Albion head coach Roberto Di Matteo has admitted his patience was pushed beyond its usual limits at Oakwell last night as the Baggies suffered back-to-back defeats in the Championship.
In match where Albion rarely threatened, one-time target Adam Hammill opened the scoring for the Tykes following Gianni Zuiverloon missed clearance after 14 minutes. It got worse 17 minutes later for the visitors when Jon Mackem looked to have scored with a header. However, referee Mathieson award a penalty after spotting a foul by Shelton Martis on the Barnsley striker with Ian Hume making no mistake from the spot.
After the break Albion rallied slightly after the introduction of Gonzalo Jara in place of Youssouf Mulumbu but found themselves 3-0 down after an own-goal from Shelton Martis on an evening to forget for the centre half.
Chris Brunt gave Albion some sort of consolidation after firing home an unstoppable 25-yard effort two minutes before time. However his strike didn’t help Di Matteo’s mood after the final whistle.
"It was a terrible performance," the Italian frankly admitted.
We didn't do anything we were supposed to - especially in the first half.
"You can't allow any team all that space.
"We saw what happens if you do.
"We made Barnsley look good.
"We will sit down with the players on Thursday, analyse the game and talk about it.
"We need to get the basics right.
"Otherwise, if you give goals away, you are always chasing the game and that's not good."
The dismal defeat continued Albion’s 62-year wait for a victory at Oakwell in a game which the Baggies chief admitted was the worst performance during his short reign in charge at The Hawthorns.
"It has probably been the worst game for my team. We need to pick ourselves up and start again,” Di Matteo added.