West Bromwich Albion should be glad with the way they played in the Premier League last season following their promotion from the Championship the year before.

Roberto di Matteo did well to lead the team to some favourable results until the half-way stage but then the Baggies started to play like total strangers and the Italian boss was dismissed.

A poor run of seven defeats from nine matches left West Brom struggling against the drop until new manager Roy Hodgson, for-merly of Liverpool, took over soon and steadied the ship into a mid-table placing.

One player who stood head and shoulders above his mates was Peter Ozase Odemwingie, the Nigerian forward signed from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2007.

His exploits in the small box saw him scoring 15 league goals that kept West Bromwich floating in safe waters.

Before the start of the New Year, the Midlanders were in a good position to chase a top-six finish when pre-season forecasts had grouped them among the rele-gation candidates.

Hodgson, however, failed to strengthen his defensive lines that leaked goals regularly, amassing a staggering 71 − only Blackpool (78 conceded) had more in their defensive column.

West Ham finished at rock bottom, six points adrift of the other two relegated sides. Their total of seven wins left them with no way to go but downwards. The Ham-mers were at the bottom on eight different occasions and were relegated on April 23 − with four matches still to play.

At the start of the 2010-11 sea-son, Gianfranco Zola made way for Avram Grant and next season the Londoners will be managed by Sam Allardyce.

Arguably what did the most damage were the pathetic mid-season attempts by the club owners to replace Grant with Martin O’Neill.

When they were rebuffed, West Ham loitered before eventually deciding to back the man who they had already undermined.

Fine cup run

In the League Cup, West Ham managed to reach the last four of the competition, knocking out fellow Premier League teams Sunderland (2-1 away), Stoke (3-1 home) and Manchester United (quarter-final 4-0 home).

The eventual winners of the competition, Birmingham City, saw the Hammers off over two legs in the semi-final, 4-3 on aggregate.

In the FA Cup, West Ham lost to Stoke City in the quarter-finals, 1-2 away.

West Brom also lasted until the last eight of the League Cup when they were stunned by Ipswich, 1-0 at the Hawthorns.

Yet, in the FA Cup it was a different story as West Brom were eliminated by Reading 1-0 at the first hurdle of the competition.

Premier League results

West Bromwich Albion

August − Away vs Chelsea 0-6.
Home vs Sunderland 1-0 (Odem-wingie).
Away vs Liverpool 0-1.
Home vs Tottenham 1-1 (Brunt).
Home vs Birmingham 3-1 (Dann og, Odemwingie, Olsson).
Away vs Arsenal 3-2 (Odemwingie, Jara, Thomas).
October − Home vs Bolton Wanderers 1-1 (Morrison).
Away vs Man. United 2-2 (Evra og, Tchoyi).
Home vs Fulham 2-1 (Mulumbu, Fortune).
November − Away vs Blackpool 1-2 (Mulumbu).
Home vs Manchester City 0-2.
Away vs West Ham 2-2 (Odemwingie pen, Pablo).
Away vs Wigan 0-1.
Home vs Stoke 0-3.
Away vs Everton 4-1 (Scharner, Brunt, Tchoyi, Distin og).
December − Home vs Newcastle 3-1 (Tchoyi, Odemwingie 2).
Away vs Aston Villa 1-2 (Scharner).
Away vs Bolton 0-2.
Home vs Blackburn 1-3 (Thomas).
January − Home vs Manchester United 1-2 (Morrison).
Away vs Fulham 0-3.
Home vs Blackpool 3-2 (Odemwingie 2, Morrison).
Away vs Blackburn 0-2.
Home vs Wigan 2-2 (Odemwingie, Fortune).
Away vs Manchester City 0-3.
February − Home vs West Ham 3-3 (Dorrans, Thomas, W. Reid og).
Home vs Wolves 1-1 (Vela).
Away vs Stoke 1-1 (Vela).
March − Away vs Birmingham 3-1 (Mulumbu, Morrison, Scharner).
Home vs Arsenal 2-2 (Reid, Odem-wingie).
April − Home vs L’pool 2-1 (Brunt 2).
Away vs Sunderland 3-2 (Odem-wingie, Mulumbu, Scharner).
Home vs Chelsea 1-3 (Odemwingie).
Away vs Tottenham 2-2 (Odem-wingie, Cox).
Home vs Aston Villa 2-1 (Odem-wingie, Mulumbu).
May − Away vs Wolves 1-3 (Odem-wingie pen).
Home vs Everton 1-0 (Mulumbu).
Away vs Newcastle 3-3 (Tchoyi 3).

West Ham United

August − Away vs Aston Villa 0-3.
Home vs Bolton 1-3 (Noble pen).
Away vs Manchester United 0-3.
September − Home vs Chelsea 1-3 (Parker).
Away vs Stoke 1-1 (Parker).
Home vs Tottenham 1-0 (Piquionne).
October − Home vs Fulham 1-1 (Piquionne).
Away vs Wolves 1-1 (Noble pen).
Home vs Newcastle 1-2 (Cole).
Away vs Arsenal 0-1.
November − Away vs Birmingham 2-2 (Piquionne, Behrami).
Home vs West Brom 2-2 (Parker, Piquionne pen).
Home vs Blackpool 0-0.
Away vs Liverpool 0-3.
Home vs Wigan 3-1 (Behrani, Obinna, Parker).
December − Away vs Sunderland 0-1.
Home vs Man. City 1-0 (Tomkins).
Away vs Blackburn 1-1 (Stanislas).
Away vs Fulham 3-1 (Cole 2, Piquionne).
Home vs Everton 1-1 (Hibbert og).
January − Home vs Wolves 2-0 (Zubar og, Sears).
Away vs Newcastle 0-5.
Home vs Arsenal 0-3.
Away vs Everton 2-2 (Spector, Piquionne).
February − Away vs Blackpool 3-1 (Obinna 2, Keane).
Home vs Birmingham 0-1.
Away vs West Brom 3-3 (Ba 2, Cole).
Home vs L’pool 3-1 (Parker, Ba, Cole).
March − Home vs Stoke 3-0 (Ba, Da Costa, Hitzlsperger).
Away vs Tottenham 0-0.
April − Home vs Manchester United 2-4 (Noble 2 pens).
Away vs Bolton 0-3.
Home vs Aston Villa 1-2 (Keane).
Away vs Chelsea 0-3.
May − Away vs Man. City 1-2 (Ba).
Home vs Blackburn 1-1 (Hitzlsperger).
Away vs Wigan 2-3 (Ba 2).
Home vs Sunderland 0-3.