Reading 2, West Brom 2: Chris Lepkowski's big match verdict
RICHIE Rawlins. A man you may know little about.
Well, remember his name. For he is important to Albion’s fortunes right now.
As Albion’s physio, Richie is the key to the club’s next few games.
Giles Barnes, James Morrison, Ishmael Miller, Marek Cech, Abdoulaye Meite, Gonzalo Jara, Andy Slory...
They are all forming an orderly queue outside his treatment room.
Make no mistake, in the heat of battle a 2-2 draw was a good outcome and underlined Albion’s character. But it’s the fall-out which is damaging. Damaging and costly.
Three injuries, another sending-off, with the prospect of none of the injured players returning. Youssouf Mulumbu will miss tomorrow’s game at Cardiff through suspension and Jerome Thomas could get an extension to his ban if found guilty of violent conduct.
It gets worse. Albion also have another game to shoehorn into their ridiculously busy schedule.
The demands on the players, coaching staff, supporters – hell, let’s even mention the media and club’s staff – is ridiculous.
The Baggies played just three games in November (why some of the league games couldn’t have been spread out into that month is anyone’s guess).
But since when did logic ever bother football? Albion will have played 14 games by the time the opening two months of 2010 are complete.
It’s no wonder they are dropping at a swift rate. Roberto Di Matteo should be able to stick a team out at Cardiff tomorrow. But, only just. The bench will include players who are half the age of sub goalkeeper Dean Kiely. We may even see a bench without seven subs – assuming nobody arrives on loan before then.
On Saturday Albion couldn’t have made a worse start.
