The 29 Steps. WBA Review November 2026.

‘Rabbit, Rabbit.’

Not to be confused with the Chas and Dave singalong, but a traditional way to usher in a new month and looking at the Albion revolution under Mozza, where the gaze is now firmly on upward mobility rather than downward dirge, the end of months neatly bookmark his extraordinary start to management.

Mozza’s first and his latest Albion game both were on the last day of the month with an eight month gestation period in between.

The contrast is startling.

From the abyss to the daring to hope and dream again, a team shedding its skin of the past like a serpent moving on from it's previous hide.

And the numbers reveal all..

The Oxford United debacle, Mozza utilized [being a very generous term], sixteen players in a display that perfectly encapsulated the word inept, to a team who hadn’t won a game in their previous six.

Fast forward to the last day in November and how many of that initial, inglorious XVI were trusted to take on and dismantle the Hammers?

A mere six.

The rapidity of change has been startling as much as it was necessary, and sometimes you need to be deemed ‘that’ bad to become good again.

It’s part of recent Albion folklore that Mozza read the riot act at half time at the Kassam Stadium, but the real message was at full time.

This simply could not go on.

And in the eight months since Mozza’s baptism of fire that created a sense of ire in his mind and soul, change has happened at an incredible, bewildering and ultimately, exciting rate.

Again, look at the facts??

James Morrison has been in charge of 29 Albion games now.

29 Steps.

We’ve won 45% of those games.

We’ve accrued 49 points.

To put in perspective, the previous 29 Albion games under Mason and Ramsay, we had gained 32 Points..

Put that Mozza ratio of points in a 46 game season and you will have 78 Points.

That’s five more points than Hull City attained last season and look where they are now??

To execute rapid change you need clear decision making and trust in your vision of the future off and on the pitch.

James Morrison has shown both qualities in spades, creating a sea change of approach and recruitment, none less than his coaching staff, who from personal experience of sitting directly behind them during the Blackburn Rovers home game on October 17th, were such a cohesive, well drilled, empathetic group..

Getting your coaching crew right is so integral to the development of a club and it took Mozza just six days to make possibly his most important signing.

Matt Gill.

To bring on board a coach of such experience, [400+ games], essentially at clubs renowned for playing expansive football was a genius move, as well as bringing in a fresh pair of eyes.

And fresh, trusted opinions.

To take counsel in the same old eyes who’d been privy to decline and would in essence offer nothing.

Six days to activate his most important change and obviously in the summer add to his core coaching collective with the recruitment of Gavin Strachan and Tony McMahon.

I didn’t plan to watch Mozza and his coaching staff in action, on my return to The Hawthorns, but it became a compelling sideshow in a game of fluctuating fortunes.

It was a study of grace under pressure.

I’ve no idea if James Morrison is a good cards player, but he has all the demeanours of a successful poker player.

Cool.

Calm.

Collected.

Occasional counsel with the more vocal and energetic, Matt Gill, added with occasional ‘pow wows’ with his complete, hand picked team of coaches.

Discussing.

Planning.

Breaking down a course to victory.

All had their place.

All had their say.

In fact, the only time I saw Mozza get visibly frustrated was by the option of two players NOT to take on a shot when the opportunity opened up for them, it seemed like the message from the coaching staff during training was perhaps not getting through???

It’s informative that since that Rovers game, just over two weeks ago, those two players who got the ire of Mozza that afternoon, have BOTH subsequently scored for The Albion.

So from game one of the Mozza reign where we were 4th from bottom, we are now 4th from the top.

Remarkable progress.

Of course, much is still a work in progress from a club who recognized change just in time.

And in change, with the recognition that the pathway to success will be embedded in younger, unproven talent at this level.

This was never going to be a linear exercise.

Patience must be taken.

But if you set the parameters for success, create a coaching staff to develop talent and maybe most importantly instill a climate of positivity within the club, you are onto a good thing..

Many of our new signings were players we’d never heard of, most of the signings were early in the summer window, to partly embed in the club’s culture before the season started.

And signings will often take time to deliver.

It’s part and parcel of football, the finished article is not what you see in the first impressions…

Simply look at our base for success, the established midfield central core of Molumby and Diakite, who both took time back in their early Albion days to cement a regular starting role.

There were bumps along their road too.

Our current captain struggled in his early days at right back, his recent central defensive partner Chris Mepham didn’t look like the solid, dependable player that he is now.

It takes time.

It takes patience.

Such is the learning curve of any player.

In hindsight, where would we be now without Bryann Pereira?

Ridiculed by many on his Albion debut, [it was at Derby, remember, when does anything good ever happen there?], the collection of two yellow cards by the 34th Minute was as inauspicious start as could be imaginable.

But we still got the win and for Pereira, the realization to adapt and with urgency was his pathway to success.

International breaks are opportunities for development and for Bryann to spurn his first call up for Congo in favour of two weeks concentrated coaching with Mozza’s staff says everything about a player’s attitude and desire to adapt and improve.

Deemed as reckless, since his debut, Pereira has played four times since, with no yellow cards, yes the occasional red flag in defending, you could say he has bent but not been broken.

Simply put, the lad from Saint-Quentin has improved game on game.

Without Pereira, the alternative may well be moving Callum Styles to right back but this loses the team so much balance and wrecks that glorious symmetry we see on the left side of the Albion.

Isaac Price and Callum Styles are proving week in week out they are seasoned international players whose understanding, rhythm of passing and movement, as well as technical excellence is as good as any pair of players frequenting the left flank of any team in The Championship

Partnerships all over the pitch offer The Albion great hope for the future.

The resurgence of Chris Mepham, the personification of calmness in central defence, as intelligent in his defensive cover as in his distribution, completely exonerates Mepham’s assertion preseason,

"You’ve not seen the best of me yet.."

Early season, ‘Meps’ was the third central defending option, behind Nat Phillips and George Campbell, but game on game has established himself as our best all round centre back and probably adds a better balance to the left sided George Campbell.

Campbell, to all intents and purposes is also stronger on his right side, where he also thrived for the USMNT in the September matches v Peru and Canada and two wins.

Central midfield, I was smitten by how well Toby Collier was playing against Blackburn, such an intelligent player and by far our strongest guarantee of smooth possession, it was heartbreaking to see him come off injured, but luckily for us, the pair of Jayson Molumby and Ousmane Diakite have never let us down, and again another pair of international regulars who we can only hope stay in shape during next months international window.

It’s well worth noting that the terrace chant of Molumby, being ‘In your head’, facts would totally suggest that Mozza has got in our lively Irishman’s head in the best way..

Discipline wise, the contrast is startling…

Pre Mozza, in the 121 Baggies appearances for Jayson, he’d received 39 yellow cards and three red cards..

Under Mozza’s 29 games, Jayson has only seen a yellow card twice, but has largely maintained his combative manner, but in a much more controlled way.

A remarkable contrast.

[A quick heads up, later in November I’ll be publishing my in depth article on the career of the inimitable Ousmane Diakite and long may we wallow in his talents, though fending off bids from suitors will be a way of life now..

The article has been a pleasure to research and create, hope you enjoy it, as much as we’ve enjoyed watching our marvelous Malian thrive.)

The player I think who has captured the imagination of most Albion fans and fingers crossed, can take us to the next level is Felix Horn Myrhe.

It’s often easy to warm to players with high work rates, a desire to win, shirt sleeves rolled up and hitting tackles with aplomb.

Myrhe is not that.

It understandably took FHM little more time to settle into the rigours and pace of The Championship and establish a clear role in the team.

Observing football at times can give you the answers that seemed so obvious and the floating role, the conduit between a hard working, fluid midfield quartet and the lone striker seemed a perfect fit for Myrhe, who intelligently finds those seams between defenders and can weigh up situations quickly but calmly..

When you lack that extra pace, you have to compensate with cerebral qualities and in a nutshell, that is FHM.

The genius and challenge of coaching is finding a system that works for your most technically gifted player and Saturday’s win v West Ham unveiled for the first time a forward line of FHM and JJM.

Myrhe and Morgan.

The interplay between the two exposed The Hammers defence as a cumbersome crew.

Stealth will always expose a bludgeon.

This subtlety of progressive, attacking football was at a level not seen at The Albion for some time and of course over a 46 game season, cannot be the only answer.

But as a first impression, salivated the taste for more.

November can again be another progressive month, not least the opportunity to further bed in our relatively inexperienced core of European recruits, such as Nzingoula, Tunde and Pereira, all of whom are improving under the tutelage of Mozza’s team of coaches, but also give time for Harry Whitwell to regain his mojo after it must be said was correctly moved from the precious cooker of Championship football, where at times, physicality may expose a younger player.

The learning curve again...

It’s a tough sextet of games on the horizon, unquestionably, Southampton and Millwall at home are huge tests, with hopefully our large number of international players returning in good shape for the trio of games in seven days, away to high flying Swansea, recently promoted Bolton Wanderers

and finally at home against Bristol City.

When a player leaves a club, the warmth of the reception on their return is a barometer of the impact that individual has had, off and on the pitch.

And impact is what Jed Wallace is doing at his new found home, and it does the heart good to see someone so embedded in all things Albion, that most genuine of characters, to revitalize his career at The Robins, playing seventeen games, starting a dozen of them and getting his second assist of the season at the weekend against Bolton Wanderers.

The least Jed deserves is a heartfelt ovation on his return to The Hawthorns, as a thank you for his four years at the club, but of course, all is fair in love and war, and ultimately a winning end to the month for The Albion is all that matters..

Forever and a day, in my Albion life it’s the hope that kills.

This time, it may be more than hope we are clinging to, under Mozza, substance and performance are safely back at The Hawthorns, and long may it continue.

29 Steps on that long road to recovery..