A TWEET from a disgruntled Albion fan perhaps best summed it up.

Commenting on a potential man of the match, the jester suggested ‘the referee...for blowing the final whistle’.

And there it was.

If not a snapshot of Albion’s performance, then probably a realistic feeling among fans.

It would be easy to start getting knee jerk.

Reflected from afar Albion have had a thankless start. Last season’s champions, runners-up, their perennial bogey team and two newly-promoted clubs (with the euphoria which accompanies success) at their venues.

It was hardly the mid-table fodder or home bankers Albion were hoping for.

Still, results aren’t good and there can be no excuses for a steady deterioration of performances since that opening day last month.

It would be easy to pin-point a reason but it might not be easy to solve.

Albion fans might correlate their early season dip to a change in formation – but is it that simple?

The Baggies are playing a different shape to last term. They have evolved from playing a four-prong defence, a two-man central midfield, with three attacking midfielders in front, to effectively playing two banks of four and two strikers. Or, if you prefer, gone from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2, although Tchoyi played a more withdrawn role early on this season.

Much can be read into formations, yet Albion’s strengths last season lay in their midfield. They still do. Paul Scharner and Youssouf Mulumbu were the shields in front of a back four, with any three from Chris Brunt, Somen Tchoyi, James Morrison, Graham Dorrans or Jerome Thomas pushing on behind Peter Odemwingie. It worked.

This season the fluidity of that shape – one which is difficult to play against – has been replaced with a more conventional and rigid one. And while this formation did not affect the outcomes of the Manchester United, Chelsea or Stoke games, which were decided by individual errors, there is little doubt that it played some part against Swansea.

Going forward, Albion were unable to find any rhythm. Last season’s free-moving attacking midfield has been restricted. Shane Long and Odemwingie, for so long, were denied service.

And what little creativity did reach them, there was little sticking. The ball kept simply bouncing away. There was no link up play between them, the central midfielders of Scharner and Mulumbu were, perhaps instinctively, too far away and the two wide players of James Morrison and Jerome Thomas were simply meek and tepid. Defensively, they offered no assistance.

Blaming the formation is easy. Again, it wasn’t the reason for defeats earlier this season, but there is little doubt the cohesion, swagger and freedom of movement has been absent of late.

The passing has been poor, ball retention has been scarce. The last two performances have been lethargic, lacking sparkle. Much of Saturday’s display in Wales was also down to individual lapses. Poor Craig Dawson didn’t do much wrong, but his Premier League debut coincided with those around him offering fours and fives out of ten.