Lewis Cox gives his take on West Brom's goalless draw at Cardiff City

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00:00It's finished here in Cardiff, Cardiff City 0, West Bromwich Albion 0, result that sees the

00:05home side, Cardiff relegated after more than two decades in the second tier or higher. The way

00:12results transpired in the Championship today, Cardiff needed to win, needed that late goal

00:16they pushed for to keep their hopes alive, wasn't to come. Albion's away season on the travels

00:22certainly, we've got one more game next weekend, it's a home game against Luton, but their away

00:27season ends with a draw, obviously James Morrison kick-started his interim period today following

00:33Tony Mowbray sacking the other day and it started with a stalemate, probably the right result, both

00:38sides several, we had countless chances to win that game but couldn't get over the line. James Morrison

00:44said to me in there in a post-match press conference, bit of a story of Albion's season really and I do

00:48agree in the story of a large part of the season when they get themselves into good moments where

00:52they should finish it really, some lacking of composure or quality really to find the

00:59killer pass or cross or shot and it was evident here again today I have to say. I mean, yeah,

01:05Isaac Price was lively and then, not the best first half if I'm honest in terms of quality

01:12throughout but Price was lively, he hit the inside of the post ball, dribbles across the six yard box and

01:19you're thinking, it's got to go in probably, you know, maybe Adam Armstrong should have shot before

01:23it and it was Armstrong, the lone striker in the second period, he was put through on goal by Alex

01:27Mowat, you know, defenders retreating, he decides to cut inside onto his left and can't beat Ethan

01:32Horvath in goal with the 1v1 effort and it was one of those days, you know, there was 18 shots each,

01:38I think six on target each, Albion just edge possession, 52%, but maybe both sides could have

01:45could have gone all game, still be playing now and struggled to score really, the atmosphere around

01:50it grew increasingly desperate really as the game went on, Plymouth were winning elsewhere,

01:54you know, Cardiff were second bottom going in today, they're actually bottom now, Albion stay in their

01:59position of 10th with one game to go and obviously Cardiff under Aaron Ramsey there, fate's confirmed

02:04as a remarkable moment in the second period when, you know, the hosts are desperate for a goal as the

02:09mother of all goalmouth scrambles really, where two efforts are saved by Josh Griffiths, one off the line,

02:15one off the post or within a few seconds as the hosts threw the kitchen sink at it, but it was a game

02:20really I think said a lot about the quality or lack of maybe of both sides, I will credit and to be

02:27fair, Mazda did in his post-match press conference, the Albion's defence today, you know, first clean sheet in

02:32nine, says a lot I think about Tony Mowry's period or certainly the last few games of it, how Albion struggled to

02:39keep the back door shut and that was a massive part of, you know, then they're not scoring enough goals, if they're not

02:44keeping those clean sheets, that's a recipe for disaster obviously, but they managed to keep

02:48a clean sheet here today, not before time, it's been desperately lacking, hasn't it, but

02:54it's finally the end of the away season for the travelling fans who turned up in numbers today,

02:59a couple of thousand, you know, right till the end kept back in their side, you know, Cardiff at the end

03:04were on their haunches, you know, as full-time whistle went down, we saw tears from the home players

03:08of real emotion around the place, the travelling baggies were not too, didn't show too much pity

03:13with waving the home fans and players off of their chance and look, fair play to Albion fans for

03:20travelling and showing, you know, retaining their sense of humour really, because let's face it,

03:23it's been desperate away from the Hawthorns this season, desperate it must be said at times at the

03:28Hawthorns, you know, none more so than Easter Monday against Derby when Mowbray, after which Mowbray was

03:33sacked, but it's been desperate away from home, it really has, I looked at the home and away form

03:38tables for the season for the division today and four wins away from the Hawthorns in 23 attempts,

03:4511 draws the joint most, but yeah, four wins, pretty pitiful, isn't it, you know, these fans that

03:51travel thousands and thousands of miles around the country each season, but this season they've had

03:56precious little to shout about, four wins, I think only five teams in the championship, I think,

04:01with fewer than four victories to shout about away from home, just startlingly, you know,

04:07mind-bogglingly bad, really, and I suppose the good news for them is they don't have to do it again,

04:11certainly in the championship, until August, obviously by the time friendlies come around

04:15in July, people will be ready to go again, but as I say, one game left after today, it's against Luton,

04:22who climbed out the bottom three, didn't they, I believe, with results today, so that, you know,

04:25that everything on the line for the Hatters at the Hawthorns next weekend, what else can I say about

04:30the, James Morrison did have, you know, he confirmed what we knew ahead of kick-off in terms of Jason

04:35Molumby missing through illness, John Swift is obviously leaving the club in the summer,

04:39the end of his contract was left out through selection, Moza confirmed that, so, you know,

04:43he said he wanted to play his best team, basically, so it was quite an, you know, he said a lot there,

04:48Morrison without saying too much when it comes to Swift, certainly, but yeah, it's not, it wasn't a

04:55thriller, but it wasn't a terrible 0-0, I think it just said for the lack of quality in the final third,

04:59but at least the defence, you know, showed up, Morrison was happy with the performance overall,

05:03he wanted, you know, he called on his players to show a bit of pride and, you know, show a bit

05:08of responsibility for what's happened before, and he felt that Albion did that today, I felt I saw

05:12that within the effort and the defending, but yeah, it said a lot for a lack of quality, you know,

05:16be it in the midfield or certainly in the final third, and that's a big one to rectify, you know,

05:21for the owners, the decision makers, and when the new head coach, obviously when a decision about

05:26the new head coach has made at Albion, but yeah, I'm off now to follow the rest of my reaction,

05:32that will be online at expressandstar.com, player ratings, all of that over the weekend, so

05:36stay tuned, it's finished here, relegated Cardiff City 0, Albion 0.

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