Charlie Austin explains why he was keen to leave West Brom on loan in Jan
Charlie Austin has revealed the motivation behind his decision to join QPR on loan from West Brom in January.
The striker found himself surplus to requirements this season under both Slaven Bilic and Sam Allardyce.
Austin was unhappy with his lack of game time, and jumped at the chance to rejoin a club where he had been a success before in his career.
Appearing on the Super 6 Podcast, Austin said (15:40), “When the opportunity came I grabbed it with both hands.
“As a footballer I wanted a purpose again.
“The weeks were passing me by I was in the squad as a sub or I wasn’t making the squad and I didn’t want that to happen for my career.
“So as soon as that came up with QPR I thought right I’m going to get a purpose back in my life again and enjoy my football.”
An unhappy camp?
There have been a few murmurings of discontent at The Hawthorns this season and Austin’s comments show he was unhappy.
Every player wants to be playing so his feelings are understandable.
However, it is a concern when key players like Matheus Pereira are also showing signs of unrest.
The attacking midfielder voiced his grievances publicly last month, and that shows things are not well in the camp at present.
Perhaps that has contributed to Sam Allardyce’s struggles to galvanise the squad since his arrival.
Hopefully the addition of a character like Robert Snodgrass has had a positive influence on the dressing room, but there are a number of players not playing at the moment.
The likes of Kamil Grosicki, Lee Peltier and Branislav Ivanovic are a concern.
They will be keen to play like Austin was and that means they could have a negative influence on the squad, whether they mean to or not.
We hope Austin’s views are not representative of other fringe players.
As for the striker himself, his £70,000 a week contract does not expire until 2022, but since he seems to be enjoying life in London his future at Albion is in doubt.
In other West Brom news, ‘Rare bright spark’, ‘Proven himself’ – These Albion fans name the one player they want to keep.