Five things in the EFL: Unlikely six-pointers and falls from grace

Granted, West Brom seem to be a major talking point every few days at the moment. But until things improve, the talk will not stop.

And it got even worse for the Baggies on Tuesday night as Blackburn’s 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday meant Albion dropped into the Championship’s bottom three for the first time since November 2022.

For a club of this size, relegation to League One almost certainly fits the cliche of “they are too big to go down”.

This is a club that has only ever been relegated to the third tier once before. A club that has only spent two seasons outside the top two tiers of English football in their entire 148-year history – in 1991-92 after relegation and then 1992-93 when they won promotion back to the second tier.

In-fact, 13 of Albion’s past 23 campaigns were spent in the Premier League. But badges do not win football matches.

A relatively inexperienced head coach in Eric Ramsay, no wins in six (lost five), just one away point from a possible 36, no win on the road since 1 October and the second worst defensive record – the facts do not make for great reading.

Fears around The Hawthorns have only increased further after an aggregate 8-0 reverse in games against direct relegation rivals in recent weeks – the 5-0 home hammering by Norwich and 3-0 defeat at Portsmouth last time out.

Unless the Baggies can stem the flow, starting at home to Stoke on Saturday (kick-off 15:01 GMT), they will be on course for their worst season since 1999-2000 when they finished 21st in Division One (now the Championship).

Albion would probably take that right now. Otherwise only the third-ever season in the third tier may be on the horizon.