Richard Beale justifies West Brom call as TGH makes a point
The talking points from Reading as West Brom post just their second victory of the season
West Bromwich Albion posted just their second win of the season at Reading on Saturday as life after Steve Bruce began with three points.
Matt Phillips and Taylor Gardner-Hickman sealed a well earned victory under interim manager Richard Beale as they clinched their first success on the road since...the last time they were here, in April.
It was immediately better than what we've been accustomed to in recent weeks; it'd be two clean sheets on the trot, but it's the win itself, an away win no less, which will taste especially sweet across the Black Country across the weekend.
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Away win
If you were in the away end at the Mad Stad, cherish it. You never know when the next away might come along. The last time Albion won somewhere other than this ground, or their own, was up at Hull in March. And Albion have also beaten them this season, too. Life would be easy if Albion only had to play these two teams all year.
Fans who follow Albion weekly will have clocked up plenty of miles since Albion were last prolific on the road - pretty much 12 months ago - so these sorts of days out are precious. All you can hope for is a replica at Millwall.
Of course, much of this success is down to Beale, who tweaked things in terms of set-up and who, having overseen training this week, demanded 'sweat and courage' from every player in a red shirt. They were assured at the back, snuffing out Carroll, and purposeful with their passing and movement. They duly, finally, rewarded themselves.
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Taylor tweak
"As soon as I had to start thinking about the team, which I suppose is as soon as you get told you're taking the team on Saturday, I wanted Taylor to play in there," Beale revealed, when talking about Gardner-Hickman's contribution.
"He brings energy to the team. I know what he can do as a right-back, a right wing-back and centre midfield player and I thought he complemented Jake very well today and they did that really well."
Gardner-Hickman has proven to be pretty versatile since breaking through; he's played centrally, at on both sides at wing back and also at right-back. This season he's largely been considered Darnell Furlong's deputy, but Beale - as he revealed - immediately made plans to incorporate him into the middle again, which many consider to be his best position.
That's ahead of Jayson Molumby and Okay Yokuslu, while John Swift was unused and Tom Rogic left out entirely. On reflection, it might've been considered a brave call from Beale, but Albion fans know Gardner-Hickman's quality and he displayed it in abundance here.
Coming to the fore
It wasn't only Gardner-Hickman who did the Albion academy proud on a memorable day for its youth system; indeed he was only in-keeping with what was a wider trend. Dara O'Shea, for example, has rediscovered his best form in the last week after a period of struggle prior to that.
There's no doubt that the Irishman has benefitted from lining up at the back alongside uber experienced pair Martin Kelly and Erik Pieters, and behind them is a goalkeeper who at this moment is grasping his long awaited opportunity to play first team football for Albion.
Alex Palmer has kept two clean sheets in the space of a week and truly earned this one, too, after pulling off a string of very decent saves in the final 20 minutes to keep the Baggies' shut-out in tact.
Beale, having seen Gardner-Hickman open his account, was then able to hand Reyes Cleary his league debut for good measure in the second half. After a period of recent history during which time Albion have lost countless exciting youngsters to rival clubs, it's poignant that this afternoon was engineered in no small part due to the academy.
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