Sir Bobby said:

"They're good kids. They know one's got to come off and they wouldn't want that. They've been waiting for a chance."

Gary Megson said:

"This tie will be remembered for us defending well, riding our luck at times and our tremendous goalkeeper. Russell is as good as it gets outside the Premiership and as good as a lot in it.

"What happens with the amount of exposure you get in the Premiership, once something goes right, everybody really focuses on it but vice-versa, when it goes wrong, people tend to focus on that, which creates maybe a little bit more individual pressure for Lee.

"But he is a good goalscorer, he took his goal brilliantly. He made a terrific run a couple of minutes before that when he brought out a good save from Steve Harper, and that is what the lad is about.

"But he has got to do it on a more regular basis, and he is starting to get there.

"It is a good draw for the football club to be playing Manchester United, it is a terrific draw to be playing at home, but I don't want to give the impression that we are that kind of football club that all we are looking for is to play big clubs.

"We want to be doing this week in, week out. We were doing it last year and now the only chance we have got to play these clubs is in the cup.

"But we do want to be playing them week in, week out by getting ourselves promoted, so I don't want to decry the fact that we are drawn at home to Manchester United, but then again, I don't want to seem like a non-league team - that it is a cup final."

Our 110th League Cup tie in its various incarnations. We've won 47, lost 46 and drawn 17. Robert's goal was the 173rd we've scored, while the Hughes winner was 147 in our net.

This was the first time that Albion have made the fourth round of the League Cup since 1989-90, when they won 1-0 at.....Newcastle (Chris Whyte scoring the goal)

A fantastic attendance for this tie, beating the 41,847 that turned out for Bradford City in season 2000-01 and only 2,202 below our all-time home record in this competition, set in the Semi-Final tie against Spurs in 1975-76. 

Aside from the full house at the Wembley final that year, the largest crowd to watch us in the League Cup remains the 52,002 at Old Trafford in 1976-77.

Twenty-four hours is a long time in politics as the MP for Chingford will testify. 

It's also a long time in football.

As we trudged away from St.James' Park after this latest League Cup disaster it was easy to moan about the performance of Shola Ameobi or fringe players like Lomana LuaLua or even Hugo Viana. But 24 hours on, the truth is this was a game we could have won by four of five clear goals, let alone desperately hoping for a late extra-time leveller and a rare penalty shoot-out victory.

A win can hide a multitude of sins and our performance at Middlesbrough when Ameobi was the hero may have been a case in point. However, by the same token a defeat can hide a multitude of good things as well.

Basically we battered the Baggies from start to finish of this game and I doubt when we won 7-1 at Meadow Lane in the same competition ten years ago, whether we dominated that game any more.

Our opposition was a side that we only beat 4-3 on aggregate home and away in the Premiership last season and who are currently odds-on to return to the top flight next season. And yet a side with six changes from the one that beat Portsmouth on Saturday was still head and shoulders above them in every department... apart from finding the net.

LuaLua, Ameobi, Laurent Robert and Hugo Viana showed their true potential in a first half that was embarrassingly lop-sided. Lua just about got his blend of tricks, dribbling and passing right in that first half hour and was desperately unlucky to head against the bar and fire narrowly wide or straight at Baggies' keeper Hoult. A hat-trick wouldn't have flattered him.

Similarly Shola had a couple of efforts that flashed just wide, where he beat defenders with ease and then shot with power and purpose - shots that would have given Hoult no chance had they been a shade more accurate. A header hit the post when it really should have been buried but a hat-trick for Shola before the Baggies scored would again not have been unmerited.

One of his close shaves deserves special mention - a Hibbitt-like ball out of defence from Viana was inch-perfect for Shola to race onto. His pace was never going to take him clear of the Albion defence but he rendered them utterly useless by cutting inside and across the box and then grazed the far post with Hoult well beaten.

But then Albion had a rare attack and won a corner - a wayward charge forward from Haas being the only other threat on our goal that I can remember. The corner slipped into the middle and went in off Ameobi and suddenly we're inexplicably 1-0 down. Just like Boro were, a couple of weeks ago when Shola found the back of the right net.

So then what happens? Panic on the streets of Newcastle (as The Smiths never said).

Long range shots from Nobby Solano and Viana, poor crosses that were nowhere near their target and some assorted pretty little flicks and tricks that got us nowhere. Far from being able to continue the annihilation, we let them off the hook but only for a few minutes.

The break gave us the chance to draw breath and have another crack and to be fair, we did just that. The cutting edge had been blunted somewhat but we still camped in the Gallowgate end of the pitch with very few problems for captain Steve Harper at the other end of the field.

But for some reason, corner after corner was unable to find its target in the random manner that the visitor's unspectacular corner had done in the first half. That was partly down to some outstanding defending and goalkeeping and partly due to some poor delivery but mainly we just didn't get the breaks.

The rest of our play around their penalty area wasn't particularly intelligent and the Lua box of tricks was being used inappropriately once more. His pace often took him clear of the defence down the left but his crossing wasn't great and the green and yellow shirts invariably cleared... for yet another corner.

Just as frustration was reaching boiling point and calls for Shearer were starting to rival the noise from the away supporters, up popped Robert to play a smart one-two with Shola and fire past Hoult. Halleluiah, the relief was almost audible - there was little other noise to drown it out, save for level seven of the Milburn/Leazes corner.

The chances of the Baggies sneaking a fluky 1-0 win a la Grimsby in the promotion season or countless other games of football where a side breaks once and scores seemed to disappear with the Frenchman's classic strike. 

But then what happened? It's easy to read too much into it but he insisted on an elaborate celebration by the corner flag which seemed to go on forever. Just when the defences had been breached and the floodgates threatened to open we were more intent on pissing about (excuse my French...).

That continued as the simple art of the game was again abandoned for some fancy trick that was going to write someone a headline. Solano was withdrawn and with Speed already on at half-time for Viana, we started to look out of balance and out of rhythm. 

There was plenty of time to keep plugging away for the winner but we were panicking again. The safety net of extra-time was obviously a distraction - it was certainly a safety net but not for us, for the Baggies.

Once full-time was reached and they had survived, they visibly lifted. We'd shot our bolt and missed, the crowd were apprehensive as were our players. Some calm thinking and patience were needed but instead we all turned to Alan Shearer to get us out of this one. 

Robert had apparently already complained he was tired and so when Big Al was introduced the winger inevitably sloped off. Shame, he'd played well and was our main chance of feeding the match-winner.

All Albion had to do was sit tight and soak up the pressure which they were doing with ever increasing ease and take us to penalties, which the whole football world must know by now we never win.

Our huff and puff was becoming ever more desperate but you still felt that we'd get a break Like West Brom's) and we'd avoid the shootout calamity.

But then suddenly Albion broke and danger-man Lee Hughes was free in the box but thankfully his shot was saved well by Harper. Phew, that was a close one.... A few of us had seen his introduction instead of the ineffective Hulse as genuine cause for concern and we were almost proved right.

That should have been a kick up the backside to make sure we kept up the pressure and pinned the visitors back again. It only takes a second to score a goal etc. etc.

A second later they scored. Hughes burst into the box again, sloppily played onside by Bernard and he made no mistake this time.

But there was still twenty minutes remaining. Still time to win the game, not just equalise and hope for a penalty miracle. The trademark of this team over the past two seasons has been our tremendous fightbacks but the shoulders slumped and the crowd seemed all too ready to accept defeat. 

The three sets of fresh legs (Speed excluded perhaps) were not really helping. Shearer flicked on to teammates who weren't there and Ambrose seems to have perfected the motionless stepover.

And all the time the battered visitors were doing their jobs, standing firm, keeping it simple and watching us fanny around in a manner that was ultimately flawed.

It was a hard defeat to take - I'd really fancied us to do well in the Carling Cup this year and I don't think I've ever said that before. It will only be a tinpot trophy for us when we've won enough FA Cups and Championships to make it seem insignificant. Bobby knew that and I'm sure the players knew that.

Even with hindsight I'd back the manager 100% on this one. He played exactly the right team, the substitutions didn't help our cause very much but Robert subbed himself and Solano wouldn't have lasted 120 minutes. My only criticism is the way we reacted to the goals against us. Players who should have known better forgot to do the simple things that had previously worked well.

People tell me Shola took some stick on the phone-ins. His main crime appears to be that he's not Alan Shearer. True, he looks like he can't be bothered at times but then so did Chris Waddle. There are still huge question marks in my mind about Shola but I've seen him play a lot worse than this. 

LuaLua threatened to do well in the early stages of the game and a goal could have done wonders for his first team future. But he didn't and we lost. The truth is if Paul Gascoigne has/had a fantastic football brain then little Lua is still in the remedial classes on the pitch. To be frank, his decision-making is appalling.

I was spitting blood for a few hours after this one but I was also struggling to find anyone to blame. Perhaps because there wasn't anyone. Perhaps like Bobby said we were just a bit unlucky. Ask Gary Megson.

Niall MacKenzie

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