Things starting to look up for Baggies

admin

There hasn’t been a quiet period at West Bromwich Albion for a long stretch of time now.

After the sacking of Steve Clarke, the arrival of Pepe Mel, the club’s crawl over the Premier League survival line last season, the consequent exit of Mel, the appointment of Alan Irvine, a largely unimpressive pre-season and a squad overhaul, there’s been little room to pause for breath at The Hawthorns.

The on-pitch issues of last season were coupled with the increasingly strained relationship between the club and the fans. From the supporters’ perspective, it was the lack of support for the ‘Justice for Jeff’ campaign, the lack of investment in the squad following Shane Long’s departure, the introduction of pinstripes on the club’s jersey and even the employment of current boss Irvine.

Much has been done to build bridges since. The return of Terry Burton and the arrival of Martin Swain and Darren Moore behind the scenes suggests a rebuild of the club beyond the playing staff. That, too, has improved hugely. Joleon Lescott and Craig Gardner on free transfers is evidence of shrewd business.

A much needed clear-out also took place over the summer. Liam Ridgewell, Diego Lugano, Scott Allen, Zoltan Gera and Steven Reid were all released, while the five loanees Morgan Amalfitano, Matej Vydra, Thievy Bifouma, Scott Sinclair and Goran Popov all returned to their parent clubs. Billy Jones and George Thorne also departed.

World Cup stars Jason Davidson, Cristian Gamboa, Georgios Samaras and Silvestre Varela have all made their way to The Hawthorns.

The club even smashed their transfer record when purchasing Brown Ideye for a fee in excess of £9million, while Ben Foster, Graham Dorrans and Chris Brunt all signalled their intentions to spend the remainder of their careers at the club by signing long-term deals.

A statue of legend Tony Brown is currently being built outside the stadium, while chairman Jeremy Peace recently ‘broke the ice’ in more ways that one when participating in the current ‘ALS Ice Bucket Challenge’ phenomenon (which, of course, is for charity folks – get donating). He even nominated Jez Moxey.

We’re in the hat for the third round of the League Cup after a nervy penalty shoot-out with Oxford, so there’ll be another opportunity for those on the fringes to push their claim against Hull.

The start of the season has already offered flashbacks to last season: a lot of draws, missed chances and late goals conceded at home.

Time will be needed to allow all 10 new recruits (plus the impending arrival of Sebastian Blanco from Metalist Kharkiv) to gel with the current crop. Then again, when has there ever been time to allow anything to happen in the Premier League? Just ask David Moyes.

For now, though, it’s Swansea away. Last year’s victory there was the catalyst for our survival, and saw Mel win his first match. A repeat will be harder earned however, as the Swans have started the season with three wins.

Boing Boing!

You can follow Joe on Twitter @jcwba16 – and don’t forget to follow @FanZone too for links to all the latest blogs.