Tony Mowbray was left disappointed with his team's defending and finishing at Newcastle.
Lessons must be learned for the future, says Baggies boss
West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Mowbray watched his side give a lesson in how not to defend - and how not to finish - in their defeat to Newcastle United.
The Baggies boss described the 2-1 defeat as the proverbial game of two halves after watching poor defending open the way for Newcastle United, and poor finishing block their route to a comeback.
He said to
Sky Sports: "I thought first half defensively we just couldn't cope - we were very very poor. It's not something we have suffered from away from home apart from after four minutes against Arsenal and those four goals late on at United.
"But apart from those, we've had clean sheets away from home and in the first half the defenders just couldn't cope very well. Once we had a few words at half time, we tightened things up and generally our play was okay.
"I think we created enough chances to maybe get something out of the game but if you defend like we did in the first half then you probably don't deserve to win."
The problems didn't end there though for the Baggies. They had plenty of chances but, apart from Ishmael Miller's delicate 65th minute finish, they failed to make the most of them.
Midfielder James Morrison found himself in goalscoring territory several times - but couldn't find the extra mile to beat Shay Given.
Mowbray added: "I think Morrison had maybe five or six shots himself and maybe should have scored in the first half. It is great though that Ishmael's finally off the mark.
"At the top level of the Premier League, there's a difference between the teams - there are those that finish it off and those that don't.
"I think if Rooney was going through tonight like Morrison was, I suggest he might have stuck it in the net. The goals change the games - they win football matches - so we are probably not clinical enough but I still think there were plenty of positives."
