If this had been a job audition, Darren Moore would have emerged with flying colours. He may have taken charge at West Brom far too late to prevent a relegation now within a whisker of mathematical rubber stamping but the caretaker has breathed new life into a team who lost their way so badly under first Tony Pulis and then Alan Pardew.
The brutal reality that it would now take a highly improbable sequence of results to spare Albion should not detract from Moore’s achievement in presiding over the collection of a highly creditable eight points from four games at the helm.
Granted, West Brom really had only one clear-cut chance but Matt Phillips converted it with the sort of ruthlessness his team could have done with much more of earlier in the season. “I’m really delighted,” said Moore, his eyes shining. “We showed real team spirit, courage and determination to keep a clean sheet at a difficult arena. There’s nothing we can do about the future, we can’t stop what happens but we’ve come together as a football club. There’s a wonderful trust and belief throughout the club.”
There is a clear sense that he will not be invited to remain in charge next season and Moore became uncomfortable when questioned about his future. “I’m not looking beyond the next game,” he said before, later, blowing his cheeks out in irritation when pressed further on the issue.
A bleak afternoon for Benítez was further blemished by the petulant late off-the-ball kick with which substitute Islam Slimani sent Craig Dawson crashing to the turf at a dead ball. If David Coote, making his first appearance as a Premier League referee, confirms he did not see an incident which resulted in no punishment at the time, retrospective video evidence could well result in a three-game Football Association ban for the Leicester loanee.
Considering that the deal cost £2m and injuries have restricted Slimani to one start and no goals, it was small wonder Newcastle’s manager looked less than delighted with the Algeria striker at the end of an underwhelming afternoon.
“It was hugely frustrating but sometimes when you’re safe some players relax,” said Benítez. “It happens. We made too many mistakes. We weren’t playing well and West Brom were working hard. We did a fantastic, amazing job to stay up but we need the same determination we had before.”
James McClean had limbered up for kick-off with a not so subtle dig at Pardew. “No disrespect to Alan but, when we go out on the pitch now, we know what we’re doing,” said the Ireland winger.
Sharpness behind a microphone is one thing but could McClean offer a similar cutting edge with the ball at his feet? It certainly appeared so as he concluded a rapid early counterattack by veering in from the left and, capitalising on poor defending, directing an angled shot wide.
The impression that West Brom looked anything but a side all but condemned to the Championship was emphasised when Jake Livermore’s fine through pass and Matt Phillip’s well timed run combined to spring Newcastle’s offside trap before Phillips – proving a frequent menace on the right wing – cut inside and, having taken an assured first touch to steady himself, thumped a powerful right-foot shot beyond Martin Dubravka.
Kenedy might swiftly have equalised after a slick one-two with Ayoze Pérez but, instead, the Chelsea loanee winger’s left-foot shot hit the base of a post with Ben Foster beaten.
Overall, though, Benítez’s players struggled to raise their collective game on an unseasonably chilly afternoon punctuated by frequent rain showers. Freed of the pressures involved in fighting for survival, they seemed enervated rather than liberated.
It did not help that Jonjo Shelvey was struggling to settle into his customary playmaking groove. A few of his hallmark long passes did come off but generally Shelvey looked like a man trying much too hard. Maybe the news that Gareth Southgate was considering offering him a late World Cup call-up has inhibited rather than inspired a midfielder last capped by England three years ago. Arguably the biggest beneficiary could be Livermore, who had a good game in central midfield for West Brom.
In mitigation Shelvey did create the opening from which Mo Diamé’s goalbound left-foot volley was deflected fractionally over the bar as Newcastle rallied. Indeed, they would have equalised had Foster, excellent throughout, not produced a fabulous save to divert Dwight Gayle’s close-range header to safety.
Benítez tried to change the narrative with a series of tactical and personnel switches which saw Slimani, complete with black woolly gloves, replace Gayle.
Unfortunately for Newcastle’s manager, his most notable contribution was that kick at Dawson which threatens to truncate the centre-forward’s Tyneside tenure.
