Season Preview - West Brom

Another season of change is on the horizon for the Baggies as they prepare to enter the new campaign with their third manager in 9 months. Last season West Brom did not do well and were lucky to survive but this season with a new manager they will be hoping for bigger and better things.

Transfers

Last season West Brom needed to find a new striker in the transfer market as the loan of Belgian Starlet Romelu Lukaku had returned to his then parent club Chelsea. So they immediately acted and signed free agent Nicolas Anelka who probably wasn’t who they were looking for but nevertheless signed. They also signed fellow free agent Diego Lugano, Matej Vydra on loan, Scott Sinclair on loan, Morgan Amilfitano on loan and rounded off their transfers with the signings of Sessegnon and Victor Anichebe. So all in all, West Brom had a poor transfer window.

This season has been different as they have unfortunately lost the quality of players like Billy Jones and George Thorne and players like Liam Ridgewell and Steven Reid have also moved on to pastures new. However, they have managed to bring in veteran defender Joleon Lescott, Andre Wisdom on a season long loan, Craig Gardner, Chris Baird and Sebastien Pocognoli, most of whom are experienced and all round good players. They have also broken their transfer record to sign stiker Brown Ideye, who failed to make the Nigerian World Cup team, as well as recently adding the signings of Cristian Gamboa and Jason Davidson, making this a significantly better window for West Brom than the last.

Predicted Lineup

West Brom have a fairly good side, with a decent and experienced defence, two quality central midfielders, 2 average wingers, a decent attacking midfielder and although unproven in the Prem, a decent striker.

Squad Depth

The squad depth is West Brom’s biggest downfall. Although they have experienced goalkeeper Boaz Myhill and two decent attackers in Victor Anichebe and Saido Berahino, the rest of the team isn’t really that good and players like Graham Dorrans and Chris Baird will probably only be called upon if absolutely necessary.

Final Predicted Finish: 18th:

Personally I think this is the year West Brom goes down; simply because of the lack of a real quality manager and squad depth and the somewhat average areas of the squad. However, if West Brom do go down, they should come straight back up as plenty of experienced managers will be more than willing to accept the challenge should it come their way.

Predicted Key Player: Brown Ideye

There can only be one reason I picked Ideye as the key player and that is simply down to goals. West Brom are a side that are in need of some goals and if Ideye turns out to be worth the £10million spent on him then his goals could bag safety for West Brom but if he proves to be inconsistent and not good enough then it could be bye bye Baggies.

By @nathan_said