West Brom...1 Manchester Utd...3If tradition and sheer honesty were enough to ensure membership of the elite, West Bromwich would never be excluded from occasions like this. Even Alex Ferguson, bringing his team to The Hawthorns for the first time, walked down memory lane with Albion. But before the praise came the burial.
It did not take this comprehensive defeat by Manchester United to introduce Gary Megson to the reality of football society but financial muscle buys class and squad power. Ferguson left out Ryan Giggs and Juan Sebastian Veron, then substituted Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Roy Keane - a warm handshake between manager and returning captain sealing another job done with something to spare.
The Premiership's basement club manager, Megson, will this week pick over different figures as he tries to recruit loan players. The list includes Tim Sherwood, Nigeria's left-side defender Ifeanyi Udeze from PAOK Salonika and the Valencia striker Salva Ballesta.
"We've spoken to Tottenham about Tim and we're talking to Udeze," said Megson. "I hope we have one or two new faces when we play Leeds."
Out-priced in the transfer market, outclassed by United, Megson had been calculating another set of figures on Saturday evening. Then he was talking about the time - 22.2 seconds - it took for Albion's world to turn upside down.
He said: "The place is rocking and we've gone one up on one of the best teams in the world. Then we give away a goal to one of the best strikers in the world."
It was a microcosm of Megson's season. Lifted by Jason Koumas's run and low drive, facilitated by one of several of Rio Ferdinand's mistakes, Albion were immediately undone by Neil Clement's own casualness, David Beckham's cross and Ruud van Nistelrooy's tap-in.
"Ninety percent of the goals we've conceded have been when we were in a position when we could be attacking," said Megson. "We're the worst in the Premiership in that respect."
After that United roamed free, especially down the right, the source of all their goals. In midfield Keane governed absolutely, cleverly assisted by Paul Scholes. And who needs Giggs? Not Solskjaer, for sure, as the Premiership's best squad player switched seamlessly to the left flank and scored to boot. Giggs had been jeered and replaced by Solskjaer at Old Trafford on Tuesday. The non-scoring Welshman, a better performer away than at home, was not in United's 16 here. Ferguson said: "He had a hamstring strain and he'll be fit for next Saturday."
Veron, making way for an unexpected return by Keane, was said to have suffered an injury against Blackburn.
The Argentinian midfielder has started only one Premiership away game in almost two months. By contrast van Nistelrooy's future seems secure; the £19m striker says he wants to stay with United even after his contract expires in July, 2006.
United's high-class alternatives compounded Megson's frustrations over his own side in which, he admitted, "we had only one like them, Jason Koumas," in terms of ability.
Megson looked wistfully down the road to St Andrews after the spate of signings there: "Birmingham made a £6.5m loss after a £2.5m loss the year before. We've made a profit every year since I've been here. We didn't have Premiership players when we came into this league."
If it is any consolation, Ferguson believes Albion will gain eventually from their financial caution. The club, he said, are building "a great platform for the future. They challenged for every ball and I hope a team like that stay in the Premiership, with their tradition, but maybe not this time."
Albion's fate was sealed once Scholes escaped a tormented defence to volley home Keane's cross after the captain's quick exchange with van Nistelrooy. United's third was a formality, Gary Neville crossing for Solskjaer to ram high into the net.
It is a pity United's gamesmanship continues to spoil so much fine football. Scholes, booked just before the hour for not retreating, should have instead seen red having already vented his fury over an offside decision and then seconds later spitefully fouled Koumas from behind; Keane frequently attempted to take over from Neale Barry as referee.
Like Blackburn before them, Albion had much more reason to be aggrieved with officialdom than United.
WEST BROM: Hoult, Moore, Gilchrist, Sigurdsson (Dobie 75), Adam Chambers (Balis 86), Koumas, Johnson, Wallwork, Clement, Dichio, Roberts. Subs Not Used: Murphy, McInnes, James Chambers. Goals: Koumas 6.
MANCHESTER UTD: Barthez, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre, Phil Neville, Beckham, Keane (O'Shea 81), Scholes, van Nistelrooy, Solskjaer (Forlan 67). Subs Not Used: Blanc, Ricardo, Richardson. Booked: Scholes. Goals: van Nistelrooy 8, Scholes 23, Solskjaer 55.
Referee: N Barry
