Not as bad as last season when they crashed 8-1 but still very, very ordinary. That’s my verdict on the Burnley team that paraded in the sunshine at The Hawthorns on Saturday. This was yet another in the long catalogue of disappointing away results in recent years and points will be picked up on opponents’ grounds only if the team’s approach becomes a lot more effective, and a lot more positive. The initiative was surrendered all too easily mid-way through the first half of a disjointed, scrappy well-below par offering and a West Brom side with several cup final stars not on duty was allowed to win more decisively than the score line suggests. If Burnley had been only half as good as in the previous match against Southampton, they would have won by a hatful of goals.
There follows a long, detailed account of the fixture.
For the record, the teams were:
Burnley: Thomson, Smith, Latcham, O’Neil, Waldron, Todd, Coates, Lochhead, Casper, Bellamy, Thomas. Sub: Brown (Replaced Thomas after 78 minutes)
West Brom: Osborn, Clark, Williams, Brown, Talbot, Kaye, Kryswicki, Collard, Astle, Hope, Rees. Sub: Brown.
Referee: K Walker
Attendance: 22392.
Score West Brom 3 (Astle 2, Collard) Burnley 2 (Casper, Lochhead)

Report by Keith McNee