Baggies on rise as weary Sol showing his age

PETER ODEMWINGIE gave Sol Campbell the kind of 500th anniversary present he would quite cheerfully donate to a local charity shop as the Newcastle United veteran was left contemplating just how much longer he can continue in the Premier League and Chris Hughton was reduced to locking his players in the dressing room.

18 years ago Campbell burst onto the scene and made his debut as a fresh-faced kid with Spurs, but Old Father Time is relentless and he is catching up with the former England defender faster than Odemwingie did at the Hawthorns.

Odemwingie arrived as an unheralded £1.5m buy from Lokomotiv Moscow in the summer and the majority doubted whether he had the kind of quality to make any kind of meaningful contribution to Albion’s bid for survival this season. The striker nicknamed Peter Snow — because of how much he loved the white stuff in the Russian capital — certainly put the skids under Campbell and Co.

He also helped Di Matteo give a small minority of Albion supporters the perfect response to their Carling Cup gripes. The Italian had come under criticism for making nine changes ahead of the defeat by Ipswich Town — which cost them their first chance of a League Cup semi-final for 28 years.

It ran off the uber-cool Italian like water off an Aquascutum raincoat. He may have been decorated at Wembley as a Chelsea player — but he only has sights on one thing this season — survival and this “brilliant” performance fully justified sacrificing the possibility of day out at Wembley for an extended stay in the top flight.

“It makes up for Ipswich and I thought we were brilliant. Our football was exceptional at times. We scored great goals and had the majority of the game. All the players are playing with confidence and they are enjoying what they are doing, but no one is going to get carried away,” said Di Matteo.

Albion leaped to seventh in the table with their second win in as many games. They are clearly in the mood to break records. Last weekend’s success against Everton was their first in 31 years and this was their first in 26 against Newcastle. Of the two sides who fought and won automatic promotion from the Championship last season Di Matteo has progressed far more impressively since May.

Despite operating on one of the most miserly budgets in the Premier League, he seems to have begged, stolen and borrowed a team capable of fulfilling his stated ambition to end Albion’s yo-yo existence over the last 10 years, even if it is a little early to be casting a glance at the table. A month ago they were two points off the relegation zone. Now they are safely in the top half again.

“I won’t be looking at the table. I don’t care where we are. I will only look after our last game in May. That is when it counts. I am more than happy that we have 22 points at this stage,” added Di Matteo.

Somen Tchoyi represents one of Di Matteo’s most lavish buys in the summer and Albion chairman Jeremy Peace has been itching to find out just how much quality you get for £2.5m these days.

The former Austrian player of the year has struggled to win himself a regular starting place, but he might have a better case after his latest spectacular goal.

He followed up his brilliant strike against Everton last weekend with a wonderful curling shot from just inside the box, after Jose Enrique’s woeful defending was the start to Hughton’s latest miserable performance away from St James’ Park and the dressing room lock-in was no more than his players deserved.

His players barely showed any stomach for the fight. They surrendered possession far too easily and only forced Scott Carson into one save in the first hour, when the former England goalkeeper pushed away Steven Taylor’s powerful header. They never threatened any kind of revival from the moment they fell behind and the manner in which they allowed West Brom to confirm their superiority was alarming. Danny Guthrie slipped in a heap inside the centre circle and Odemwingie raced 50 yards into the Newcastle box, giving Campbell and Taylor the slip in the process before finding the corner.

Odemwingie added his eighth goal of the season three minutes from time as Newcastle’s woeful defence caved in once more. The amount of space the Nigerian international was allowed to collect Marek Cech’s 40-yard diagonal pass and shoot beyond Krul was criminal. Newcastle substitute Peter Lovenkrands scrambled the ball home from inside the six-yard box, after Carroll’s initial shot had been saved by Carson — but it will have been little consolation to a fuming Hughton.