Robson returns to reality

English FA Premiership West Bromwich Albion 1 Middlesborough 2: Cheered out of the tunnel before kick-off, Bryan Robson disappeared back towards the dressing-room at the end looking far more glum and with plenty to contemplate. Yesterday's welcome home party at West Bromwich Albion may have started with him opening the door to a load of friends but it ended with gatecrashers guzzling all the food and drink and having all the fun.

The perfect script had it that Robson would start to guide West Brom towards safety in his first match in charge of the club where he started his playing career, but instead this offered a biting dose of reality. With the team's next two games being away at Arsenal and at home to Manchester United, things could get worse before they get better.

Given that Robson took his first training session only on Wednesday, not much can be read into this game but the second half showed he has a good deal to do.

West Brom's display before the interval had been encouraging, with Mark Schwarzer forced into four saves, but they were poor thereafter, unable to respond when Middlesbrough raised their game and tempo.

Too much possession was wasted, too little invention seen. Nwankwo Kanu ought to have equalised just before the end when he somehow missed from a yard but Middlesbrough survived to go fourth.

"It looked far easier to put it in than over the bar," Robson said. "That looked impossible."

It was hard to argue with the outcome. Aside from a late rally, Middlesbrough were in control and untroubled from the moment Boudewijn Zenden headed in a Stewart Downing cross in the 52nd minute. Some of their passing was neat and in Downing they had the game's best player.

His willingness to run at opponents and his delivery from open play and set-pieces caused problems. A full England cap surely beckons. "If he keeps playing like this he will get his opportunity," his manager Steve McClaren said.

George Boateng was also important in stamping Boro authority and Chris Riggott did well at centre back.

Despite West Brom's flat second half, Robson seemed delighted overall to be back in a Premiership dug-out for the first time since December 2000, when he was Boro's manager.

"I have enjoyed everything that goes around it," he said. "The only thing I haven't enjoyed is the result." He will have liked the warmth with which he was welcomed. The match-day announcer boomed "Ladies and gentleman, he's back at the Hawthorns after 23 years," as Robson emerged from the tunnel. The crowd cheered loudly but the ground never reverberated to chants of "One Bryan Robson" or such like. His managerial record at Boro still divides opinion.

Robson will draw positives from the first half, when his team went at their opponents with confidence and might have scored more than one. Zoltan Gera wasted a few shooting chances and Schwarzer made some decent saves.

Cosmin Contra had bright moments going forward in his first Premiership game but offered little cover defensively against Downing, and Kanu and Robert Earnshaw each displayed flashes of talent, though only fleetingly did they show signs of a genuine partnership. Jonathan Greening, a former Boro player, was full of the determination and careful passing that made him their best player.

Though West Brom created the greater openings it was no shock when Boro took the lead. They had threatened on several Downing-inspired breaks and the 20-year-old picked out Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who evaded Riccardo Scimeca and sent over a cross which diverted off Darren Purse into the net.

West Brom, undeterred, had to wait only five minutes for an equaliser. Contra did well to get the better of the otherwise solid Franck Queudrue, twisting and turning to make space for a low cross from which Earnshaw could hardly miss.

Robson must have had high expectations but Zenden's neat header gave Boro a lead they rarely looked like surrendering. Robson brought on Geoff Horsfield and Rob Hulse for a more direct approach but it produced nothing until the last dozen minutes when Hulse was close to touching in a Horsfield cross and Kanu wasted an opening made by the same player.

"It's about as I expected," Robson said of the performance. And how did he feel? "Not miserable. I will be thoughtful." He knows the real work starts now.