5th is not a Failure...

As Mick Jagger lamented all those years ago..

'You can't always get what you want'..

All those years ago...

We were also reminded of the anniversary of Jeff Astle's FA Cup winner v Everton..

We have been starved for so long of the feeling of that type of victory..

Jeff's goal was 56 years ago..

Friday was 'not what we wanted', as this season's promotion dream ended..

A day when we are given a grim reminder of the word with the most fierce and predictable bite, looming it's ugly head...

Reality

Bites..

Truth is, for the mass majority of supporters, 5th place was an excellent finish this season..

5th was above and beyond most fans and pundits pre season predictions, many who saw a long season ahead for Carlos's boys..

By the way, my I opined in August that WBA would finish 6th, so I was with the majority of under Baggies estimators..

Pre season, it seemed very obvious that the upper echelons of The Championship would be harder to reach, with the three relegated teams being relatively stacked with talent, simply makes the automatic promotion achievement of Ipswich Town, under the brilliant Kieron McKenna, even more impressive...

A League Table over 46 games doesn't lie...

We came 5th, but the bridge between 5th and 4th was immense..,

Twelve Points..

If you look at who finished twelve points below us, you'll find..?

The hapless Preston...

Twelve points can be a chasm...

So the two juggernauts left at this level reach Wembley next week, and we lick our collective wounds, to consider our future..

With or without certain key players.

Some will leave..

Others we need to pass on....

The absolute vision for the club is to build a more sustainable future, where home grown talent comes through and the age of the squad coupled with a high outlay in salary drops...

At the start of the season, the invisible owner with a penchant for a loan from the club, was still in charge.

Next season, with the breath of fresh air, that is the presence of Shilen Patel, we can look forward with genuine promise, optimism and excitement...

But this is not just a new page, but a new chapter...

Taking over in mid season, gave Shilen a window for observation, but also a free ride, witnessing a club still in the midst of the old regime..

Change IS good, if you make it work, and now we are to witness the first developmental seeds of the Patel era..

Words now become deeds..

Patel commented, "I think that when you’re a club that’s in the situation that Albion is in now, without the parachute money, the rules simply do not allow you to buy your way back to the Premier League. You have to earn it.

"We have to find a way to run with discipline and stay on the right side of the rules that exist now and the rules that are probably coming in the future.

No doubt we hardly used our parachute payments judiciously, and it's a perilous line to walk, as either Saints or Leeds will discover with failure to win at Wembley next weekend..

Whole squads will be dismantled and fire sales may well occur.

Football becomes poker, and relegated teams can be loaded with talent but can also risk being left with have a loaded hand..

On relegation, three seasons ago, we were dealt the financial aces, but when you are bound to multiple triple million yearly payments on investments like the ongoing Karlan Grant debacle, you are in trouble..

One person, not in trouble is Carlos Corberan who has performed minor miracles, without spending a penny in transfer fees and a recognized choice of strikers due to resepective debilitating injuries to Maja and Dike..

The 'Wagner overture' of sacking at Norwich will not occur at B71...

But as Shilen lauds Carlos's great sense of detail and perfect mindset to be West Brom's coach, this mindset will be given its greatest examination this post season, in who Corberan retains and who is invited to find pastures new?

A place beyond pastures green...

Certainly a squad, relatively high on salary and age, needs adjusting and perhaps purging..

Several players out of contract are the wrong side of thirty, when the speed of aging accelerates, and although saying goodbye is never easy, it is more often than not the right long term move for a club..

A Kevin Phillips scenario is once in a blue moon..

It can be argued, Carlos worked better with a smaller squad, but with Corberan, it's always beyond the starting XI..

Only Leicester used the bench more than us this season, but at the higher echelons of the division, the squad impact got more diluted..

The loss in the second leg to Southampton said everything about bench strength and adjustments..

Saints had 60 Million worth of talent to impact and improve, at their disposal..

We had a 300K hard working striker, a thirty four year old Frenchman whose best days are way behind him, an aging Austrian and an out of form Jon Swift to try and chase a game..

You wonder why a fightback was never likely to happen??

Despite, overachieving, the dissenters seem more vocalized, some seeing Carlos as primarily a negative, defensive inclined coach, but in essence, he's simply getting everything and more from what he has at his disposal...

We essentially play with a deep six...

In central midfield, for years we've not had a reliable talented runner, a goal scoring impacter, the so called N0.8 in modern parlance..

Mowatt and Yokuslu have absolute strengths, the former had a superb season and was unarguably our best player in the playoffs, but breaking the lines to be an attacking option should not be a seldom used tactic? When it did happen, with the most inviting of opportunities supplied by Tom Fellows in either Play Off legs, that goal scoring instinct was missing from both Diangana and Mowatt..

It's a criteria, when chances are at a premium, for a team that has limited possession, that just cannot afford to misuse...

Mowatt and Yokulsu have each both scored just one goal in open play this season, from a combined 91 games...

You may get away with such stats with either a prolific, reliable goal scorer, or goals by committee...

We have neither..

It's informative to note that Ipswich were The Championship's highest scorers last season with 92 goals scored, but remarkably had an equal top scorer of just 13 goals...[Chaplin and Broadhead].

Goal scoring by committee is a product of athleticsm and bodies in the box..

When you analyse the stats, THIRTEEN of the Tractor Boys got as many goals as Yokulsu and Mowatt combined scoring total this season.,

I love our central midfield's strengths, but this is an area of the pitch where the contribution to goalscoring threat should be key and has to be developed in the future.

We were 8th top scorers in the division for a reason last season..

The lack of goals in The Championship is a worry, and either through recruitment or a tactical adaptations, things must change..

One area of the pitch it's hard to improve on is Alex Palmer, whose shot stopping and custiodian presence has been so impressive this season..

When you analyze the stats, it's even better.

Over half of Palmer's home games this season have resulted in a clean sheet, [13 including the Play Off] and an overall total of 19 shut outs, is an amazing testament to Alex's ability..

You can only imagine one of Carlos's easiest early appointment decisions was to drop David Button in favour of Alex, and it's a move you can feel Corberan has never regretted...

Considering Alex Palmer turned down a move to the Premier League and Luton Town in August says everything about his loyalty to WBA..

But I really do wonder how Palmer will react from a similar Premier League pursuit of his signature this post season?

Certainly, for career development, I cannot imagine a talented young keeper such as Josh Griffiths will want another year of bench warming next season, particularly when you consider that Josh had more appearances for England Under 21's than for us in the League since May last year..

I'll be shocked if both keepers are here next season...

Full backs, as they say, 'you get what you read from the can'..

Furlong and Townsend have been doing 'their thing' for several years now, passionate, heartfelt players but with defensive limitations at times...

Definite Championship players, but upper reaches Championship players..??

Of the two, Darnell had much the better season, particularly late on, an attacking presence and with his long throws, at times, offering possibilities, but against a dominant, strong defence like Southampton, this tactic can merely became easy pickings..

Townsend may well move on, there was an argument for Adam Reach being a better option, but ideally, a younger new recruit may well add more consistency and class to the left back slot..

Cedric Kipre has been immense, a cult hero and swept the awards for Player of the Season..

The redemption of Ced is one of the narratives of the year and something I wrote about in detail in my article, 'Cedric le Magnifique.'.

I cannot see Cedric, at 27, staying..

The time for his prime professional move is now, and being out of contract allows pursuing clubs to offer a very good salary.

For us of course, thanks for the memories, Ced..

What I will say about Ced is we all love his wholehearted tackling, but the higher the level, the smarter and cagier opponent..

With VAR in the second Play Off leg, I've no doubt the atypical 'ball and man' Kipre second half tackle would have been deemed a penalty, [Ced took the man first], and Premier League coaches and attackers will quickly become aware of that fatal flaw in his game..

Kipre will quickly need to adjust..

[The irony was, the actual Saints penalty was a dive, but hey, what do they say about life without VAR, and that cliche about decisions evening themselves out..??]

Kyle Bartley latterly reassumed the role of captaincy, chiefly due to Jed Wallace's tactical demotion, and had an atypical, end of contract renaissance...

Barts' strong end of season is perhaps compelling, but at 34 years old next week, is it time to offer more long term contracts to aging players??

I think not.

That same criteria goes for Erik Pieters, whose impact over the past two seasons has been steeped in stability and was a valuable, annual one year contract signing for his two years with us..

Semi Ajayi, returned to Africa for the Nations Cup, played really well, and was a huge component in Nigeria reaching the final.

Ajayi returned to WBA and barely got a look in...?

At this stage you have to consider what Carlos is looking for in a centre half and it may well not be Ajayi, looking at the lack of confidence in him in terms of selection for the second half of last season?

The hopes surrounding Caleb Taylor seem to be diminishing, not being part of Carlos's plans and getting just seven games on loan for Bolton Wanderers, and like Zach Ashworth, not being on the bench for the Play Off Final v Oxford Utd..

It will be interesting to see how Carlos judges Taylor's future plans??

I've enjoyed watching Alex Mowatt this season, and would truly love to tie him to a long term Baggies contract...

It'll be interesting to see what clubs comes in for Mowatt, you'd assume it could well be a Championship rival, and then the decision is up to the player??

Mowatt's consistency and reliability of keeping possession has permitted him to be the heartbeat of the team, rarely dipping in a consistent high performance level..

It was a remarkable reimmersion for a player who few thought would have such an impact this season..

It's amazing to consider it took NINE games this season for Carlos to actually start Mowatt??

Alex's quote on his return to the WBA side in Sept 2023, was, 'I've been dying to start'..

Truthfully, I'm 'dying' for Mowatt to re-sign for us...

A fantastic season for us, SHOULD be rewarded, and not only an improved contract, but for me, possible future captaincy..

Dependent of course on the future role of Jed Wallace, as Carlos sees it??

For Okay Yokulsu', a very talented player who reads the game well, but functions most effectively in a team formation that essentially stays deep..

With wide spaces between central defence and midfield, an area pacey attackers can exploit easily and more often than not, the pace of recovery for Yok' is just not there..

I'm curious to see if Carlos sees Yok' as a future central defender, in a back three and get more energy and support running from others in central midfield??

Jayson Molumby, of course, missed the mass majority of the season, has undoubted commitment and energy, but his usage of the final pass can be questionable...

Signing Yann M'Villa was eye opening for me..

A 34 year old without a pre season, but with an obvious pedigree from many seasons ago..

This was Carlos's 'call' from his experience managing Olympiakos the previous season..

In my mind, all we ended up doing is swelling a squad to a numbers game that we essentially didn't need.. No doubt, that signing completely compromized the game time for Nathaniel Chalobah, a player whose improved, but someone whose current level, you wouldn't associate with a promotion winning team.

When goal threats from central midfield areas become a paucity and you are playing with essentially one striker, the role of the mercuruial playmaker becomes even more vital...

People tend to forget the storming start to the season Jon Swift had, our most potent attacking and creative threat up until his October 6th calf injury v Blues, that ruled him out for six weeks and truth is, Swift never impacted the same again...

Even as late as January, the calf muscle showed no sign of injury, but Swift was still reporting pain..

The startling truth is in his 22 appearances post Blues injury, Swift only completed 90 Minutes twice, capping a puzzling campaign..

Grady Diangana, like all large investments, arrived with a caveat of promise, made more pertinent from an impressive loan spell and the heartfelt angst from inside West Ham inner circles..

But as is the case so often with WBA big money signings, Grady has failed to kive up to his price tag...

You cannot argue in many ways with this season's haul, a very respectable seven goals and eight assists, and when he's on his game, Grady is superb..

The problem with Grady is delivering in the key games, where teams more readily close him down and marginalize his impact...

Certainly in some of these key games, Carlos's defence first approach, makes the role of the mercurial playmaker much more challenging, and too often in these games, the challenge of delivery of expectations has not been met..

The captain, Jed Wallace, off and on the pitch has led by example, a considered, empathetic individual who sees himself in a role of a figure head for not just the team, but the whole club...

Jed's commitment to the likes of The Albion Foundation is second to none, a genuine bloke for a genuine club...

But inadvertently, life can deal you a rough hand, captaincy of a football club is no exception..

The injuries to two of our key strikers have made life for Jed really difficult, align this to the largely undroppable form of wide players, Tom Fellows and Mikey Johnston...

Moving Jed to a central attacking role, did at times has work, as an intelligent, technical, whole hearted player will always find a way, not an excuse...

Against the more talented Championship defences, the specialist role of a striker, you simply cannot hide away from, and playing out of position may ultimately compromise your impact on a team...

Rather than be flexible, I think to get the best out of Jed, he needs a more simplified role to play to his strengths and allow him to make a bigger impact...

One player who constantly impressed Carlos is Matt Phillips, and his consistency of performances can only be matched by the constant thorn in his and our side, for eight seasons, muscle injuries..

At 33, it's a situation that will only get worse, and it's hard to see West Brom, if we focus on long term planning, re-sign Matt to a new contract..

When we reflect over this season, in years to come, the biggest smiles I think will be recalling our wing play, at it's duel peak vibrancy, in February and March..

Mikey Johnston was just a spectacular addition..

A personal, perpetual goal of the month candidate in his early games, doing so much with pace and precision to merely open up an angle for the possibilty of shooting from distance and more often than not, finishing with absolute power and aplomb...

To keep scoring such 'Worldies', was asking a lot, but as a player with pace and menace, Mikey was a brilliant loanee who fit in so well, in keeping with the rich tradition of Baggies wingers down the decades..

And decades is exactly the scenario we'd love to have with Tom Fellows, but sadly it may well be a case of enjoy what we have for now, as you never know what destination this immensely talented lad could reach?

If ever the level of growth of a player from a loan spell can be used as an example, it has to be Fellows.

From the callow, promising youth who went to Crawley for a season, to the expressive, powerful running version that returned..

Electric feet and feignt, wonderful awareness and a range of crossing and chance creating few in The Championship can match..

Wallow in this Championship Chris Waddle..

In Tom's first cameo, sometimes in life you just have to back your hunch, and I predicted 'Tom is the best West Brom home grown player for a decade!',

And absolutely nothing since has caused me to doubt my words..

I always look as a good barometer to the level and affect young players have on the better teams they compete against, and therefore may well have a chance at the next level...

It was this critera that impressed the Real Madrid scouts when they saw Laurie Cunningham destroy Valencia, and obviously the likes of Southampton over the play offs is a much lesser example, but the way Tom, beat his opponents again and again, setting up gilt edge chances from crosses or perfect pull backs, showed his versatility and undoubted potential...

If we keep Tom, that life long Baggie from the academy, the type you long to cheer at The Hawthorns, more luck on us..

The bids will arrive before we know it, but he'll always be a Baggie at heart..

Of course, for years, striking and goal scoring has been our Achilies Heel...

The last three seasons

138 games

181 goals

Simply not enough...

Pre season, the rotation of three competent strikers with differing strengths, was a prospect to relish, and although for the first time in 3 seasons we broke the 60 goal barrier, our 70 goals was still only 8th best in The Championship.

The lack of goals is understandable when you lose Josh Maja to two violent injuries, both awful tackles bordering on assaults, unpunished by red cards.

Losing Daryl Dike for a heartbreaking second Achilies Tendon injury, is a tragic scenario that's difficult to recover from in any sport..

Brandon Thomas-Asante. was a fantastic signing for 300K, the most willing of characters and has developed his game and gives of his best to the team.

Ordinarily, an 11 League goal return, an improvement in technique and countless harrassing of defenders would be an area of huge encouragement, but we need to get much more from our central striking options.

Less than one goal in every four Championship games from this key striking area is never enough..

Carlos can do a lot with no expenditure, but covering the chasm of gaining a consistent goalscorer is a trick to far.

We did try in the January Loan window..

Calum Marshall seemed an exciting addition, with his glowing reputation at West Ham and his lovely family Baggies connection, but as with all young players, a coach may deem the time too early and after just 55 Minutes first team action, he returned to West Ham and more goalscoring at Under 21 level..

With Andi Weimann, he'll forever have the satisfaction of scoring the winner against his personal nemesis, and in their relegation season, Birmingham City..

Andi hits 33 years old when next season starts, I doubt Carlos will be recruiting him again..

Two years of the 'Carlos January Transfer Window', and whether it's availability or choice, only Mikey Johnston has been a solid hit in that important boost for promotion opportunity..

Mid season loans are never a perfect science, but it's one area we can improve on..

Of course, unless Aston Villa start sniffing around our crop of youth again, and under Unai Emery and his largely Spanish staff, hopefully their scouting network bypasses the best of our prospects?

It's certainly a direction we have to be even more reliant on, with the self sustainabilty of clubs being much closely governed now, something Shilen Patel was keen to highlight and therefore offset the methodology of the old and foolhardy blank cheque writing for clubs.

Last season we finished 9th out of 13 in the U18 Premier League, ironically three places above Villa, and 21st out of 24 in the U21 Premier League, remarkably, two places above Man City..

[I hear money is no object to them, and they are immune to financial sanctions? Or is it the lawyers??].

The two players who may well make strong cases for selection next season, and follow the path and example of Tom Fellows, are both young at U21 level, 18yr old attacking midfield talent Fenton Heard, and 19 yr old central midfielder Harry Whitwell.

Whether both need polishing up with a season at the lower league levels as Tom Fellows did, will be at the behold and disctretion of of Carlos??

We do have a 26 year old loanee returning from Cardiff City..

The last 26 year old loanee returning from a season at Cardiff City, was also written off by many of us..

He ended up being our Player of the Year last season....

Could the Stadiwm Dinas Caerdydd be the place our second Lazarus type figure returns from???

Of course, I'm stretching the imagination, but as that epitome of a goalscorer, Jimmy Greaves once noted, 'It's a funny old game'..

At the very least, it's a bizarre coincidence..

And with laughs, you need a smile..

And fellow Baggies please SMILE...

This was a season beyond our expectation.

A season of huge growth and a more optimistic feel for the future...

The ownership is now right, as is the management structure...

From the Foundation to the First team, we are a club with a heart, proudly steeped in embracing the community, something the Patel Family will only embrace and enhance further..

We made the play offs, and were simply beaten by a better, more financially advantaged team..

That is part and parcel of life in The Championship, post parachute..

Next season, the higher echelons of the division, in my opinion, will be more achievable, as this season's relegated trio of teams are not as talented as last years basement teams, 2/3 of whom will return to the Prem next season..

I cannot imagine lightning will strike twice and either Portsmouth, Derby or Oxford Utd are highly unlikely to do what Ipswich did this season..

Reasons to be cheerful Baggies, and a better base to build for a more solid bid for Premier League football..

Long term starts next season..

Come on you Baggies..