View: What happens to Matt Phillips if West Brom win promotion?
West Brom winger Matt Phillips lost his spot in Slaven Bilic’s starting line-up before the coronavirus pandemic halted the Championship season last month,
A lot of unthinkable things have happened since Bilic took charge with Hal Robson-Kanu being the club’s top scorer, Kyle Bartley turning into a colossus of a defender and Jake Livermore becoming one of the best midfielders in the Championship.
Another unthinkable thing has been Phillips, 29, being dropped by Bilic in the weeks leading up to the season’s suspension.
The former QPR attacker has been a mainstay for West Brom ever since he joined the club in July 2016. He’s made 131 appearances in all competitions for the Baggies, scoring 21 goals and supplying 23 assists in the process.
It would have been more if he didn’t suffer a number of injury issues that hampered his debut season at The Hawthorns, as well as last term as he missed vital matches in the club’s promotion push and was barely fit to feature in the play-off defeat to Aston Villa.
Despite his injury issues, Phillips has been a key figure in the Albion attack and is, without doubt, one of the best wingers in the Championship.
But that changed in February and March as the Scotland international was dropped from Bilic’s side as the Albion manager changed formation and stuck Matheus Pereira out on the right-wing.
Phillips had started all but three of West Brom’s Championship fixtures this season until he was dropped to the bench for the 2-0 win away at Millwall in February.
However, since he’s been dropped, the Baggies have won four, drawn two and lost one of their seven league games.
If Albion can win second-tier games without Phillips, what does that say about his future if they win promotion to the Premier League?
Phillips has another two years left on his contract at The Hawthorns so there is no urgency to cash in on the Scottish ace this summer.
But if he is concerned about his lack of game-time in the Championship, will he see a future for himself at The Hawthorns if Bilic’s men are playing top-flight football next term?
In other West Brom news, Jonathan Greening has hailed this Albion senior player.