West Brom analysis: Darren Moore has earned the right for a dip in form

In October 2007, they even had a three-game period that yielded just one point out of a possible nine. Just like Darren Moore has.

That division was incredibly competitive. By the end of the season, the twelve teams in the top half were separated by just 17 points.

Leicester famously went down conceding fewer goals than every team promoted.

Mowbray’s side went on to lose 11 games in total, and draw a dozen more, and yet they were still crowned champions.

This season is shaping up to be just as competitive though, just as tightly packed at the top. Only five points currently separate the teams from second to 12th.

This doesn’t mean Darren Moore’s team are going to win the title, because on the evidence of last week, this side is not currently capable of that.

But what it does prove is that all seasons, but in particular those in this division, have a habit of ebbing and flowing and evolving over time.

The question is, how much does Moore’s team need to evolve? Should the 3-4-1-2 system that served them so well for 10 games be scrapped? Do personnel need to change?

Saturday’s draw with Blackburn was neither the vindication Albion craved nor the confirmation that plans needed to be ripped up and started over.

The Baggies were better than they had been in midweek, albeit because Tony Mowbray’s team didn’t press as aggressively as Derby County.

Craig Dawson was much improved, and in central midfield Jake Livermore’s industry and James Morrison’s tidy passing complemented each other well.

It’s amazing what happens when you put square pegs in square holes and Morrison staked a claim for a place in that engine room.

But the Baggies still weren’t back to their fluid best. Their set-piece goal was not a Darren Moore classic, it was from the Tony Pulis parish.

They also failed to test an outfield player in goal, despite Richard Smallwood donning the gloves and a brave face for more than 15 minutes at the end.

Blackburn defended resolutely, but someone should have squirted a long-range shot his way in all that time.

So it was something of a half-way house after back-to-back defeats. The rot was stopped, but not removed completely.

As Moore said afterwards, they should have won, but a point gives him something to build on this week ahead of a trip to lowly Hull, where they must win.

It is not only in midfield where Albion’s head coach should make changes.

Kyle Bartley continues to struggle on the left hand side of a back three, and it was his inability to clear his lines again which once more led to a goal.

He is suspended for the next game after picking up his fifth booking of the season. Depending on Ahmed Hegazi’s fitness, he may not return after that.

Tosin Adarabioyo looks a better bet at the moment and it may be worth trying Gareth Barry, a left-footer no less, in Bartley’s role should he return from injury in time. He’s played there before.

One point in nine is obviously not promotion form, but Mowbray’s comments after the match were perhaps the most illuminating.

He admitted his plan was to capitalise on the anxiety of the crowd by pressing the back line.

Actually, Blackburn were nowhere near as effective with their pressing as Derby, but the former manager's comments should give Albion supporters pause for thought.

Fans pay their money and they have every right to voice their approval and disapproval as they deem fit.

But there's no denying the detrimental effect negativity from the stands has on the team.

Moore has called for unity all season, and included the fans in his message, one he reiterated in his programme notes on Saturday.

If results and form tail off drastically, then grumbles will understandably surface, but there does seem to be a growing expectation among the fanbase that Albion are going to win every game, and boss every game doing so.

The glut of goals they scored in between the third match of the season and the 12th match of the season has arguably, not helped.

If you score 29 goals in 10 games, people will begin to expect to see three goals every match.

Now those goals have dried up, and up the other end, they are chronically incapable of keeping clean sheets. That is a recipe for disaster and one that needs sorting.

There is more to the grumbles than just results though. Fans are watching the same sort of errors lead to opposition goals each week.

But it's worth remembering when Moore took over there were genuine concerns of Albion following Sunderland down to League One, such were the fears over the lasting damage of a poisonous season.

Moore nearly kept the club up miraculously and now has the team fighting at the right end of the division while attempting to play in a style the majority of supporters had been crying out for.

There will be bumps in the road, and he may need to tweak, hone, or completely change his system and indeed parts of his line-up.

He may not deliver promotion at the end of it all.

But surely he has earned some patience and good will after turning the whole club around. Surely he's allowed a dip in form.