New year kicks off with no new man at the helm

Brummie Road Ender

·31 December 2024

New year kicks off with no new man at the helm

West Bromwich Albion v Preston North End; The Hawthorns, Wednesday 1st January 2025, 3pm

Albion will start a new year under a caretaker manager for the first time in ten years on Wednesday as Chris Brunt remains in charge of the first team as Andrew Nestor and his team continue their search for a replacement for Carlos Corberán. A decade ago, Keith Downing and Rob Kelly were in charge of just one game, a 1-1 draw away to West Ham United, before Alan Irvine’s replacement, Tony Pulis, took the reins for the FA Cup tie against Gateshead.

Of course, the situation is somewhat different with the Baggies’ outgoing head coach having been poached rather than sacked and, if the performance at Bramall Lane on Sunday is anything to go by, Nestor has no particular need to rush an appointment with the team in fairly safe hands for the time being.

OneFootball Videos

Chris Brunt has even managed to do something that Carlos Corberán never did, get a performance from Ousmane Diakité. The Malian hardly got a sniff under the Spaniard with his one start, at Sheffield Wednesday, ending with him being hooked at half time. At United, he made one mistake that led to the Blades’ goal but otherwise put in a very solid performance, albeit he was outshone by his midfield partner, Jayson Molumby, who put in a superb display. One point to note on that is that Molumby, who was awarded the MOTM award on Sky, was not highly rated by WhoScored.com which just proves that statistics don’t always reflect what the eye sees!

Diakité’s performance has perhaps shifted the focus for the January transfer window. The need for another striker remains, but with Paddy McNair now returning to San Diego, Ajayi still out for a while and Holgate also suffering a groin injury that is likely to keep him out of this match, central defence is looking light on numbers. The club obviously have the option of recalling Caleb Taylor from his loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers, but may see the continuation of his loan spell with the Chairmen as the best option for the player, and I would not be surprised to see them bring in another body on loan to replace the departing McNair.

For the visit of Preston, however, I expect to see the same back four that started at Bramall Lane assume all have come through unscathed. Alex Mowatt missed out on Sunday with an injury of his own and it is unclear whether he will be fit to be involved; we may well see Molumby and Diakité paired up once again although Račić remains an option. If Brunt or the medical team feel the need to rest players, it is in the attacking line up that the options exist. Grady Diangana could be in line for a first start since the trip to Luton on 1st November, while Wallace and Swift might also be brought in.

Preston and Albion met just over a month ago at the end of November at Deepdale with the match ending all square; the Lilywhites have been beaten just once since, a 2-1 defeat at QPR before Christmas, and they have recorded back-to-back home victories since then. It’s a run that has seen Paul Heckingbottom’s team move away from the bottom three and they now sit in 14th place as close to the top six as they are to the relegation zone.

This will be Chris Brunt’s first home game in charge of the team, and is likely to be his last with Albion not back at the Hawthorns until 18th January. Wouldn’t it be great to see the Albion legend celebrate a victory in front of the home fans?

History

New Year’s Day will see the 110th league meeting between Albion and Preston North End but the first to take place on the first day of a new year. The Lilywhites have provided Albion’s first opposition of a calendar year on two previous occasions, however, both matches taking place on 2nd January at the Hawthorns and both resulting in home wins.

In 1954, Vick Buckingham’s team looked to have secured the points just after half time – Ronnie Allen scored twice before the break before Johnny Nicholls made it 3-0 on 54 minutes. Their Lancashire opponents were not beaten yet, however, and Angus Morrison pulled one back quickly before Charlie Wayman made it 3-2 with 15 minutes still left to play. The Baggies managed to hold on, however, and secured the two points that kept them in second place in the table, a point behind Wolves.

Six years later, Gordon Clark was in charge at the Hawthorns and Albion were in midtable when North End visited for the first game of the sixties. This match proved to be far more comfortable for the hosts – an own goal from Preston’s Garbutt Richardson gave Albion the lead before Alec Jackson and Derek Kevan both scored just before half time. Ronnie Allen added another eleven minutes into the second period and the game finished 4-0.

Albion’s biggest ever win on New Year’s Day came away from home in 1934. Maine Road was the venue as Ginger Richardson inspired the Throstles to a superb victory over Manchester City. He scored a hat trick while Walter Robbins (2), Teddy Sandford and Joe Carter also found the net as the visitors ran out 7-2 winners to leapfrog City in the table moving into fifth place, seven points behind leaders Arsenal. That wasn’t the biggest win on that particular day, however, as Newcastle United beat Liverpool 9-2 with their Richardson, Jimmy, also scoring a hat trick.

The Baggies’ last win on New Year’s Day was in 2014 when Saido Berahino’s penalty secured a 1-0 win over Newcastle United and the only victory of Keith Downing’s brief spell as caretaker manager following the sacking of Steve Clarke. There have only been four New Year’s Day fixtures since then for Albion ending in two defeats and two draws, but they have faired a little better with games on 2nd January beating Stoke City 2-1 (2016), Hull City 3-1 (2017) and Reading 1-0 in 2023 thanks to a goal from Daryl Dike.