West Brom v Luton – Views From The Bench

After a fixture which ebbed and flowed yesterday, with the Hatters coming back from 3-0 down to narrowly lose 3-2, both managers had plenty to say.

Nathan Jones, aware that after a bright start to the season his side have now lost two games on the bounce, West Brom (Championship) and Stevenage (Carabao Cup), was naturally disappointed.

But, at the forefront of his mind, as he was interviewed by The BBC, were his thoughts relating to Jordan Clark, with the player having been stretchered off – jordan-clark-horror-collision – with the boss remarking:

“Jordan Clark is recovering and he’s conscious, so that’s the good thing. It’s a concussion injury. He’s too brave for his own good really. That’s the boy he is. It’s disappointing to have lost him but the main thing is he’s OK.

“The way keepers protect themselves, you’re always liable to get hurt. He was just unfortunate. The ball was almost perfect. It’s one of those things.”

Before moving to discuss the game, offering West Brom, managed by the former Barnsley manager, Valerien Ismael, some praise:

“Everybody knew about Barnsley last year and the way West Brom are going to play, and fair play to them. They should go up, they’re well equipped for the Championship. They’ll be hard to beat here.”

Indeed, they will and if Luton had of started better, who knows.

As for the opposition manager, Ismael had this to say to The BBC

“It was a day of great emotion. We were in control. We started really strong. We saw the power from the crowd, combined with our way to play. And we should have scored more goals in the first half.

“In the second half we came out strong and then came the injury. It was another 15-minute break. It killed our legs and our rhythm.”

Before he too praised the opposition, further adding:

“Then we made a mistake. After that it was another game. They then changed completely their way of playing. There was more fight, and you need to embrace the fight. We struggled with this.”

They did and who knows what might have happened if there were another ten minutes to play.

COYH’s