Five talking points from West Brom's victory over Reading
West Brom continued their fine form this season with a 4-1 win over Reading last weekend.
Here are five talking points from the clash at The Hawthorns.
Value for money down The Hawthorns
The numbers are quite frankly, ludicrous.
Albion have scored four or more goals in a third of their league games, they’ve equalled their league tally for the whole of last season, and have scored at least nine more than any other team in the division.
Twenty of those 31 goals have come at home, which means fans are getting value for money.
If you have a season ticket behind the goals, it’s currently costing you just £4.29 per Albion goal – and including the seven the opposition have scored, it’s £3.18 per goal.
Kyle Edwards proves youth can be trusted
It’s understandable why Darren Moore didn’t want to start Edwards in an unfamiliar position, but it was always going to be a tall order to expect a 35-year-old orthodox right-back like Tyrone Mears to play three games in eight days in such a demanding role.
Moore has put his faith in experience this season, and it’s paid off so far, but Edwards grabbed his chance with both hands and offered more dynamism on the wing.
He is now a genuine understudy to Phillips, and may encourage Moore to put more faith in the kids.
Rafa Benitez could get another team promoted
Thank goodness the Newcastle manager wanted Salomon Rondon.
Who knows how the Venezuelan would have fared in the Championship, but one thing’s for sure, Dwight Gayle is an absolute diamond in this division.
He has eight goals in his last nine league games, and looks odds on to become the first Baggie since Kevin Phillips to score 20+ league goals in a season.
At this rate, he could even get into the 30s, which hasn’t been done in an Albion shirt for 20 years.
Darren Moore’s in-game management improving
Following on from the inspired left-field triple substitution at Hillsborough, the changes against Reading also made an impact.
He identified the players who were underperforming and removed them, while both Brunt and Edwards offered a new dynamic.
Albion’s boss knows his starting XI, but he has rotated Gareth Barry and Brunt well in recent weeks.
Barry made an impact off the bench in Sheffield, Brunt did the same against Reading.
On his day, the club captain is still one of the best passers in the side.
Fans need to start having faith
It was a poor first half, so perhaps the boos were merely an attempt to wake the team up.
But they were still quite odd, considering this team have been sparkling at home in the league this season, and have scored hatfuls of goals.
The atmosphere at The Hawthorns has been brilliant this season and, after the game, Moore gave quite a pointed comment about fans playing their part.
Every paying supporter has a right to voice their opinion, of course, but those boos were slightly premature.
