Eric Ramsay offered an honest assessment of Albion’s incredibly poor performance against Norwich City.
The Canaries were 5-0 winners at The Hawthorns in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday night, with five different players on the scoresheet.
The boss says his team made “critical errors” and accepted the manner of the goals they conceded were “unacceptable”.
Ramsay said: “It’s very difficult because it’s certainly not something I saw coming after the opening game here.
“I feel as though, despite the result against Middlesbrough, we carried a real sense of positivity and optimism, but you certainly got a sense of fragility and a sense of a team and some players not so sure of themselves which is not something at this stage of the season that you want to feel.
“Ultimately, that led to a performance in which we never really felt like we played with any assurance and we never really had control of the game. In critical moments we made critical errors as a collective and it led to a one-sided result.
“That’s certainly not what is needed at this point. I’m a head coach and I will make sure we have a group of players who take responsibility collectively, will stay together and find a way through because ultimately that’s the only way you can look at this situation.
“The unexpectedness of the performance was the real disappointment for me. It’s difficult to pull any real assured performances from the players and as I’ve mentioned previously, I’m getting the sense of a very honest group who will reflect on the match in the same way that I will.
“Nobody can walk off that pitch feeling good about what has happened tonight. Of course, it’s my job as the coach to really push them and to hold them to high standards, to make sure that it’s clear where the line is and tell them where we’ve fallen short.
“However, I’ve also got to make sure I separate my eight days here from everything that has gone before. I’ve come in with a sense of energy, I recognise the magnitude of the challenge and I feel I’m well-equipped for it and I feel the group is well-equipped to meet it, but this is a sticky spell. We have to make sure that we meet it head on, bring the elephant to front of the room and we address it and move forward every day.
“We were 1-0 down at the break and we made the three changes. We wanted the second half to feel different. I don’t think there would have been a person from our perspective in the stadium that would’ve felt anything else.
“The first half was flat. We didn’t feel like we played with a level of confidence that you might expect coming into this game. It was difficult to look at the first-half performance and feel positive. I wasn’t expecting the second half to look the way that it did. It was hugely disappointing and the manner of the collapse over the course of the second half will leave everyone feeling sick tonight for sure.
“The goals we conceded in that second half were completely unacceptable, that’s for sure. There will be nobody in our camp that will dispute that. It will be very clear for all involved where we’ve fallen short and I include myself and the staff in that.
“One thing that certainly wouldn’t be helpful at the moment is starting to fracture as group and starting to lay blame at doors. That’s not the way I lead and that’s not the way I want the group to feel, so everyone will leave feeling disappointed, but I will make sure we feel constructive as we move through the coming days. I’m eight days into a very busy period of games and finding that time to be constructive and move the group forward is tricky at the moment, but I know what I signed up for and I know the magnitude of the challenge. I have to stay level in that sense.
“We have to feel that fire and it has to fuel us. Every game has to feel like an opportunity and not a threat and that is a crucial mindset switch. I will always be someone who tries to find a way forward in a constructive and positive way. I won’t get swept up in the gravity of the situation as a whole and I think that’s such an important thing for a leader to do in this situation. There’s a fine balance, but we need to make sure it’s clear where we fell short and why.”
