View: Allardyce must avoid temptation of handing experienced West Brom player starring role
Sam Allardyce has been named as the new West Brom manager and will face a number of important selection decisions in the coming weeks.
The Baggies sit 19th in the Premier League table having taken just seven points from their opening 13 fixtures and face a tough run of fixtures against Aston Villa, Liverpool and Leeds United before the New Year.
As is often the case when a new manager arrives, players that have been out of favour will see the change as an opportunity to force their way back into the team and Charlie Austin is an obvious candidate in this current West Brom squad.
The former Queens Park Rangers and Southampton striker is one of the few players in the side that has experience of scoring goals in the Premier League, with a best tally of 18 for the Rs during the 2014-15 season (via WhoScored). The 31-year-old has made just two league appearances this season though, with Slaven Bilic preferring to choose Karlan Grant and Callum Robinson instead.
Allardyce should resist the temptation to put Austin centre stage and should instead lean into Grant, who is younger and has plenty of potential, despite his tough start to life at The Hawthorns.
Playing for Huddersfield Town last season he scored 19 Championship goals and while he has just one Premier League goal from nine starts this term, he scored four in nine starts for the Terriers during the 2018-19 campaign (via WhoScored).
A big reason for his struggles this year has been the lack of chance creation, with the 23-year-old mustering just 1.8 expected goals all season (via FBRef). This suggests that while he has slightly underperformed, he has not had many good quality chances this season,
With Allardyce coming in, the focus should be on getting the best out of Grant, rather than falling back on the older and more proven Austin. The former Southampton man can certainly be an option and should get more opportunities than he did under Bilic, but the club cannot give up on Grant just yet.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies must scrap pursuit of former Hawthorns star