'No-one is more disappointed...' - West Brom midfielder on 'toxic' collapse last term

A desperate collapse on the pitch led to a folding of Championship play-off aspirations and head Tony Mowbray's sacking, just 95 days after his romantic return to The Hawthorns after 16 years away.

A disastrous Easter double defeat against Coventry and Derby sealed the fate. As one experienced member of the Baggies squad put it, things went "toxic" and unpleasant for all.

Midfielder Alex Mowatt, 30, who with four years' services is one of Albion's longer-servers, felt the jump from the meticulously-drilled Carlos Corberan to a more licence-to-roam and attack-at-will Mowbray approach was a big one.

"The fans rightly get angry when we're losing or disappointed in the way that we played," Mowatt told the Express & Star.

"But as players we take that responsibility and there's no-one more disappointed than us when we know how bad a game has been.

"The Coventry game (on Good Friday) still stays in my head about how bad it was. It was toxic in the end and the season just seemed to go like that, downhill.

"Luckily we finished on a good game on the last day and hopefully we can take that."

But Mowatt did not offer that up as an excuse and admitted players take responsibility for what happened at a "difficult time", which ultimately cost Mowbray his job after barely three months.

Ire grew in the stands, particularly as March turned to April and Easter arrived.

A last-gasp midweek defeat at rivals Bristol City - who eventually landed a play-off spot - felt costly and despite a home victory over Watford a few days later, after which Mowbray made unusual comments about players going off-scrip, the end was nigh.

Coventry can be remembered for John Swift's half-time introduction. Swift was guilty of an error for Coventry's second in a 2-0 win moments after his arrival and come full-time he felt the ire of the away end, or those still in situ. He has since been released and joined Portsmouth.

Chairman Shilen Patel was present in Coventry, and likewise four days later at home to Derby, on the evening of which he dismissed Mowbray.

Before that, Mowatt cut a frustrated figure in the aforementioned 2-1 defeat at Bristol City's Ashton Gate. The TV cameras caught the midfielder annoyed when departing as a substitute just moments after equalising in Bristol.

He added: "It was really difficult. A difficult time. The team kind of lost their confidence and then a five yard pass became difficult, you could just tell everyone was not confident and nothing was free-flowing.

"It was a really difficult time to be honest."

 Reflecting on Albion's collapse to ninth and the brief unsuccessful switch from Corberan to Mowbray, Mowatt said: "They are both great people but in very different ways.

"We went from one style of play which was so extreme, you knew what you were doing on everything, we'd have throw-in meetings, practice throw-ins, Carlos would cover everything.

"Whereas Tony was a bit more free-flowing. It just didn't seem to work. Maybe the change was just too big at the time? It was really disappointing, the way that we finished last season.

"The lads were gutted coming in (after games). We know ourselves when we've had a bad game, but it just didn't seem to click or get going."

In truth a season which could not have started brighter - Albion were top after opening up with five wins and a draw from six - failed to recover after the draw rot set set in by autumn. Corberan's Christmas Eve departure for Valencia proved the unfestive nail in the coffin of 2024/25.

"It doesn't make the lads bad players," added Mowatt. "You can't become a bad player from the start to the end of the season, but for some reason it just didn't work.

"The lads will be on it pre-season. Obviously the gaffer (Ryan Mason) has got more time than Tony had, so it's like a fresh start for everyone."