LONDON — With a quarter of the Premier League campaign gone there can be little doubt about the team of the season so far — West Bromwich Albion.
Promoted clubs tend to struggle, and when Albion were thumped 6-0 in their opening game at Chelsea the wise old sages nodded their I-told-you-so heads. Since then, West Bromwich has won at Arsenal, drawn at Manchester United and has reached the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup.
Albion have previously struggled to establish themselves in the Premier League since joining English football's elite in 2001. Since that time, West Bromwich has bounced back and forth between the Championship — in 2004-05 it became the first ever team to stay up after being at the bottom of the Premier League table on Christmas Day.