It is little wonder that Tony Pulis is so determined to hold on to Saido Berahino. On an afternoon when the West Bromwich Albion head coach’s patience was stretched to breaking point at times – in particular when Brown Ideye made a pig’s ear of a gilt-edged chance in the first half – it was no surprise that it was left to Berahino, 12 minutes from time, to deliver the goal that kickstarted the Welshman’s latest managerial challenge.
The best player on the pitch by a distance, Berahino made it five goals in two games under Pulis when he drilled in from 10 yards out, after Allan McGregor was penalised for picking up Ahmed Elmohamady’s needless backpass.
After looking as miserable as sin in the wake of each of his four goals against Gateshead in the FA Cup last Saturday, Berahino celebrated his latest strike – teed up by the substitute Victor Anichebe, and thrashed low through a clutch of Hull players – with relish.
Pulis, a picture of frustration for so long, turned on his heels and punched the air. A drab game had the goal it so badly needed and Albion, with one sweep of Berahino’s right boot, were climbing from one place above the relegation zone at the start of the day to 14th. While there is little breathing space – Albion are still only two points from safety – this was a victory to savour for a club that had lost seven of their 10 previous league games. It was also a performance that confirmed how important Berahino is to Albion’s hopes, especially in light of another dismal display from Brown, the club-record signing, who shot horribly wide when put clean through by his strike partner in the first half.
Berahino was not so generous when opportunity knocked. The 21-year-old has now scored 14 times this season and that total will need to keep ticking over nicely for Albion to be safe.
“There’s lots of work to be done,” Pulis said. “I think the crowd were very patient – we’ll need them to be behind us. The important thing is people have to recognise and realise how tough this will be. People think I’m just saying that to take the pressure off. Well, just have a look at how many teams are in the Championship who have spent years in the Premier League.
“The reason why they’ve gone into the Championship is because people around the place got complacent. Everyone took their foot off the pedal and, as soon as you do that, you’ll get relegated. This club and everybody around it has to understand that this is a real dogfight until the end of the season. For us to stay out of it, everybody has to pull together.”
For Hull, who are now outside the relegation zone only on goal difference, this was a tough defeat to stomach. As well as cursing the fact that Albion were running out of ideas before that dreadful mix up between McGregor and Elmohamady in the penalty area, Steve Bruce was left to ruefully reflect on the sight of both Nikica Jelavic and Abel Hernández limping off inside the opening 40 minutes, to add their names to an already lengthy injury list. Hernández has a groin strain, while Jelavic, worryingly, is struggling with the knee that was operated on earlier this season.
“With the problems we had with the loss of our strikers, you take a point away from home. And, to be perfectly honest, it looked a 0-0 written all over it,” Bruce, the Hull manager, said. “It’s a frustration to lose the game with the misunderstanding we had – it was cruel on us. He [Elmohamady] doesn’t need to touch it, you could also say the goalkeeper doesn’t need to come out for it. It’s that split second where there is a lack of communication and, unfortunately, we’ve been punished.”
