It feels kind of strange to be writing something like this after the fantastic season we are having (I hope to God I haven't jinxed that before Saturday)!
However, we are now five days into 2017, which means we are also five days into the January transfer window. A time when we can reflect on how well summer signings have fared and whether the squad needs bolstering. For our European push, I think it would help massively! That said, bringing in new faces may also require sacrificing current ones, whether it be to pay for quality additions or so said players can get game time.
Callum McManaman was unsurprisingly sent out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday last week, as was Sebastien Pocognoli back in August to Brighton & Hove Albion; two players who were obviously out of favour and seemingly on their way out of the Hawthorns regardless. Promising youth duo Jonathan Leko and Sam Field have only this morning been linked with Championship loan moves.
What is more shocking, if not unfairly welcomed (which I shall get to shortly), is Birmingham City have enquired about the availability of Tony Pulis' favourite versatile super-sub Craig Gardner. "Gards" may favour this move as a boyhood Blues fan and due to his lack of game time, so if Albion can recruit sufficiently, it would seem like a great move.
Before I continue, I would like to point out that I am far from being Gardner's biggest fan on the pitch!
Now onto the main point of this post. As mentioned above, the news of Gardner's possible departure is being somewhat celebrated amongst Albion faithful, and whilst we can probably all agree he is far from a world class player many seem to think we can attract, he has been at this club for two and a half seasons without making a fuss or acting out, as well as scoring some crackers occasionally.
We currently sit 8th in the Premier League, and while the Craig Gardners, Craig Dawsons and James McCleans of the world may not be names associated with these heady heights, it seems upsetting that players who have gotten us to this level are spoken about in the way they are. Not long ago, the same was said about James Morrison and, to much more extent, Chris Brunt. Before we played Leicester in November. how were we doing when they were injured, and now we can't be without them. Not to mention Matt Phillips, who started the season off poorly and has blossomed into a player of the season contender!
Whilst criticism of players, managers, tactics, etc is always part and parcel of football, the abuse of players from their own fans I find is completely unacceptable. I know for a fact it annoys my Twitter followers if I post photos with players (especially as often as I did) but if anything it shows how approachable and accessible every single one of our players are. For that reason, it makes me quite sad to know why Chris Brunt and Craig Gardner deleted their social media pages.
With our push for Europe (I still smile when I say it!) on the cards and the potential for an FA Cup run, it would of course be amazing if we could bolster our squad with fresh faces to excite us all. But I don't think that should mean our current crop are subjected to the abuse some of them get.
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