'Show more bravery': West Brom view and why Ryan Mason needs to change 'have what you hold' mentality

But all that good work was undone in the second half. Not all of it can be put in Mason's shoulders, who has come in for increased pressure from sections of the Albion fanbase over the last month or so.

Jayson Molumby's needless red card was the big catalyst for Albion going on to lose the game. Had he stayed on, would they have won? We don't know. But it played a massive factor.

Elsewhere decisions Mason made or didn't make have been highlighted for having an impact. Did he make his second half changes too late? Should he have changed it straight after the red card? Maybe.

But it is the half time change, bringing off the flying Mikey Johnston, who already had two assists to his name and had proved a thorn in the side of Coventry, that has baffled supporters. And you can understand why.

If Johnston had remained on the field, it would have aided Albion after the sending off. That is a view I have seen from the supporters. He would have assisted in dragging Albion up the pitch when they were under the pump.

Yes, that would have maybe been true but it is hypothetical.

But for me the bigger question or point around the Johnston substitution isn't just a criticism of Mason, but something we are seeing more and more of in football these days. In a lot of games it no longer seems to be about hurting the opposition but more of an emphasis on trying to stop them.

It was a negative change, no doubt about that, because Johnston is Albion's most creative player. 

Rather than, at 2-1, going for it and trying to grab a third, it was a signal that Albion were happy to hold what they have. To an extent, I can understand, but even with eleven men, holding on to a slender one goal lead was always going to be a tall order against Frank Lampard's free scoring side.

So why not stick with the status quo, try and have a go in the way they did in the first half to take the game away from the Sky Blues?

It is a theme we have seen at times under Mason, instead of using Albion's quality forward players to go and kill a game, there is a hold what you have mentality. 

He isn't the only manager in the EFL we have seen do that, it is a modern trend. But at the moment it has seen Albion slip to 17th. Maybe it is time for a change of tact.