By Adam Clark
Life at West Bromwich Albion has been anything but dull so far this season.
After relegation from the Premiership last term, they went unbeaten in their first six Championship games before suffering a dip in form which ultimately cost manager Bryan Robson his job. The Hawthorns board moved quickly to appoint Hibernian boss Tony Mowbray as his replacement and he kicked off his reign in style with a 3-0 win over Wolves in the Black Country derby on Sunday.
Arsenal.com spoke to Steve Marshall at the West Midlands Express and Star, who gave us the low-down on what Arsenal's young side can expect from West Brom, and their new boss, on Tuesday night.
THE STORY SO FAR
"We started quite well. We weren't playing great but were
hard to beat and it was getting results. Then we had a little blip
which cost obviously cost Robson his job. To be fair we weren't
playing as well as the fans would have liked and I think there was
a feeling that Robson had taken Club as far as could. Since then
the team has been transformed and they're flying. They're
unbeaten and scoring goals for fun."
MAN OF THE MOMENT
"Tony Mowbray, as the new man. In his first game [against
Wolves] he took his place on the bench almost unnoticed because of
the atmosphere of match. You can't say he's made his mark
yet but he doesn't have to because they're playing so well.
He couldn't have started any better than winning the Black
Country derby so comprehensively. At the moment Diomansy Kamara and
Jason Koumas are the star players. Ironically, neither were
available to start when Robson was around. Kamara has six goals in
three-and-a-half games and Koumas is creating chances like
there's no tomorrow."
NEW FACES
"They've managed to maintain the bulk of their Premiership
squad. Obviously Koumas will be one Arsenal fans didn't see
last year because he was on loan at Cardiff. Gunners fans will
obviously know John Hartson but he hasn't had the impact he
would of liked yet. Another new face is Kevin Phillips, who again
will be recognised. Sadly, he won't play because of a calf
injury but he's flying. [Keeper] Tomas Kusczak went to
Manchester United of course and he's been replaced by Swiss
international keeper Pascal Zuberbuhler, who didn't concede
during the World Cup but I think he is yet to convince the West
Brom fans he's the man for the long term."
THE BOY MOST LIKELY TO...
"Curtis Davies. Arsenal fans will know something about him
from his performances in the Premiership last season and also
because his name was linked to Arsenal over the summer. He was out
injured for a while but he's come back in the last three games
and looks like he's never been away. He makes everything look
easy and will definitely go on to play at the top."
CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM
"Clearly the ideal scenario is to get promotion back to the
Premiership, and that is the aim. I think the reason for the early
change in manager was to give the new man the best chance. If we
carry on playing the way we have been recently it's hard to see
us failing. We can't stop scoring goals and if we can keep that
up we should be celebrating come May. I think keeping the squad
together has been massive part of that."
CAUSE FOR CONCERN
"Worst case senario would be getting dumped out of the FA Cup
at the Third Round stage and going into freefall. I can't see
us finishing outside the top half, or even the top six, but really
we want top two. We want promotion however it comes but ideally we
want it with a Championship trophy at the end of the
season."
IMPRESSIONS OF ARSENAL
"What a team. Anyone who saw them beat Reading on Sunday would
say that. They've been the best team in England to watch for
some years now. Their recent form is ominous. They have a young
squad coming here but you look down the list of players and
it's still full of talent. It's our biggest test of the
season so far and I think Arsenal may just edge it."
