Lewis Cox analysis: West Brom pay the price on opening day to forget
It was a chastening opening day for Albion at Blackburn Rovers that provided many more questions than answers.
Optimism was in a decent place as Carlos Corberan’s men got their Championship campaign under way at Ewood Park but the hosts – who have their own share of financial troubles this season – proved too strong.
Albion, backed by close to 3,000 travelling supporters in conditions that resembled November more than early August, gave their fans little to shout about on an afternoon of classic and painful, as well as frankly amateurish, individual errors.
Saturday’s 2-1 defeat came courtesy of a horrible 60 seconds in which much of Blackburn’s job was done – on the back of the visitors’ best period in the game.
Left-back Conor Townsend was unable to clear his lines as Rovers countered and Dilan Markanday slotted home, before disaster struck barely 10 seconds after the restart as Cedric Kipre haplessly lost the ball for Harry Leonard to beat goalkeeper Alex Palmer too easily at his near post.
There is no getting away from it, the totally avoidable individual errors that gift-wrapped Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men their goals were dire stuff. It is the kind of defending that Albion cannot allow to plague their season.
It is little wonder head coach Corberan uncharacteristically lost his rag with referee Dean Whitestone to collect two late yellow cards and be dismissed. It was not what he hoped from his side on the opening day.
