Kevin Phillips shares disagreement he had with West Brom fan in sauna over Valerien Ismael
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 had a disagreement over Valerien Ismael with a West Brom fan in a sauna this week.
Ismael’s managed to silence a lot of his critics in recent weeks by getting the Baggies back to winning ways and getting them back within touching distance of second-placed Bournemouth in the Championship table.
Despite back-to-back wins against Coventry and Reading, when the squad was decimated by COVID issues, one Albion fan still felt it was right to moan about Ismael’s style of play while he was sat with Phillips in a sauna.
However, Phillips disagreed with that fan, saying all that matters at this time of year is getting three points.
Speaking to West Brom News, Super Kev said: “You’ve got to give the manager some credit – you’ve got to give credit to everyone that’s involved.
“Every team in that Championship – and I’ve said it since day one – will have a blip or a run when things are not going well.
“West Brom probably have had their little blip when people were getting on Ismael’s back but they’ve come out of it, they’re getting results and there in amongst it.
“Going into the Christmas period, they’re in a fantastic position so I think Ismael deserves credit and the players deserve credit for grinding those results out.
“They’re in a very, very good position and let’s not forget, they’ve picked up knocks along the way, they’ve had suspensions and now they’ve had players missing through COVID.
“They’re only three points off second so why would you criticise?
“Yes, there are still murmurs.
“I was sat in a sauna with a West Brom supporter and he was at the [Reading] game at the weekend and was still having a moan about the football not being great.
“But I was saying, ‘at the end of the day, it’s three points and that’s all that matters at the moment with the busy fixture list over Christmas’.
“I think everyone deserves credit.”
West Brom can technically move up to second on Friday night if they beat Barnsley at Oakwell by six goals.
However, Albion haven’t won against the Tykes at Oakwell since 1947, meaning one of the club’s longest-running records will have to come to an end for them to get back into the play-off spots before Bournemouth play Middlesbrough away on Saturday.
In other West Brom news, Albion could move to sign this £4million-rated player in the January transfer window.
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