Albion’s Premier League Season Comparison – 11 games

Published on: Author: Jon Want

As the pundits continue to assure us that “West Brom would be mad to sack Pulis”, the stats continue to make stark reading for the much-lauded Welshman, never mind the fact that those pundits don’t have to watch the turgid football week in week out.

Only three times have Albion had as few as ten points from their opening 11 games of a Premier League season, their first three seasons at this level. Obviously, only the Great Escape season saw Albion survive, and even Tony Mowbray’s side that finished bottom in 2008/09 had more points from 11 games. Only Megson’s 2002/03 side had scored fewer goals.

Furthermore, as Alex Newton pointed out on Twitter, Pulis’s recent record is inferior to that of the man he replaced. If you just consider their Premier League records, it is even worse. Pulis’s team have picked just two wins and eleven points from their last 19 games – Alan Irvine’s 19 Premier League games in charge of the Baggies resulted in four wins and 17 points. The Scotsman’s team had 13 points at this stage of the season, and Pulis will need to find two wins and a draw from the next eight games just to be on a par with Irvine for the season, a man that was sacked.

As I predicted in my preview article on Friday, the away fans were very angry at the John Smith’s Stadium, even though the game was technically in the balance. Even after the triple substitution, the team didn’t look like scoring and you couldn’t really tell that the hosts were down to ten men. Yes, their ‘keeper made a couple of good saves but they were both in stoppage time as the Terriers dropped deeper and deeper. The Albion players looked devoid of ideas on how to break down a side set up to defend, which is why we need to attack these sides when they are trying to score, not when they have something to protect!

The team looked low on confidence, low on motivation (McClean aside) and something needs to change quickly. The way they played after Huddersfield went down to ten was the most worrying aspect for me – they bossed the possession but spent most of the time passing the ball left and right on the halfway line, with a distinct lack of movement up front and no one willing to take a risk. It also seemed strange to me that of the three central midfielders, it was Krychowiak that was taken off. He’s a winner – surely, his influence would’ve been beneficial, although, to be fair, he still hasn’t won a game in an Albion shirt!

With Chelsea and Spurs to come next, you have to fear what a heavy defeat might do. I’d be very surprised if the board were to get rid of Pulis at this stage, no matter what the stats might say. I’m still looking at the home games against Newcastle and Palace as the ones that Pulis will have to save is job.

Home Away Season End
Pld W D L F A Pts Posn* W D L F A Pts W D L F A Pts Posn Pts
2002/2003 11 3 1 7 8 18 10 18th 2 1 2 4 6 7 1 0 5 4 12 3 19th 26
2004/2005 11 1 5 5 9 20 8 17th 1 4 1 6 8 7 0 1 4 3 12 1 17th 34
2005/2006 11 2 2 7 9 21 8 17th 2 0 4 8 12 6 0 2 3 1 9 2 19th 30
2008/2009 11 3 2 6 10 18 11 17th 2 1 3 8 11 7 1 1 3 2 7 4 20th 32
2010/2011 11 4 3 4 14 19 15 10th 3 2 1 8 6 11 1 1 3 6 13 4 11th 47
2011/2012 11 3 2 6 9 16 11 13th 1 1 3 3 5 4 2 1 3 6 11 7 10th 47
2012/2013 11 6 2 3 17 12 20 5th 5 0 1 12 4 15 1 2 2 5 8 5 8th 49
2013/2014 11 3 5 3 12 12 14 9th 2 1 2 6 4 7 1 4 1 6 8 7 17th 36
2014/2015 11 3 4 4 13 15 13 13th 1 3 2 10 10 6 2 1 2 3 5 7 13th 44
2015/2016 11 4 2 5 10 14 14 10th 1 1 4 7 12 4 3 1 1 3 2 10 14th 43
2016/2017 11 3 4 4 12 15 13 11th 1 2 2 6 9 5 2 2 2 6 6 8 10th 45
2017/2018 11 2 4 5 9 14 10 15th 1 3 1 6 6 6 1 1 4 3 8 4

 

Comparison of Equivalent Fixtures^
Pld W D L F A Pts
2016/2017 11 6 3 2 18 15 21
2016/2017 Results Sunderland (A) D 1-1
Chelsea (H) L 0-1

 

Results

2002/2003 26/10/2002 Chelsea (A) L 0-2
2004/2005 30/10/2004 Chelsea (H) L 1-4 Gera
2005/2006 30/10/2005 Newcastle United (H) L 0-3
2008/2009 01/11/2008 Blackburn Rovers (H) D 2-2 Bednar, Miller
2010/2011 07/11/2010 Manchester City (H) L 0-2
2011/2012 05/11/2011 Arsenal (A) L 0-3
2012/2013 10/11/2012 Wigan Athletic (A) W 2-1 Morrison, Caldwell (o.g.)
2013/2014 09/11/2013 Chelsea (A) D 2-2 Long, Sessègnon
2014/2015 09/11/2014 Newcastle United (H) L 0-2
2015/2016 31/10/2015 Leicester City (H) L 2-3 Rondón, Lambert (pen)
2016/2017 06/11/2016 Leicester City (A) W 2-1 Morrison, Phillips
2017/2018 04/11/2017 Huddersfield Town (A) L 0-1

 

Next Matches

2002/2003 02/11/2002 Manchester City (H) L 1-2 Clement
2004/2005 06/11/2004 Southampton (A) D 2-2 Earnshaw (2)
2005/2006 05/11/2005 West Ham United (A) L 0-1
2008/2009 08/11/2008 Liverpool (A) L 0-3
2010/2011 10/11/2010 West Ham United (A) D 2-2 Odemwingie (pen), Ibanez
2011/2012 19/11/2011 Bolton Wanderers (H) W 2-1 Thomas, Long
2012/2013 17/11/2012 Chelsea (H) W 2-1 Long, Odemwingie
2013/2014 25/11/2013 Aston Villa (H) D 2-2 Long (2)
2014/2015 22/11/2014 Chelsea (A) L 0-2
2015/2016 07/11/2015 Manchester United (A) L 0-2
2016/2017 21/11/2016 Burnley (H) W 4-0 Phillips, Morrison, Fletcher, Rondón
2017/2018 18/11/2017 Chelsea (H)

* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the Premier League table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.
^ Fixtures against promoted clubs are compared against fixtures against the relegated clubs from last season with the club finishing 1st in the Championship compared against the club finishing 18th in the Premier League, 2nd compared with 19th and the play-off winners compared against the club who finished bottom.