{"id":4983,"date":"2025-04-08T10:54:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T10:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/4983\/"},"modified":"2025-04-08T10:54:28","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T10:54:28","slug":"west-brom-debrief-mowbrays-big-call-attacking-musings-and-bright-new-boy-cameo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/4983\/","title":{"rendered":"West Brom debrief: Mowbray’s big call, attacking musings and bright new-boy cameo"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a monumental clash on the horizon, though, as Bristol City – who leapt above the Baggies – play host on Tuesday night. Here are some Sunderland talking points in the debrief.<\/p>\n

Huge call between sticks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boss Tony Mowbray has stuck with Joe Wildsmith in goal and given his reasons as to why – but that resolve could be further tested now. This is not hindsight, but Alex Palmer was an excellent keeper and his loss has been felt.<\/p>\n

Mowbray said after Wildsmith’s error in the 1-1 draw at Burnley last month: “It’s alright. I’ve said that goalies are allowed a mistake now and then – as long as it’s not in every game and he’s costing us goals. He hasn’t been.”<\/p>\n

Wildsmith’s gaffe to allow Trai Hume’s free-kick to sneak in, which proved the winner, was his poorest yet for the Baggies and did not help with what little faith supporters had in the 29-year-old.<\/p>\n

Scrutiny has intensified, as have the calls for Josh Griffiths to be handed a chance. Griffiths, 23, was recalled in January but has had to make do with a back-up role.<\/p>\n

\"JoshJosh Griffiths in training for Albion. (Photo by Adam Fradgley\/West Bromwich Albion FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Mowbray suggested it unlikely Wildsmith would be dropped for Griffiths for a crunch clash at Bristol City on Tuesday, where defeat could be fatal for the Baggies’ play-off hopes. The head coach did add he would see how the keeper reacts in training.<\/p>\n

There is no way to dress it up other than a huge call at Ashton Gate. If Mowbray shows even more faith in Wildsmith he needs the keeper to repay with error-free displays. Griffiths must be wondering if or when his chance might come – Wildsmith’s position should not cannot be untouchable if mistakes continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is a monumental clash on the horizon, though, as Bristol City – who leapt above the Baggies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[94,93,79,16,15,2785],"class_list":{"0":"post-4983","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-sport","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-west-bromwich-albion"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114301977574570713","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}