Harty on Albion’s home draws

Come Saturday tea time, hopefully, after a win on the road at Blackburn, the Albion will have completed over half of the season’s fixtures, still very much in play-off contention.

Almost every side can look back on a campaign and say we could have won that game, shouldn’t have lost this game, none more so than the Albion.

A number of home draws at the Amex, most recently the back-to back-to draws with Forest and Millwall, had fans leaving the stadium thinking what could have been.

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In the case of the Forest game, the Albion should really have been home and hosed by half-time. On Tuesday, despite two strikes from former Seagulls loanee Chris Wood, it was the home side who,having come back from 2-0 down, probably felt,on chances created, nine shots to Millwall’s six, including hitting the woodwork twice, that a home win would have been a fair result.

So, what now for the Albion?

It’s clear that Gus Poyet has the team playing, in periods, attractive football, although many would argue that all-important cutting edge is still lacking.

Criticism by a small minority of supporters levelled at club record-signing Craig Mackail-Smith is not only totally unjustified but ultimately damaging.

Clearly, things could be better in that department but perhaps a much-anticipated bout of spending in the transfer window and he may get that all-important strike partner his style of play craves.

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Tony Bloom has made a fortune by gambling. The club’s transfer activity in January could yet represent his biggest punt to date but, with perhaps the largest return ever, the estimated £90million TV money is the ultimate carrot.

As an Albion season ticket holder, the thought of smashing the club record by spending £4million on Burnley’s Charlie Austin would certainly be on my Christmas list. Whether or not I, and the rest of the Albion faithful, will get our wish remains to be seen. And, if not Austin, could Poyet look abroad for another big-money purchase?

Whatever happens in the transfer window, before that we’ve all got the Christmas festivities to enjoy, and I’ll sign off this by week by taking this opportunity to wish all of the readers a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.