'Dare.' March 2026.

Dare to hope?

Dare to dream?

Targets change in time.

The sheer notion of the relief at finishing the season in 21st position, in the second sphere of English football would have seemed an ambition of the lowest stratosphere if this had been mumbled let alone proclaimed in 146 of the 148 years of The Albion’s proud existence..

But here we are…

Dix games to decide our fate.

Of course a season that started with a healthy modicum of promise, an encouraging ten points from the first four games in that glorious month of August was a mirage not a vision of the future, and the first international match break, didn’t so much splinter but more smash any and all early momentum gained.

To be honest, we’ve never fully recovered

So from the seemingly lack of ambition that stymied Ryan Mason’s tenure, to the beyond ambitious plans of Eric Ramsay.

Two novice managers, not attuned to the demands of The Championship and the club paying the price.

We are back in safe hands.

Realistic hands. 

And realism is what we are seeing under James Morrison..

His opening game v Oxford United, led to the opening of Mozza’s eyes and raising of the eyebrows.

Regardless of who was boss, this team seemed hellbent on a future playing the likes of Bromley and Burton, not Birmingham and Burnley.

Being from Burton, the mere idea of The Brewers facing The Baggies in a League game never entered my head, and indeed the last time this league fixture was played was 1910, Burton United v The Baggies.

Post defeat, and fully guilty of the cardinal sin of easily losing a classic ‘six pointer of a match, a fully justified riot act was delivered by Morrison, to the ineptness of the performance and the enormity of the consequences of going MIA for the remainder of this season.

Coaches, as well as players are tarnished by failure and no doubt the career arcs of Messers Mason and Ramsay, [sounds like a legal pairing, maybe their demeanours are better suited to that profession] will have gone one direction after their Baggies experience.

James Morrison, stalwart of twelve years of exemplary playing and the best part of another six years in various Albion coaching capacities, [Scotland sojourn apart], deserves far better than to be tenuously connected with a relegation.

And as Mozza clearly reminded the players, the Albion faithful deserve far, far more..

Well if anything, Saturday’s draw at Sheffield Utd is hopefully the line in the sand.

The setting of standards.

Embedded in realism.

Mixed messages have abounded for too long, creating a broken spirit and a messed up mind.

Clarity of purpose and vision creates unity.

And to get out of this relegation malaise, a squad moving in different directions will ultimately reach only one destination.

Relegation.

Saturday’s performance against Sheffield Utd was simply a start.

A turning of the page.

An opportunity to build.

But opportunity knocks so infrequently when almost 80% of the season has already gone..

In this final fifth of the season, one off performances have to be a thing of the past.

Improvements have to be a series not a suggestion…

Defensively, it's far too often the embers of shuffling the pack with such regularity.

Is it a three?

Do we play wing backs?

Who actually is available??

Last season, two of our four defenders played in 94.5% of our league games.

It’s not just replacing players, it’s replacing trust, unity and understanding.

Reps count.

Consider the most effective defence I and I imagine any Albion fan of a certain vintage will recall.

1978/79.

Names set in stone.

Godden, Batson, Statham, Wile, Robertson.

In a 42 game league season at the highest level in England the esteemed sextet missed seven games.

Remarkable and incomparable.

Yes, we gained upwards of 14 Million Pounds for Darnell Furlong and Torbjorn Heggem, but the inability to consider the roles of each player and replace like for like, has hamstrung us massively this season.

Despite selection mayhem, in reality this is the end game for Krystian Bielik’s returning and more than likely an end of season shoulder injury.

Playing football with a separated shoulder isn’t an accident waiting to happen..

It’s already happened..

Our defensive record in recent weeks has been relatively encouraging.

Six games.

Six goals conceded.

Of course that means needing to find two goals to win a game, not exactly easy when your strikers have scored just one goal in the last seventeen matches between them.

The conveyor belt of keepers seems to have settled now on Max O’Leary, making the spot his own and cementing it with some very instinctive and crucial saves in recent weeks.

This improvement has come from the embers of his 'deep end dive debut' against Derby County, when a calamitous drop from a cross, raised eyebrows and lowered expectations.

For O’Leary to start after just one training session was asking a lot, and no doubt he has looked far more assured between the sticks in recent weeks.

A similar scenario was the debut of Danny Imray, a 45 Minute tease, before being ‘hooked’ by Eric Ramsay, Imray taking the heat and the blame when the root cause was a contrived coaching conundrum of playing three central defenders at Portsmouth.

When your defenders are compromised by a lack of athleticism or pace to cover the vacant wide areas vacated by the selection of wing backs, you are in predictable trouble.

Portsmouth made hay in the grass we left open.

2-0 down at half time was a travesty of tactics and barely paid service to Pompey’s dominance.

You simply have to replace like with like.

Square pegs always fit in four sided holes..

In Morrison’s back four, having a right back counted and Imray’s athleticism and energy stood out.

Beyond vital this promising performance is built on.

Of course, right back has been manned largely by a central defender masquerading as a full back.

You play a player in their correct position and the benefits are obvious.

George Campbell is an unlikely terrace hero and honestly that’s not a bad thing, as Albion fans always seem to like and respect the road less traveled…

George was an unknown name at The Albion when he signed , but what was well known over here in the US was Campbell’s athleticism and depth of character..

To be shoehorned into the side at right back wasn’t a stumbling block for Campbell, but of course ultimately a consequence of a strategy of so many right sided central defenders of a certain vintage.

When Campbell signed for The Albion, there were certainly advantages and disadvantages.

George was fitter than most of his new colleagues who were in the midst of pre-season, Campbell having already played 16 MLS games with CS Montreal, but also had only got married the day before he signed.

Huge respect to the understanding and empathetic, Mrs. C.

In George’s first WBA interview he spoke of “being ready for the challenges of this journey”, his undoubted “versatility” and “a variety of things he can work on”.

Simply, not the finished product, but a player ready to improve and thrive in this new and exciting challenge.

Former MLS players who’d seen George play many times first hand, and who I'm gratefully privy to, raved about George’s character, his suitability of possessing many excellent traits as a team mate.

To balance that out, I was forewarned, George would take time to adjust to the pace of The Championship, and mistakes would be made.

But he’d learn from them…

All valid.

All true.

But what I think cemented George to the heart of the Baggies faithful was his willingness.

His determination.

Campbell is immune to hiding places, always stands to be counted..

We can see that on and off the pitch, a leader we sought but one we maybe didn’t expect.

Measured by deed not by reputation..

A future Albion skipper perhaps..

As I type this, it’s actually the 79th birthday of the best Albion skipper I ever saw play for us. John Wile.

Wile, and maybe in the future, George Campbell proves yet again the adage.

Leaders are born not made.

Leaders also step up.

For a player of such limited experience, it was George who volunteered to face up to press conferences, when other figures declined.

Campbell’s reputation in the US and his one US International appearance were made as a central defender.

Circumstances as well as more likely, clearly vision by Morrison has moved Campbell to his true best position of centre half.

And Campbell’s undoubtedly thrived…

There’s a definite inkling the doyen of defensive formations and set piece king, the much maligned Tony Pulis, who Mozza smartly sought some advice from pre Sheff Utd game, would have rated Campbell.

Saturday of course saw Campbell halving the seemingly impossible to match, Chris Nicholl’s record of scoring two own goals and two goals in the same game..

Campbell’s own goal was simply a precursor of a tap in finish from a Sheff Utd striker on the back post, the recipient of a peach of a cross from the left side of our defence, in a space vacated by a midfielder not tracking a runner..

Campbell’s reaction was anger to himself, but he really wasn’t to blame..

And to put things right can create an opportunity…

83rd Minute, the opportunity came.

The inner desire to want to win the ball more than an opponent, to brush off a second opponent's grab, the unleashing of the shot.

 The goals that resonate are often the ones that you know are ‘in’ as soon as they leave the players foot.

The trajectory never changes.

The net bulges with the ferocity.

The fans appreciation, apoplectic.

In James Morrison’s post match interview he clearly rejoiced in the moment, and markedly referred to the players reaction in the dressing room.

‘You ought to hear them’....

Moments can change seasons.

Let’s hope this is one of them we’ll look back on with immense satisfaction at how the youngest of seven kids from Chester, Pennsylvania, galvanized the team and changed the trajectory of the season.

Central midfield looked much more solid, Molumby and Diakite, encouragingly combative but rarely giving away set piece situations, putting in equally strong shifts, never getting caught out of position and most importantly moving the ball forward earlier..

The pace of our play in central midfield has at times stagnated and easily allowed opponents to recover.

For example, we have had so little one on one breakways, due largely in part to slowness of build up.

 Saturday’s game bucked that trend with one example of excellent and committed interaction between Heggebo and Dike to spring at last, a runner, in Isaac Price, in a very rare breakaway moment this season, largely unopposed, forcing a save from the Sheffield United keeper..

Price has scored once in his last twenty five Albion appearances and is another who you have to say, if he’s thriving we are as well, his early season form mirroring our largely solid start to the season..

Price’s work ethic has not been in question, hopefully under Mozza’s advice we can tap more into his undoubted potential..

But of course, scoring largely comes down to strikers.

As a team, our collective three strikers, who have contributed one goal in the last seventeen games between them.

Chances have been created but not converted.

Injured strikers have returned, arguably not quite what they were.

Largely though, it’s been a striker.

Not strikers.

Two ‘up top’ as the saying goes, certainly occupies defenders more, Morrison was full of praise for the physicality of Dike in his early and bruising duel for The Blades central defender Tanganga…

Morrison clearly wanted the Sheffield defenders to ‘know’ they were in a game early, rather than the ease it has been for a defence to deal with the lone striker for much of this season.

Goals of course are the currency all strikers are judged on, and it’s a such a hope we can get more from this trio. And just to maintain possession further up more often, and create the time for runners to break, à la Price is pivotal.

And we now have a trio of games left this month.

The price of failure high..

Saints and Hull at home.

Bristol City away..

Whether Saturday’s point was a mirage or a stepping stone, may well dictate our chances of survival.

Can we dare to dare??