When West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City met at the Hawthorns in December, Alex Mowatt put the Baggies in front after ten minutes and they were comfortable thereafter.
West Brom started that game in eighth place and theyre back there now, looking in on the Championship play-off picture from the outside and six points away from where they need to be.
Head coach Carlos Corberan left for Valencia two weeks later and now, successor Tony Mowbray has followed suit.
Two promotion hopefuls moving in opposite directions
FRANK LAMPARDS SKY BLUE ARMY pic.twitter.com/FWCIY21HJBApril 18, 2025
Coventry have come a long way since December. With Lampards guidance, the Sky Blues have jumped from 15th when they kicked off at the Hawthorns to sixth at full-time at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Friday.
Playing West Brom in our third game, I felt there was a difference in physicality in terms of the physical ability to get around the pitch, Lampard told the media after a very comfortable 2-0 home win.
The [first] West Brom game was a stand-out game for me in our early period. Theyre a team that are in the play-offs at the time and theyve got some Premier League players.
I felt we competed alright that night and we had some chances, but they were the better footballing team.
Lots has changed at both clubs since then but in West Broms case, the simplest diagnosis carries some weight.
Corberans Albion had something Mowbrays Albion doesnt. Losing players who make the difference at either end of the pitch, who convert quality and dominance into points, has cost West Brom dear in the second half of the season.
Mowbrays frustration was evident as he provided his analysis of Albions defeat, which left them six points behind Coventry when a win would have taken them above their hosts.
I think we've lost a little bit of the intensity that we'd normally play at. We've had that discussion in the dressing room with the team, he said.
I'll keep it there with them, but people who follow our club will have seen our level of performance. I don't think we've got anywhere near the points that we deserved but today was a disappointing day for us.
I think if you balanced it out the better team got the points today, whereas that hasn't been the case in a lot of our games.
Missing Maja
West Brom have slid to six points away from a play-off spot with three games to play. Mowbray, defiant, expected to win all three and leave the rest of the calculations to everyone else.
The Baggies picked the worst possible moment to be found wanting for impetus but the bigger problem and its roots have been apparent for some time.
I like the group. The group is good. They care about this team and they care about the club, added Mowbray.
But you need to score goals to win football matches, and it becomes irrelevant talking about control if you dont put the ball in the net.
Its almost comical that we havent had the points we deserve [from recent matches]. And yet, you have to earn them. You have to put the ball in the opposition net.
You cant have 50 goals. You need to be at 70 goals in my opinion. We havent scored enough goals this season to warrant promotion and we have to change that.
Albions tally of 51 is a concern but its the deceleration in their scoring rate that hints at the cause of what looks sure to be a failed tilt at a play-off place.
The joint sixth-highest scorer in the Championship, Josh Maja, has scored 12 of West Broms goals. Hes one of only two players in Mowbrays squad out-performing his expected goals value this season.
He sustained an injury in the middle of January with Albion in the top six and hasnt been available since.
The odds are stacked against Mowbray and West Brom
Tony Mowbray reacts to Friday's defeat. pic.twitter.com/upXLWrfpdDApril 18, 2025
Without their sharpest edge up front, Albion are a long way off their former managers nominal target of 70 goals. Its a target only Leeds United have met but the Baggies are undeniably misfiring.
The sale of goalkeeper Alex Palmer to Ipswich Town has also limited the teams ability to convert their away performances into the points Mowbray believes they deserve. Palmer saved more than expected based on the likelihood of shots on target resulting in goals.
West Brom have played like a promotion team for much of the season but theyve been hamstrung by the losses of one man who can win a match and another who can save one.
Whether they match their opponents for intensity or not, thats a problem against teams firing on all cylinders when it matters most.
Boss-less Albion have it all to do. Even if they do it all and beat Derby County, Cardiff City and Luton Town, it probably wont be enough.
