West Bromwich Albion

You're safe, Baggies...

That is, at least, barring anything hugely controversial with regards to potential profit and sustainability charges, which the club are hoping to avoid.

What a job James Morrison has done in interim charge at The Hawthorns.

Tuesday night's win over Watford made it nine games unbeaten, 17 points earned from them, six clean sheets and an eight-point buffer to the relegation zone with just two games remaining.

Surely he has done enough to earn the job permanently, should he want it? Is he your number one candidate or should the role go to someone else?

How are you feeling? What do you make of the turnaround in Albion's fortunes, having been second bottom on 11 March with just nine games to go.

Click here to have your say.

After opening the scoring in West Brom's 3-0 win over Watford to go nine games unbeaten, midfielder Isaac Price says there's a togetherness about the squad since interim boss James Morrison took over.

Price, 22, told BBC WM: "There's a real togetherness around the place. I think he's [Morrison] probably instilled a little bit of confidence is us when we weren't feeling the confidence.

"I think its more about going back to the basics - run for each other, fight for each other and the rest will come with it. The nice little bit of play that you see, that's probably off the cuff from the lads that are good enough to do that. But the real key message is: just be together, outrun people, outwork them and the results will come."

Price's goal came after 21 minutes at The Hawthorns and the Northern Ireland international was quick to praise Crystal Palace loanee Danny Imray after he provided the assist.

"I think I've probably had a lot of them chances this season. It's helped since Danny's come in, the threat down the right side has been terrific. His pace and power, then his detail on his crossing has been superb and I think it was an easy enough finish for me," he said.

Albion's final two games come against promotion-chasing Ipswich at home before a final-day trip to relegated Sheffield Wednesday and Price said his side, who sit 18th in the table, are looking to end the season on a high despite the threat of a potential points deduction if the club are found guilty of breaching profitability and sustainability rules.

"Genuinely, in the dressing room it's something we don't think about. You go into every football game wanting to win and wanting to get three points, and I feel like in the last nine games we've been great at doing that.

"Whatever's going to happen is going to happen but our focus is to go and win the last two games that we've got this season.

"We're going into every game wanting to win every game and I think it's a great opportunity for us players."

He added: "We know we've not been good enough this season and this club should never be in the situation that we've been in, but we'll be going into every game thinking: come on lads, let's go get six points and finish really strong."

Image source, Getty Images

West Brom interim boss James Morrison hailed his side for finding a way to win as they swept aside out-of-sorts Watford to pull clear of the Championship relegation zone with a 3-0 win.

Morrison, since succeeding the sacked Eric Ramsay in February, has guided the Baggies through a nine-match unbeaten run which has taken them eight points clear of the bottom three with only two league games remaining.

Albion must still discover whether they have breached the EFL's profitability and sustainability rules - if so, they could be punished with a points deduction.

Morrison, though, will continue to ensure that the squad focus on the remaining couple of games and aim for a strong finish to their campaign.

He told BBC WM: "They found a way to win. There were times in the game when it felt a bit flat, but once we stuck to the game-plan we started to hurt them on the sides - that's where the goals have come from.

"The fans deserve it. We've had a challenging time but we're getting our rewards for a bit of belief. We have just got to remain on our jobs and finish the season as strongly as we have been doing.

"As professionals it is our right to keep playing and the fans would be disappointed if they didn't see the level of performance we've been giving. We can rest at the end of the season.

"It's where we've wanted to be. It's a strange situation for everyone, but we'll keep doing our jobs on the pitch and enjoy this moment and keep working hard like I demand."

Image source, Getty Images

West Brom interim boss James Morrison says he will continue to "squash" reports of a possible points deduction among players and focus on the football.

The in-form Baggies beat Preston on Saturday to extend their unbeaten Championship run to eight matches and move five points clear of the relegation places with just three games to go.

Victory at home to Watford on Tuesday (19:45 BST) would have gone a long way to securing safety, but potential celebrations may be muted.

Albion are reportedly facing English Football League charges for an alleged breach of profit and sustainability rules, talk of which Morrison has banned his players from discussing.

"We're in this position and we just wanted to go back-to-back with the wins and the success of winning and that feeling," Morrison told BBC Radio WM.

"As players that's what we drive for, that's our main focus and I've squashed it all week, so we'll continue on that.

"The football is doing its talking and that's the way it should be. We've got no control over it so we'll do our talking on the pitch."

Morrison has no new injury concerns for Tuesday's game at The Hawthorns, but is aware of the danger posed by Watford as Albion seek a fourth successive clean sheet and more valuable points.

"We're in a good place, we've got to use that," he said.

"We're coming up against a dangerous team and they've got some dangerous players.

"They're one of the youngest teams in the league, they've got some pace and some good footballers, so we've got to try and make it a difficult night for them."

Image source, Opta

West Bromwich Albion will hope to secure their Championship status for another season when they host Watford on Wednesday night (kick-off 19:45 BST).

The Baggies are 20th and five points clear of 22nd-placed Oxford United with three games to play.

If Albion win and the U's fail to do so at home to Wrexham, James Morrison's side will be mathematically safe - though there is still a potential points deduction for breaching financial rules which could change the final standings.

West Brom are undefeated in their past eight league games, while Watford, who cannot reach the play-offs or go down, are without a win in five (D2 L3).

• West Brom have won just one of their past 10 league games against Watford (D4 L5), though it was in this exact fixture last season (2-1).

• Following their 2-1 win in October, Watford are looking to complete the league double over West Brom for the first time since 1994-95.

• No side has drawn more home games in the Championship this season than West Brom (9), with five of their past seven league matches at the Hawthorns ending all square (W1 L1).

• Watford have lost each of their past three away league games, one more defeat than in their previous 12 league matches on their travels (W4 D6).

• Watford's Imran Louza has been involved in nine league goals away from home this season (4 goals, 5 assists); the last player for the Hornets to reach 10 in a campaign was Troy Deeney in 2018-19 (6 goals, 4 assists).

Image source, Getty Images

West Bromwich Albion forward Daryl Dike wants to keep his scoring momentum "rolling" after ending his season-long goal drought on Saturday.

The American scored the decisive second goal in the Baggies' 2-0 win at Preston, just seven minutes after coming off the bench.

It was his first goal since netting on the final day of last season in a 5-3 win over Luton on 3 May.

"I'm just so happy," Dike told BBC Radio WM. "I've worked really hard for this and to contribute to the team, and being on the scoresheet is a great thing.

"Naturally as a striker you always want to score and to contribute, so working hard and seeing the products of your work on the pitch is a good feeling."

Dike admitted to "many lows" this season before scoring in his 22nd appearance of the campaign and thanked supporters who "have always believed in me".

"As a striker every single game I sit there and think, 'OK, today's going to be the day I'm going to score,'" he added.

"It's all you can think about, really, every single day, so finally it's like a little breath of fresh air.

"But now I'll be frustrated on Tuesday if I don't score again, so I'm just going to try and keep it rolling."

Rejuvenated under interim boss James Morrison, Albion are unbeaten in eight matches since a 2-1 defeat to relegation rivals on 28 February, picking up 14 points.

The run has left them five points above the drop zone with three games to play, starting with a home match against mid-table Watford on Tuesday (19:45 BST).

"Now we step into every single game thinking we can get a result, winning away to a tough Preston, and now we are at home; we have the support, the motivation, the camaraderie," said Dike.

"So going into Tuesday, why can't we win? We go into every single game now thinking that we can."

Sam Fletcher
Final Score Reporter

Image source, Getty Images

With eight games unbeaten, three successive clean sheets and a 2-0 win at Preston which puts everything in their favour, should West Brom back James Morrison as permanent manager?

Now five points above the drop zone, the risk of a possible points deduction because of a potential financial breach did not stop the Baggies at Deepdale.

Morrison said he had banned talk of the potential deduction and insisted they keep focus on the pitch.

They exploded out of the gate and found success with short, sharp passes and a battle-to-the-end mindset proven with the first goal grabbed from a battle in midfield.

There has been a significant upturn in form since he took charge as interim manager for the second time this season, only losing the first game of his stint - winning three and drawing five since then.

Before he took over West Brom had won only two in 16 league games.

If this form continues, even amidst the points deduction uncertainty, Morrison seems an obvious choice to take on the job permanently.

Image source, Getty Images

West Brom manager James Morrison is refusing to get carried away after lifting the Baggies five points clear of the Championship relegation zone.

Josh Maja and Daryl Dike scored in their comfortable 2-0 win at Preston to extend their unbeaten run to eight games, but Morrison insists they are not safe yet.

He told BBC Radio WM: "You never know with this league, what it can come up with, what it can give you because it's full of surprises.

"We'll enjoy the moment and then we're back in tomorrow. The players have got to work, we can't get away from the end goal."

Morrison was delighted with West Brom's display at Deepdale and said: "It was magical really. The performance that we gave was a typical away performance, a clean sheet and two goals from our strikers tops it off really.

"It was a performance where we were under pressure, but I didn't feel played with that pressure. I'm really pleased for them, all the hard work they have given us. Then the scenes at the end with the fans, it was a good afternoon's work.

"Everyone was working for each other. You could see when they had the ball, we had twos and threes around them. We were winning tackles and duels, so I'm very pleased with everyone because it was a good performance."

Image source, Opta

West Bromwich Albion will hope to boost their Championship survival hopes when they visit Preston North End on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 BST).

The Baggies are two points above the relegation zone and unbeaten in their past seven league games (W2 D5), though they have won just two of their previous 18 (D9 L7).

The Lilywhites are 13th on 57 points and cannot go down, while a play-off spot is almost impossible as they trail sixth-placed Hull by 11 points with four games to play.

• Preston have won just two of their previous 15 league games against West Brom (D3 L10), with these victories coming consecutively in January and October 2022.

• West Brom have won five of their past six league games against Preston (D1), conceding just three goals in that run.

• Preston are unbeaten in their past four Championship games (W2 D2); this despite being on a run of 11 games without a clean sheet, the longest current run in the division.

• Nine of West Brom's past 14 Championship games have ended level (W2 L3). Indeed, the Baggies have had more draws (9) than any other team in the division since the start of 2026.

• Milutin Osmajic, Lewis Dobbin and Alfie Devine are all Preston's joint-top scorers in the Championship this season (8). This is the first campaign since 2017-18 in which Preston have had as many as three players with 8+ goals in the Championship (Tom Barkhuizen, Sean Maguire and Jordan Hugill).

Image source, Shutterstock

On Tuesday, we asked for your thoughts on West Bromwich Albion's chances of Championship survival.

The Baggies are two points clear of the drop zone with four games to play, including a home game against promotion-chasing Ipswich and a trip to already relegated Sheffield Wednesday on the final day.

However, there are fears of a points deduction after the club were charged with breaching the EFL's profit and sustainability rules (PSR) - a sanction which would be imposed this season should Albion be found guilty.

Chris: I still have complete faith that, under Morrison, Albion will finish above the relegation zone. Though, whether a subsequent points deduction changes that, remains to be seen.

Kevin: Our issue is a lack of goals. I'm hopeful that we can get a win at home against Watford but away at Preston and Sheffield Wednesday are more likely to be draws. Ipswich at home is harder to predict and it depends on whether they still need points. I think 5 points is realistic. If we finish on 51 that could be enough but if we then have points deducted we will be in trouble.

George: Seven games unbeaten and yet only 2 points above the drop. I felt worried before the announcements about PSR but seeing the fact we will likely get a 2 or 3 points deduction, I now feel our fate is inevitable because of other teams' around us form. I'll always have hope, just not much of it.

Southern Baggie: Mozza has to be brave and translate this stability into forward momentum. A bit of a gamble on a young winger or a tweak to a formation to give Imray more attacking support. We don't just need a win (or now two), we need to remember how to win. If we don't beat Preston or Watford now, I don't think we can think that we would beat Wednesday.

Nathan: As bad as the season has been Morrison has worked wonders with a team lacking any confidence. 4-4-2 is the formation we should have been playing all season. We've missed chances in the last few games to take all 3 points and I fear that will unfortunately cost us dearly come the end of the season.

Bev: The players must forget the PSR issue and continue to pick up valuable points. Obviously, within the next four games they need to win at least one match.

Steve: It's going to be tight. Possible points deduction aside, if they win at Preston on Saturday I think they will finish outside the bottom 3. Blackburn and Charlton not out of it yet.

Rich: I think it will go to the last game having to beat Sheffield Wednesday to stay up.

Martyn: I think 50 or at most 52 points is usually regarded as enough to survive but seeing how things are going, I think it may be 53 or 54 this season. That would require at least two wins.

Nathan C: Everything that can go wrong this season has gone wrong multiple times. First we've had two completely disastrous manager appointments, then we've had numerous players out from injury and now a potential points deduction to top it all off. Everything is so up in the air at the moment, I honestly don't know where we will be next season. Serious questions need to be asked in the summer.

How are you feeling, Albion fans?

This is not about the swirling rumours of financial breaches or pending points deductions - not enough is currently known about all that to ask you.

We want to know about on-field matters.

Friday night's point against Millwall looked a good one on paper and extended the Baggies' unbeaten streak to seven matches, but James Morrison and his men have had to sit back over the past few days and watch Oxford United pick up a win over Watford, and Portsmouth, incredibly, record back-to-back wins at Middlesbrough on Saturday and then at home to Ipswich on Tuesday night.

It's all left things looking precarious for Albion once again.

With four games remaining they lie 21st, two points ahead of third-bottom Oxford, who have a slightly better goal difference.

Trips to Preston on Saturday (15:00 BST) and a final-day trip to Sheffield Wednesday await the Baggies, with Watford and promotion-chasing Ipswich heading to the Hawthorns in between.

How many points do you think will be enough to survive? Is it a straight shootout with Oxford, or can Leicester mount a comeback from a further three points back, and can Blackburn and Portsmouth be dragged back into it?

Click here to have your say.

Chris Hall
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Arrigo Sacchi once described football as "the most important of all the least important things in life".

However much we try to tell ourselves that it's just a game, the events that surround our football club have a profound impact on our emotional state.

For weeks now, Albion fans have been given reasons to smile as James Morrison's Baggies embarked on a seven-game unbeaten run.

But, just as things were starting to look rosy in the Throstles' garden again, breaking news on Monday morning struck a dagger through the heart of those who bleed blue and white.

John Percy of the Daily Telegraph reported, external that Albion had been charged by the EFL with an alleged breach of profit and sustainability rules. A charge which could carry a points penalty if proven.

Albion say they have done nothing wrong, and the EFL are saying nothing, which is not very helpful.

However, the fact the club said in a statement on their website, "The club will continue to co-operate with the EFL's Club Financial Reporting Unit and looks forward to resolving this matter", suggests there is a case to be answered.

Quite what that case is remains unclear.

There are suggestions that it relates to the interest on the MSD loan, which Albion took out under previous owner Guochuan Lai to help with the day-to-day running of the club.

Bilkul, Albion's current owners, has assumed responsibility for the repayment of the interest on that loan and therefore the £5.2m it amounts to was recharged to Bilkul in the latest accounts.

This is something that some are suggesting the EFL may have objected to.

If so, then it begs questions around the point of the EFL's profit and sustainability rules.

Albion took out that loan, not to compete at the top end of the Championship, but instead to keep the lights on.

The reason for this was, in no small part, due to the previous owner, Lai, who had paid a series of 0% interest loans to his own company, and subsequently missed multiple deadlines to repay them.

In short, Albion were forced into taking out a high-interest loan because their owner was using their cash as an interest-free loan to fund his other interests.

Of course, rules are rules, and if Albion are found guilty, they will no doubt pay the penalty.

But the motivation behind a rule matters, and the EFL seems to have lost sight of that.

If it is punishing clubs for merely trying to stay afloat and pay staff due to their owner wishing to use club finances elsewhere, then surely that goes against their reason for existing (which is to support its clubs).

The further irony is that had Albion failed to pay staff on time, they would have probably been hit with a points deduction there too, so you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Image source, Opta

To be clear, I'm all for punishing clubs for overspending in pursuit of a sporting advantage - but that's not really what we are talking about here. While Albion have committed themselves to some inadvisable player contracts in recent years, that doesn't seem to be what caused their breach.

Context matters, and so does timing, and the EFL's timing is appalling.

The EFL's own rules, which it changed last year, state that any punishment must be handed down this campaign.

For most clubs in the Championship (including Albion) there are just four games remaining.

In Albion's case, four decisive games as they hover just two points above the relegation zone.

So, how do Albion approach those games? As a team two points clear or, if they were to receive the mooted three-point deduction, as a team in the relegation zone?

As Steve Hermon of BBC Radio WM pointed out, the rules state that if Albion don't agree with the EFL charge (which it seems they don't) then a hearing must be held within 28 days.

However, the Championship season ends just 19 days from the date this story broke.

Here's a not-improbable scenario.

Albion go into the final day needing a point to stay up. They are drawing late on in that game and therefore hang on to what they have, only to discover some nine days later that it wasn't enough because they are deducted points.

However, it's not just Albion who are impacted.

Another likely scenario.

One of Albion's relegation rivals is drawing late in their game, but they need a win to go above Albion. They throw players forward in pursuit of a winner but concede on the break and lose. A few days later, Albion are deducted points, and they discover that if they'd held on to the draw they had, then they would have stayed up.

The EFL states on its website that one of its values and priority areas is sporting integrity, but this process destroys the sporting integrity of the Championship run-in as teams don't know how to approach games due to the uncertainty it has created.

However, if the EFL does not apply the rules as it has set them out, that too challenges the competition's sporting integrity.

In short, the EFL has painted itself into a corner.

It appears to be woeful mismanagement from a governing body that is not unaccustomed to a crisis.

The teams in the Championship relegation battle and the fans who support them deserve much, much better than this!

Listen to more from Chris Hall at the Albion Analysis, external

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Are the English Football League's charges against West Bromwich Albion for financial breaches unfair?

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has been digging deeper into the Baggies' finances to see just how deep the problems run.

And while he agrees the club appeared to have broken the rules, the timing of the charges contributes to a bigger issue.

"I did my calculations, and I don't have intricate data, and I got the impression Albion were perhaps no more than £1m over the limit," Maguire told BBC Radio WM.

"Albion have been working hand-in-hand with the EFL, they've had to comply with a business plan so that might be seen as co-operating, but strictly if you are over the limit, then there has to be [referral to a] commission.

"But there's a separate issue in that we are almost at the end of the season and it's not fair on Albion, and it's not fair on the other clubs that are in the relegation dogfight as well.

"A: whether there is going to be a charge. B: whether they are innocent or guilty. C: whether the tariffs are going to be applied before the end of the season.

"I think a lot of these unknowns are creating a lot of stress and distress for clubs and fans and owners and everyone connected."

Many fans have been surprised by the charges, because of the club's repeated messaging about the requirement to adhere to profit and sustainability rules after Bilkul Football Group took ownership in February 2024, inheriting the club's previous debts.

But there have been some suggestions that their new situation is all one big mistake.

"I've heard on the grapevine - and this was nothing to do with the club - they think that somebody, somewhere may have made an error in adding up or subtracting some numbers," Maguire added.

"I think it's more of a mess-up than a conspiracy. I don't think there's been some kind of grand plan by West Bromwich Albion to overspend."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

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West Bromwich Albion interim boss James Morrison spoke to BBC Radio WM following their 0-0 draw with Millwall.

"They had the better of the first 30 minutes," he said.

"We needed to sort a couple of bits out at half-time and then I thought [in the] second half we were the stronger team, had the bigger chances and kept them away from our goal.

"I felt we were just a final pass away tonight - the right shot, choosing the right pass.

"The big moment, the goalkeeper's [Anthony Patterson] made a great save so I think overall it's probably a fair result."

West Bromwich Albion head coach James Morrison said his side's timely run of good form has been down to them learning from past failures.

The Baggies are unbeaten in six games and have their Championship destiny in their own hands going into the final five matches of the season, with a four-point gap to the relegation zone.

That run - two wins and four draws - since a 2-1 defeat by Oxford United on 28 February earned Morrison a nomination for manager of the month for March, and he has taken Albion from the bottom three to relative comfort in 20th place.

"The reaction from Oxford, the belief and the determination of trying to, one, improve the performances and, two, get the club out of this position - sometimes you learn the most off your failures," he told BBC Radio WM.

"I think that's a sign of a good team when you have that disappointment and then you come back from it.

"We can control some sort of disappointment, but it's how you control the big disappointments and how you react through that. And I've talked about that with the group - coming through some difficult moments and going again."

A win over top-two chasing Millwall on Friday [20:00 BST] would put the Baggies in touching distance of 50 points - widely accepted as the tally usually needed to stay up.

And Morrison said he has been reminding his players of how close they are to doing that.

"Ever since I've come in, we've had targets," he said. "So we keep reminding ourselves of theneed to be day-to-day, game-to-game, and then we keep working for them.

"I think everyone knows in this division, statistically, what it is, so we keep fighting for that and we'll breathe when we can breathe."

Image source, Getty Images

The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Image source, EFL

Millwall striker Josh Coburn has been named the Championship's player of the month for March.

The 23-year-old scored three goals last month as the Lions won two, drew one and lost one of their four matches.

Coburn scored the winning goal against Derby and an important equaliser at promotion rivals Ipswich with his tally for the season currently standing at nine.

It is the second successive month a Millwall player has won the award with winger Femi Azeez taking the February prize.

West Brom defender George Campbell, Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and Derby defender Matt Clarke were also nominated.

Millwall visit West Brom on Friday night (20:00 BST).

Image source, Shutterstock

Southampton's Tonda Eckert has been named the Championship's manager of the month for March.

The Saints went unbeaten in the league last month, winning three and drawing one of their four games including a victory at the leaders Coventry.

The Sky Blues' Frank Lampard, Matt Bloomfield of Oxford United and West Brom interim boss James Morrison were also nominated.

Eckert also won the award in February when Southampton were again unbeaten and have continued their good form into April, moving into the play-off places as well as reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

They meet Derby at home on Saturday (15:00 BST).