Kevin Phillips reacts as West Brom loan Romaine Sawyers to Stoke
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 is surprised by Romaine Sawyers’ loan move away from West Brom to join Stoke City for the season.
Sawyers, 29, played just 19 times in the Premier League for the Baggies last term and failed to feature in any of the last 14 league fixtures of the campaign.
The ex-Brentford and Walsall playmaker also failed to make any of Valerien Ismael’s matchday squads in the Championship so far this term, suggesting he was nowhere near the Frenchman’s plans at The Hawthorns.
While Sawyers’ exit is by no means a blow, Phillips does feel as though his move to Stoke leaves Albion short of options in the midfield.
“Sawyers leaving does leave them a little bit light,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“Also, at this stage of the season, both West Brom and Stoke have started well so to let him go to a rival surprises me a little bit and it does leave them short in that area.
“I was just looking at the squad to see who can come off the bench and sit in the middle of the park. Dara O’Shea played there the other night when Jake Livermore came off.
“Maybe they’ve got someone lined up because I’m pretty surprised they’d let him go without having someone coming in.
“Maybe it’s a case of freeing up a wage so they can act on something before the window shuts.”
Sawyers played a major role in West Brom’s promotion-winning season under Slaven Bilic in 2019/20.
He impressed for the bulk of that campaign but started to lose popularity with fans after the enforced COVID-19 break.
The former Walsall man then struggled to cope in the Premier League and was completely frozen out by Sam Allardyce.
Sawyers now joins a Stoke side that, like the Baggies, have won seven points in their opening three Championship matches.
In other West Brom news, Albion could still swoop in to sign this Premier League goalscorer on loan this month.
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