West Brom supporters have been significantly more upbeat in recent times after seeing their side return to winning ways in the Championship at the weekend.
Darren Moore’s men went into their clash with table-toppers Leeds United having failed to win any of their previous four league matches, thus stunting their momentum after an encouraging start to the campaign. Yet the Baggies hit back emphatically at the Hawthorns on Saturday as goals from Hal Robson-Kanu, Matt Phillips, Harvey Barnes, and Dwight Gayle inspired the hosts to a 4-1 win over Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds, a result which moved them back into the Championship’s top-six.
Thus, there have been many thrilled West Brom fans up and down the country in recent times, several of whom welcomed striker Tyler Roberts back to the Midlands outfit on Saturday, what with former boss Alan Pardew selling the youngster to Leeds in January 2018 for £2.57 million (as per Transfermarkt).
And while the Baggies certainly did well financially out of the deal, having made a £2.57 million profit on a player who came up through the academy, the 19-year-old’s promising start to life at Leeds, alongside the amount of goals he scored for West Brom’s youth teams, underlines the shocking decision which summed up Pardew’s woeful stint in charge at the Hawthorns.
Ultimately, the former West Ham and Newcastle United manager was drafted in by the Baggies hierarchy back in November of last year following the departure of Tony Pulis, only for the 57-year-old to be relieved of his duties just a matter of months later after a calamitous time in charge.
The Englishman won only three of his 21 matches in charge of the Midlands outfit and just one of those victories came in the Premier League, so while Pardew has seriously harmed the club anyway in taking them down to the second tier, some of his transfer decisions in January were also questionable to say the least.
The signing of Daniel Sturridge, who has seen injuries wreck his career in recent times, was a huge risk and one that ultimately didn’t pay off, while the decision to let young sensation Roberts leave for Leeds was another that raised a few eyebrows – and given his start to life at Elland Road, it’s not hard to see why.
The 19-year-old only appeared once for the West Brom senior team despite coming up through the ranks and excelling in the Baggies’ youth teams, with loan spells further down the Football League littering his time at the Hawthorns.
Yet he has since proven his worth as a Championship striker during his time at Leeds, as although injuries forced him to miss the second half of last season, he has delivered when called upon by Bielsa this time round.
Roberts has scored three goals and laid on one assist in seven league games for the Yorkshire giants in their excellent start to the campaign, and while Kemar Roofe, another player West Brom let go when he was young, appears to be the main man at Elland Road, 19-year-old Roberts has proven to be a very adept deputy.
And all this highlights just what a strange and ultimately shocking decision it was by Pardew to let the youngster leave back in January – the Englishman made many glaring errors during his damaging time in charge of West Brom, and letting Roberts go was certainly one of them.
West Brom fans… what do you think? Let us know!
