Analysis: Big Sam knows the task on his hands following Aston Villa's derby day drubbing of West Brom
If Sam Allardyce did not already know the challenge he was facing keeping Albion in the Premier League, he surely does now.
The Baggies ninth Premier League defeat of the season was among the most sobering, a derby drubbing in which they barely laid a glove on one of their fiercest rivals and where even the final scoreline, boosted by two late Villa goals, did not really offer a fair reflection of proceedings.
Once again Albion were saved from a heavier defeat by goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, who denied Ollie Watkins, Jack Grealish and Anwar El Ghazi in the second half.
That kept the Baggies, who trailed to El Ghazi’s fifth minute opener, still in with a sniff until Bertrand Traore and El Ghazi, with his second of the night, made the game safe for Villa late. But there was no point pretending it hadn’t been one-way traffic.
Albion, of course, could point to the first-half incident which saw Jake Livermore receive a red card for a lunging challenge on Jack Grealish after referee Martin Atkinson, who had first issued a yellow, was advised to check his monitor by video assistant Darren England.
Moments later Villa defender Kortney Hause escaped more serious censure, or even an extended review, after a studs up challenge on Grady Diangana, for which he had also been shown yellow.
General consensus was that both men probably deserved to be taking an early bath but while Albion could cry foul at another perceived VAR injustice, it could not explain their below-par performance when they had a full complement of players on the pitch.
Slow out of the blocks, they were behind inside five minutes and second to everything before Livermore saw red 37 minutes in. It was Albion’s third red card of the season already and their ill-discipline remains a huge concern. Livermore will now miss the next three matches and Allardyce hinted he may also lose the captaincy.
The reaction from his team-mates, at least, was better than that seen against Everton and Crystal Palace when they also found themselves a man down. Albion defended doggedly in the second half as Villa laid siege to their goal. But this was a night where there really were few positives.
There was a certain irony about both the speed of Villa’s opener and the identity of the scorer.
El Ghazi had been the chief culprit when Smith’s men had missed a host of chances in Thursday’s 0-0 draw with Burnley.
Yet here he made no mistake, applying a deft finish to Bertrand Traore’s whipped cross for his second goal of the season and his third on three visits to The Hawthorns, having previously netted a brace in the 2-2 draw when the rivals met in the Championship two years ago this month.
The Dutchman’s resurgence has been one of the more surprising yet pleasing aspects of recent weeks for Villa.
It was not long ago the 26-year-old was watching matches from the stands and facing a future which might at best be deemed uncertain.
But with Trezeguet ruled out due to a hamstring injury, he has grasped his chance. The manner in which fringe players have stepped up in recent weeks will delight Smith. Traore, also wasteful against the Clarets, repaid his head coach’s faith by bagging his first Premier League goal for the club to effectively seal the points six minutes from time.
Allardyce, meanwhile, will spend the next week assessing what is at his disposal before the daunting prospect of a trip to Liverpool next Sunday.
Predicting a new manager’s first line-up can be a thankless task and Villa boss Dean Smith had admitted Allardyce’s arrival last week had sent his analysts “scrambling” for information.
As it was, the new Baggies chief utilised the mantra of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” as he named the same XI which had bagged an impressive point at Manchester City in his predecessors final game in charge.
But any hopes it would result in a repeat performance were dashed when El Ghazi put Villa in front.
For much of the opening half it felt like the Baggies were chasing shadows and Villa’s only disappointment by the break was that they were not further ahead.
Though Johnstone was not seriously tested prior to the break, that owed plenty to last-ditch defending as Dara O’Shea and Semi Ajayi did their best to get a header in here, a toe in there.
The difference in confidence levels could also be heard in the noise being generated. While Villa were loud, with Grealish, John McGinn, and Tyrone Mings in particular booming out instructions to their team-mates and complaints to referee Atkinson, Albion’s were quiet, the most audible voice being that of Dara O’Shea as he yelled for support. Allardyce, meanwhile, stood in his technical area, arms crossed.
The 66-year-old has a proud record when it comes to engineering escape acts yet no team has survived with so few points as Albion possess after 14 matches.
Smith, who only a few months ago was facing his own relegation scrap with Villa, may have sympathy.
This season he will have no such worries and the big question is just how far his team can go. Victory here, their fifth in six away matches, sent them up to ninth and they still possess two matches in hand on most other teams in the division.
Their points total is their best at this stage of a season since the 2009-10 season, when they finished sixth. After a decade of struggle, they look a club and a team on the up. For Albion, the outlook is a lot less rosy.
