chastening for Albion all the same.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
The gulf between the Premier League and Championship is growing ever wider, you only have to look at relegation contenders from the top flight to realise that.
But the chasm in quality between the top seven in the 'promised land' and the top seven in the best of the rest was really put under the spotlight at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
In-form Bournemouth, in their best sequence since Eddie Howe first led them to the top flight, made six changes and cantered past Albion despite an early scare.
The managerless Baggies' priorities were laid bare with seven changes of their own. It is no surprise that the Cherries' reserve options eased beyond some of Albion's second string.
One of Bournemouth's changes, captain David Brooks, was the best player on the park and involved in several goals.
To the credit of Spanish boss Andoni Iraola he kept some big-hitters in among a forward line struck by injury and three wide players, Dango Ouattara - with two - Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo fired the goals on the way to a 5-1 home win. All three have troubled Premier League defences this season.
Albion threatened to make a story of it. They led until the half hour and recalled loan defensive youngster Caleb Taylor was a fairytale goalscorer.
A changed Baggies side were good value for that lead.
The equaliser was a setback the visitors struggled to recover from, though. Bournemouth began to slice through at will as goals two and three arrived within a few moments before the break. The third came seconds before the interval, the fourth came seconds after it.
