[wba_1996]

When Saido's tantrum is over I think (hope) Pulis will go with:

Lindegaard
Dawson - McAuley - Evans - Brunt
Fletcher - Yacob
McManaman - Morrison - Berahino
Rondon

GK - Foster, Myhill
DEF - Chester, Olsson, Gamboa, Pocognoli
MID - Gnabry, McClean, Gardner, Sessegnon
ATK - Lambert, Anichebe  

Still looks a stronger squad than last year.

Not a fan of Myhill mate ?? 

He's ok, I prefer my keepers to actually dive though

Seriously though, I believe TP always intended to bring in a first choice keeper.

[BaggyBomber]

From wba_1996

Not a fan of Myhill mate ??

He's ok, I prefer my keepers to actually dive though
----------------------------------------------------

LOL !

[Dingle-Dingle]

Forward Brown Ideye, 26, posted a farewell message on Twitter to West Bromwich Albion fans after joining Greek champions Olympiakos. "Thanks @WBAFC official and the fans for all the support from the first day I signed till now, all that they show me is 100% pure LOVE."

Take note Sulko Berahino. DD

---

Gary Lineker ✔ @GaryLineker
Think @SBerahino is a talented player and understand his frustrations, but he should apologise for his tweet and get on with playing.
7:13 PM - 1 Sep 2015

http://www.thesportbible.com/articles/ga...o-berahino

Another one with some dignity. DD

[brokenmanrepaired]

What the pea brained idiot doesn't seem to realise is that if he wasn't such an unprofessional, disruptive moron, there would probably be more teams in for him in the first place. That's also probably a contributing factor why Spurs didn't put the cash up front - because someone with his level of professionalism is a big gamble.

Sadly, we live in an age of unprofessional, disruptive morons who usually get exactly what they want.  Raheem Sterling, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure and his birthday cake.  Even Odemwingie got his way in the end.  "Greed is good", and all that jazz.

As a baggies fan of 53 years standing (my first game was aged 7 v the impressive West Ham  of 1964) I was disappointed but not surprised we did not do any transfer business on the last day. The spree ended with the purchase of Evans and no amount of huffing and puffing and smoke and mirrors should have convinced us otherwise.

I was also disappointed with the sale of Lescott to the “seals” which I am lead to believe was because he did not doff his cap and tug his forelock to the dictatorial and increasingly irrational Tony Pull-it (something to do with cycling up an Austrian mountain I am informed)

I admire JP for standing up to the patronising and bullying tactics of another pompous London club who were clearly “extracting the urine” with their offers of green shield stamps and luncheon vouchers (I have an anecdote about a house of ill repute with Cynthia Payne and luncheon vouchers which I will keep for a later dare).

I am also proud of JP for telling a childish and ungrateful SB the facts of life.  That being said we should not just blame Spuds alone for our situation.

The mantle now falls upon the “great messiah” Pull-it to prove his mettle and put his arm around our misguided mercurial child SB and coax the wonderful performances he is capable of. If he can not then his so “experience and management skills” are not worth a knob of goat shit. This also goes for his inability to motivate Sessegnon who could be a great player with a competent manager (imagine him under Atkinson?).

We actually now have a vey good squad of players with enough diversity of talent that a decent manager could guarantee a mid table position. I still believe either Pepe or Irvine could have done it but they were unlucky managers. Pull –it is a poor manager but actually very lucky.

I must admit my dream is when England inevitably fails in the Euros next summer Roy Hodgson gets the sack from the FA and rejoins my beloved baggies.

My care workers have entered the room and administered my medication..... so must sign off for now my comrades.     

[silverbaggie]

We do not know, of course, what promises JP made to Berahino during the latter part of last season. He may have indicated a willingness to sell him but, ONLY if the right offer was made.

Spurs derogatory approaches have clearly angered JP to the point where he may well have decided that Levy could offer the moon and would still get turned down. Spurs have only themselves to blame for the ensuing debacle.

Hopefully, they did not approach Berahino directly as this would be totally inappropriate but, I suspect that his new agent was to the fore and obviously the promises made have completely unsettled the player.
Berahino was clearly dazzled both by the prospect of London's bright lights and also a massive improvement in his lifestyle.

BUT, the player is under contract to West Brom and his threat to never play for Peace again is a very dangerous one.
If he carries it out, he will be in breach of contract and his already substantial earnings will be suspended.
If he decides to play but, declines to give his all and just goes through the motions, then Spurs or any other Premiership side are quickly going to lose interest in the player.
The choice is his but, as a Baggies supporter for over 55 years, I say that this young man needs to re-think his position very carefully.

If he has learned nothing else in his time as an Albion player then surely he knows that if you try to play JP at his own game, you will lose.

Contrast this young man's childish behaviour with that of Everton's Stones who was placed in a similar position by the machinations of yet another London club.

Personally Saido, I hope that you never wear the shirt again; you are a disgrace to the Club that has nurtured you but most of all you are a disgrace to yourself.

[SpenB]

Well written.
Especially his choices that he has to make.

[drewks]

We do not know, of course, what promises JP made to Berahino during the latter part of last season.  He may have indicated a willingness to sell him but, ONLY if the right offer was made.

Spurs derogatory approaches have clearly angered JP to the point where he may well have decided that Levy could offer the moon and would still get turned down. Spurs have only themselves to blame for the ensuing debacle.

Hopefully, they did not approach Berahino directly as this would be totally inappropriate but, I suspect that his new agent was to the fore and obviously the promises made have completely unsettled the player.
Berahino was clearly dazzled both by the prospect of London's bright lights and also a massive improvement in his lifestyle.

BUT, the player is under contract to West Brom and his threat to never play for Peace again is a very dangerous one.
If he carries it out, he will be in breach of contract and his already substantial earnings will be suspended.
If he decides to play but, declines to give his all and just goes through the motions, then Spurs or any other Premiership side are quickly going to lose interest in the player.
The choice is his but, as a Baggies supporter for over 55 years, I say that this young man needs to re-think his position very carefully.

If he has learned nothing else in his time as an Albion player then surely he knows that if you try to play JP at his own game, you will lose.

Contrast this young man's childish behaviour with that of Everton's Stones who was placed in a similar position by the machinations of yet another London club.

Personally Saido, I hope that you never wear the shirt again; you are a disgrace to the Club that has nurtured you but most of all you are a disgrace to yourself.

Nicely put, oh Silver One 

IMO this illustrates 3 of the major faults with football:
1. 'Big' clubs who are run by people who think they can steamroller over anybody and any other club
2. The petulance and childishness of (certain/most) players
3. Agents and money

I very much admire JP for his stance over this, and hope that Saido is actually CHAINED to the Naughty Step for a good while this time. The whole episode, if handled correctly, could actually be a positive for the club as it should unify the rest of the squad and really enforce the team spirit - "no one player is bigger than the club".

What a contrast to the lovely attitude and words of the departing Brown Ideye, who certainly isn't included in (2) above!
Very average player but a big big heart. 

[talkSAFT]

Spot on, lads. These are the positives to take from this episode......and good luck, Bobby.

[Salopbaggie]

I think us older posters are making the mistake that we still have this strange belief that it is supposed to be about the football, when in reality the game of football has no relevance anymore and it is purely coincidental that football is the product they are selling to make money. These days it is all about business and money whether that be from the clubs, the leagues, the media or the players.

Gone of the days when players usually came from close to the club they played for, as did the fans. Gone have the days when a players main consideration was winning the league or a cup, now its what their next car will be or showing off their new £50,000 watch and maybe a little bit of it would be fun to play in the Champions League.

The clubs look to increase profit anyway they can regardless of the effect on the club or the fans. If JP or any other chairman for that matter thought the club would earn more by playing in the bottom tier of football that's what they would aim for. Why do we need a newly designed strip every year, if not to sell more shirts?

Its about doing anything to please the media and "sod the fans, it will make us more money". Just look at the way the clubs will move games with no regards to the fans all so they can show a game on a Sunday morning or Monday night (and earn more money).

Now for the controversial bit, as I know JP has kept us in the black and in the premiership, but I am not convinced as he has done anything different to what any accountant running "the business" would have done. This is not in any way a dig at JP. Simple accountants rule "never take any risks, not even calculated ones" and I am sure that any of you that have ever worked in an organisation run by an accountant would agree. I am not saying that that policy is wrong, just do not expect anything different.

More controversy coming

I think we are treating Berahino a little harshly, yes he was wrong and has given our rivals a great excuse for a good laugh at us, but, we go on about his loyalty and that he is a spoilt brat, but lets look at how we would feel.

We go ask about moving on from our company "to bigger and better things", the boss says "We are really stuck at the moment, if you will stay for one more year, you can go with our blessing, so we agree and put in the shift asked for and play a big part in saving the company from going under. Come the following year, the boss says "Well now you can go, IF......".

Not the agreement we signed up to a year before. How would we feel?

No way we should sell him off on the cheap, but I am sure statements like "Berahino is not for sale at any price" helped his attitude very much. Neither do statements saying "there are 15 clubs in after him" I think the lad had good reason to believe that he would move on. Before people say "should we sell him for less than he is worth", absolutely not, but anything or anybody in this case is only worth what someone is prepared to pay. You may think your house is worth 100k, but if your best offer is 80k, your house in reality is worth 80k, (whether paid in instalments or any other way).

Of course SB went about it in the wrong way and was stupid to post that message to twitter, which I put down to his age and naivety . But I do pose the question where was the loyalty the club showed in honouring their promise to him?

Unfortunately I think SB got stuck between to of the largest footballing ego's in the country and will ultimately be the one to pay the price, as no top club will look at him now for at least a year and probably more and IMO all he can do now is apologise to all concerned and hope for the best.

All in all a sad state of affairs, for everyone. Bring on the flack ;-)

[drewks]

No flack from me, Salop - a lot of very valid points there.

If I'm not mistaken, your 'defence' of SB hinges on the alleged promise that JP/TP/the club made to him. The trouble is that we will never know what was said - if, indeed, ANYTHING was said. I find it hard to believe that JP would've given a really firm assurance to SB that he'd let him move on unconditionally - ie it would've always depended on the right bid being made.

Alas - we will never know.

Or will we? Will there be further drama to come?