Baggies are a team of two halves

Baggies are a team of two halves

It's a common refrain to hear football fans profess, 'it was a game of two halves'.

However, not many have reason to churn out the well-used phrase every week, not unless you're an Albion fan that is.

Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Coventry summed up Albion's season in microcosm.

The Baggies went into the break 2-1 ahead (having led 2-0 after 32 minutes), only to find themselves 3-2 and a man down just 16 minutes after the restart.

The Baggies are a complete paradox this season. They are the third-best first-half team in the Championship but the third-worst second-half team.

So, put another way, if you only count first-half performances, Albion are vying for automatic promotion, but if you only count the second halves, we are in the relegation zone.

How can a team be so good and so bad in equal measure across the same 90 minutes, I hear you ask?

We have a theory at Albion Analysis, it is that the Baggies' qualities and deficiencies reflect those of their manager, Ryan Mason.

The positives first.

Mason was so highly-rated as a coach that serial winner Antonio Conte promoted him to the first team coaching staff at Spurs.

And his ability on the training ground to prepare this Albion team for games is evident in how the Baggies start matches.

Albion have scored four goals without reply in the first 15 minutes of games, and their aggregate score at half-time this season is an impressive 10-5.

Contrast that with their second-half record, and it's a marked difference.

Albion's aggregate second-half score this season is 6-14, with the Baggies routinely conceding in the 15 minutes after the restart and the last 15 minutes of games.

This can potentially be attributed to the bizarre and often hesitant changes Mason makes.

He was decisive on Saturday, but only to withdraw Mikey Johnston at the break for "tactical reasons" despite the winger having two first-half assists under his belt.

Mason was less decisive after Jayson Molumby's dismissal, allowing 13 minutes and two goals to pass him by.

When Mason did react, Albion were a goal down, and fans were baffled as the change was to withdraw the two-goal hero of the first half, Aune Heggebo.

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident, either, with substitutions in recent games against Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton drawing heavy scrutiny.

It has left many Albion fans questioning whether their inexperienced manager has yet developed the in-game management skills to consistently produce the 90-minute displays Albion need to elevate them from their lowly position of 17th in the Championship table.

Listen to more from Chris Hall at the Albion Analysis

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