'Better, promising': Jonny Drury & Lewis Cox analysis after West Brom end pre-season with Rayo Vallecano victory

Express & Star

Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox give you their analysis as Albion signed off their pre-season campaign. Albion took on La Liga outfit Rayo Vallecano in their final game of pre-season - picking up a 3-2 victory. After disappointing displays against Lincoln and Blackpool, goals from Jayson Molumby, Karlan Grant and Isaac Price all netted as they came from behind in the five goal thriller. Lewis and Jonny look at the positives to come from the final pre-season outing, who stood out and the latest on the injury front and Josh Maja.

Transcript

00:00Buggies fans, welcome to ExpressingStyle.com, my name is Johnny Drury, I'm here at the Hawthorns

00:12for the first time this season, Albion have polished off their pre-season campaign with

00:16a 3-2 victory over Real Vallecano, that's my Spanish slang there, do you like that?

00:22Muy bien, do you like that?

00:23Came from behind, scored 3 goals, 3-2 in the end, I think it was 4-5 goals in Ash, 20 minutes

00:31of the game, if you're 20 minutes left you're in trouble, don't think you need to leave

00:36to beat the traffic today really, given the attendance, those hardy Albion fans turned

00:40out in the East End to watch about 4,000 other them, Coxie, the last few comments and weeks

00:45of pre-season have not been fantastic, but it is pre-season, however, a little bit of

00:51optimism today, I will caveat by saying it is still pre-season, but a bit more optimism,

00:56a bit more about Albion today and a few more positives, I'm sure Ryan Mason will probably

01:00be a lot more happier now than he probably was after Blackpool and Liverpool.

01:04Indeed, yeah, I mean two weeks ago we were stood up at Bloomfield Road, weren't we, having

01:08watched that defeat against the League One side and it, again, it was a friendly, but it

01:16wasn't too much to get excited by, was there, and again, that was, I played Fulham as well,

01:21since something there in Lincoln, so three games ago, but you always want to see something

01:25in a friendly, don't you, that you can cling to or hang to and we didn't, I don't think

01:28we got too much of that at Blackpool really, fitness related really, we weren't at Lincoln,

01:34which I don't believe was too much better, was it, there'll be some fans who are watching

01:39this that went to Lincoln and saw that sort of capitulation up there really, but like,

01:45Albion were deserved winners today against the side that finished eighth in La Liga last

01:50season and that will be playing in the Europa Conference League this season, that looked a

01:53good side, I thought, Vallecano, they sort of passed and used possession as you would expect

01:58a Spanish team too, moved it really quickly, I thought, you know, it took Albion 15 or

02:0420 minutes to really like, get to grips with that, didn't they, they were chasing shadows

02:07for a bit and you're thinking, to be honest, the whole day seemed energy sapping to me, I

02:11think it was a really top workout, to be honest, but in terms of when, and Ryan Messon spoke

02:16about it down there, when you talk about things like pressing and how Albion are going to go

02:19and win the ball off the side, who passed the ball a lot, that was key, you know, that kind of thing

02:23today, perfect centre side. The game changed, didn't it, the game opened up, the goals came

02:27kind of after the side, the sides made a raft of changes, before that, you'd say from probably

02:3215 onwards until that, Albion were the better side, they held their own, you know, they

02:36played against a very good side and, you know, that is the kind of positive today, taking into

02:40consideration the kind of, the opposition, the way Mason set Albion up, they didn't, didn't

02:45kind of look out of place against a side like that, or a top flight side.

02:50Yeah, I thought it was pretty even stuff, and that's a compliment to Albion really, I

02:55think, probably on chances, opportunities created, Albion probably had the better of

02:59them really, you can think of a couple of clear ones, Grant in the first off, Johnson,

03:03second off, before the flurry arrived, and the floodgates opened, didn't they, and, look,

03:08it took a Vallecano opener, and get on to that, but an error from Josh Griffithson in Albion's

03:14goal, for the baggies to hit back, and they hit back, didn't they, three goals in five minutes,

03:18and, yes, it's only a friendly, but I think that will please Ryan Mason and supporters,

03:23yeah, they recovered from a deficit there, they recovered from a disappointment, got back

03:27on the bike and showed a clinical touch, we haven't seen a clinical touch here for a long

03:31time, have we, let's be honest, a long time, and we saw a bitter one then at the end, you

03:36shouldn't really want it after you fall behind, but when the opener went in, and that fall bounced

03:41over Josh Griffithson's head for the tap-in, and we all just thought it was a bit of a shame,

03:45didn't we, because Albion didn't deserve to be behind, no. The error, you know, the whole

03:49thing about Josh Griffiths starting his first season as number one, in the final friendly

03:53before the season, wouldn't have wanted to lose 1-0 to a goal where it was an error of his,

03:58so I looked at him actually when the third goal went in, and he sort of given it a bit

04:02of a fist bump, I think he was pretty pleased that his side were able to hit back and obviously

04:06score the goals to make up for his error, and actually Griffiths made a late save at 3-2,

04:11which kept his team in the lead, so that was good, but, yeah, I think, and Ryan Mason said

04:16down there, Albion deserved that, and almost as encouraged as I could be from today, I think.

04:22We know about what's going on in the wider picture of the squad not being big enough,

04:26not having enough options to mark it. I think the overriding thing of fans leaving today will be,

04:30you know, they're probably a bit more optimistic than they probably were when they turned up today,

04:34which is probably a mark of the game. You've mentioned there on the other things, haven't you,

04:38about the size of the squad, you know, Bedford, Sorbonne, Hagem, no Josh Madger in the squad today.

04:43Didn't expect 90 minutes from Hagem today, didn't we?

04:46Just on the other side of that, obviously, that's where fans' minds would probably have been today,

04:51rather than what happened on the pitch until that last sort of flurry of goals,

04:55but what's Ryan Mason said on Hagem, is he saying anything on Madger's mission?

05:00Or has he been very tight-lipped as we've had?

05:02Well, yes, he obviously asked about those things. I've put an update out very imminently,

05:08about to write it up about Madger. In a nutshell, didn't strike me as overly concerned,

05:17but sort of, pointing to the context, look, Madger, been out for so long,

05:21obviously did, what did he do, 15 minutes, I think, at Lincoln last weekend,

05:26felt something, felt a reaction or something that has meant he hasn't played today.

05:31Now, Ryan Mason didn't say any more than that, and again, you can read up, I'm about to write what he said.

05:36He didn't, sort of, go into that any deeper as to the manner of the setback, really, I suppose.

05:43I suppose the hope is, obviously, that it's just a minor thing and something that will,

05:47is a bit natural on the way from a long-term layoff, really, and that it isn't anything more serious than that.

05:53Now, what I would say is, I think it says everything, that it took the penultimate friendly of the summer last weekend

06:00from Madger to have 15 minutes from the bench.

06:02I think that tells us everything, really, about where he is, how long this has taken.

06:06He's been back in training a while about how long this has taken and where he's at,

06:09and that if we're, if Albion are hanging their hat on Josh Madger from next week,

06:14from the start of the season, he's not ready.

06:16He will be ready, hopefully soon, and this setback isn't a bad one,

06:21and hopefully a few weeks, I don't know, a couple of weeks into the season,

06:24he's playing more from the bench and building his fitness up.

06:27But, realistically, the friendlies are done now, and he's played 15 minutes, hasn't he, Madger,

06:31against League One opposition.

06:32So, he'll be lacking that, Matt Sharpness, as well as coming back from January the 4th,

06:38he last played last season.

06:39So, you know, the expectation, I think, on Madger, as an excellent player he is,

06:43just needs to probably be tempered, given what's happened.

06:45And, yeah, a concern, he hasn't been seen today.

06:48And, we'll do it on a podcast this week, I'm sure, but Albion's front line options,

06:52we saw them linked with a striker from Spain this week.

06:54And, you know, DK News, we had been linked to our DK News now,

06:58out till after the September international break with Tamar Bani.

07:01So, that DK News with this, for Madger, update,

07:04is not good for the front line options, is it?

07:06And, we saw Orne Hegeber today, and he had a good game,

07:09and I think he excited fans, and he showed exactly what he is.

07:11And, I think, I'm excited to see more of it from him.

07:13I think he had a really good day.

07:15I know you've written about him, haven't you?

07:16One of the real white punks from today, I would say.

07:18But, you know, ultimately it's him and Devante Cole here as it stands.

07:22So, something to look at there.

07:24As I say, I'll be writing that up imminently.

07:27And, the other point you mentioned was Hegem, wasn't he?

07:30I asked Ryan Mason about Hegem just then.

07:32And, he said it was, he sort of shrugged and said it was something he wasn't aware of.

07:38Which I thought was interesting.

07:40And, you know, again, take that how you want to take it.

07:43But, Ryan Mason did then have a long conversation with Andrew Nestor,

07:47sporting director down in the dugout area at the Hawthorns after we did the post-match interview.

07:52So, look, obviously Hegem and other things would have been on that conversation, on that agenda.

07:59The Hegem reports broke late last night on a Friday night, before a 1pm friendly.

08:03Now, I'm not being naive in saying Ryan Mason had no idea about any of that.

08:08Of course, you know, he's one of Albin's staff players.

08:10But, you know, there were more conversations were had with the sporting director after the interview.

08:15So, we'll see in the next couple of days, I think, how that progresses in the wash.

08:20Obviously, we reported on the Friday night, last night, that negotiations on going with Polonia of Italy.

08:26The £10 million move for Albin centre-back Hegem.

08:29And I think we got here today, didn't we?

08:31Not expecting to see him on the team sheet.

08:33I didn't expect to.

08:34So, I was very surprised to see him starting.

08:36And he completed the whole game.

08:37Yeah.

08:38And he did okay.

08:39He's an excellent player, isn't he?

08:41And if we're just giving our two-fence worth on that,

08:43I don't think anyone that won't be disappointed to see Hegem go, if that goes through.

08:48But I think if he goes for a package worth around £10 million or up to £10 million, that's an excellent price, really.

08:54And we spoke on pods, on videos, haven't we, about how Albin have to sell the summer.

08:58PSR, you know, to balance that out, to stay within the regulations of the cycle.

09:04Well, they would have to sell to do that.

09:08And they would have to sell, you know, big in this case, to generate the possibilities to strengthen the squad.

09:13Look, Hegem will be a lot.

09:14Signed that Phillips, who did well today.

09:16He's got yet to see too much of George Campbell otherwise of playing left-back.

09:21But Hegem will be a mix.

09:24However, that's, in my opinion, a good sell for Albin and a good fee.

09:28And let's see how it progresses.

09:30But head coach tight-lipped on that one.

09:32I'll be writing it up anyway, so you can have a read.

09:34And, yeah, I'm feeling encouraging MPUs today, as I feel like the 4,000 or 5,000 that were here will be.

09:40About as good as a warm-up can go seven days before the start of the season, I think.

09:44And, to be honest, I can't wait to be in it next weekend now, as I'm sure you can.

09:48I can indeed.

09:49I can indeed.

09:50It's been a busy 24 hours with a lot of Albin news.

09:52They have capped it off with a pre-season victory.

09:55We'll talk more about it on the podcast this week.

09:57And we will bring you a very funny story involving Coxie, a former Albin player.

10:02We won't tell you any more.

10:03Listen to the podcast.

10:04It took me a while to work out what that was about, but, yeah.

10:08Final score here at Albin.

10:10Albin 3, Rayo Valkano.

10:12For all the rest of your reaction, head over to expressionstar.com.

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