Exclusive: Kevin Phillips claims West Brom senior man might have played final game for club
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips has claimed that Gareth Barry might have played his final game for West Brom after they were knocked out of the FA Cup on Tuesday night.
Barry, 39, has made just six appearances in all competitions this season and half of those have come in Albion’s FA Cup campaign, which came to a halt with a 3-2 defeat against Newcastle this week.
The former Aston Villa and Manchester City midfielder looked really off the pace until he was substituted off in the 57th minute and the Baggies’ performance improved drastically from then on.
Barry’s contract at The Hawthorns expires in the summer and Phillips has admitted he’d be surprised if he played again this season.
“There’s always a possibility,” Phillips told West Brom News when asked if Barry had played his final game for the club.
“Gareth’s been an amazing player for the Premier League and for West Brom since he’s been there with his leadership and his qualities. You can tell he’s a 39-year-old, he’s only played six games this season and it looked like it on Tuesday night.
“In that area, they’ve got competition for places so I’d be very surprised if GB made another outing for West Brom between now and the end of the season now they’re out of the cup.
“As the stats show and as the team selection shows, Bilic has been pretty steady in the teams he’s picked for most of the season in that area.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if Gareth didn’t make another appearance but he might be needed if they do get injuries so he’ll need to be ready.”
Barry has been a great servant for West Brom but it was clear on Tuesday night that he was not the player he once was, or even was for the Baggies last season.
Whether that’s because he’s hardly played this season, the fact he’s recently had an injury or that it’s just because he’s 39-years-old, we can’t know for sure but it’s likely a mixture of all three things.
Not many outfield players are still playing at a high level once they hit 39-years-of-age, let alone 40, which is how old Barry will turn next season.
If he feels he has another season in him then fair play, we’d love to see him go elsewhere and play regular football.
However it just seems very unlikely that football will come at The Hawthorns next term once his contract has expired.
In other West Brom news, Darren Fletcher has criticised Albion fans for the poor atmosphere at The Hawthorns on Tuesday.