Well, three Albion games into this blog and still no win to report. Of course this venture only charts games seen live and to be fair they did record a success at Charlton in the cup which sets up a decent tie with West Ham this coming weekend. However the league games haven't gone to plan with the first two matches ending in draws before slumping to a one-nil defeat at home to Stoke City in this Monday night match.
In yet another match relieved of its Saturday 3 o'clock kick off for the benefit of Sky TV, Albion were buoyed by nearest rivals Leeds dropping three points a couple of days earlier. A win would have seen the lead at the top of the division extend to four points and a further convincing healthy margin from those leading the chasing pack. Unfortunately a flat lifeless performance followed and we never recovered from conceding an early goal to a Stoke side on an upward trajectory in terms of resilience and organisation.
Of greater concern is a winless run of six league games stretching back to mid-December and a period where the chasing pack are quickly closing the gap to the extent of snapping at the heels. While some perspective requires seeking in this age of a social media landscape where instant reaction supplants the bigger picture, there are still visible signs of the early season key ingredients missing.
Perhaps time has come for manager - Slaven Bilic - to repay the adulation relentlessly bestowed upon him since joining in July with some effective adjustment. Player staleness and system malfunction requires addressing along with maybe a little injection of new blood before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.
There will always be a slice of scepticism when Albion do well and many long-term supporters brace themselves for a tumble when a lofty position is reached. In essence this is not a crisis, but a massive sense check that things will have to change for the promise of the first half of the season not to filter away.
Not all games between now and May will feature in 2020CMS, but there are enough that any blog jinx will impact greatly. Let's hope this is just a myth.
