They can make 8500 loaves in an hour at the Allied Bakeries plant across the road from The Hawthorns and the smell of fresh bread wafted across the pitch before kick off on Saturday night. They must have been proud of their local team, too: Chelsea might have spent £250m this summer but after 27 minutes against West Brom, it looked as if they were toast.
Frank Lampard’s expensively assembled new team were 3-0 down and in disarray. Their new skipper, Thiago Silva, had made a calamitous error on his debut to present West Brom with their second goal, their biggest signing Kai Havertz was struggling to adapt to the pace and rhythm of the game and their other high-profile addition, Timo Werner, looked out of place wide on the left.