Sky Sports pundit baffled by Jake Livermore after another red card in West Brom loss v Sheffield United
Dean Ashton cannot understand why Jake Livermore made the challenge to get himself sent off as West Brom lost 2-0 away to Sheffield United on Wednesday night.
Steve Bruce’s reign couldn’t have got off to a worse start with Albion dropping all the way down to ninth in the Championship table thanks to Billy Sharp’s brace at Bramall Lane.
Sandwiched in between those two goals was a reckless sending off for Baggies captain Livermore and Sky Sports pundit Ashton admits he’s baffled by the 32-year-old midfielder’s challenge that led to the red card.
“I think that’s the sixth red card now this season for them in the Championship and the second for Livermore,” said Ashton, as shown in a clip on Quest’s official Twitter account on Wednesday night [9 February].
“Look, he’s a player that’s had a good career but I’m not quite sure what he’s thinking in terms of going in in that manner.
“That’s always going to get you a red card now in modern football.”
Get rid
Livermore has somehow swindled another year to stay at West Brom but surely the time has now come for the Baggies to get rid of the former Hull midfielder once and for all.
Albion have churned through the managers in recent years and part of the problem at The Hawthorns is that the same old underperforming players are ingrained in each and every squad new managers possess.
Livermore has wore the captain’s armband for over three years now but time and time again, the experienced midfielder is letting his teammates down, he’s letting his managers down and he’s letting the fans down.
His red card against Sheffield United was an embarrassment.
It’s Bruce’s first match in charge and his most senior player, his on-field leader, is making a brainless, out-of-control challenge to get himself sent off.
Livermore was also sent off in Sam Allardyce’s first match in charge and once January recruits were brought in, Big Sam didn’t hesitate but to drop the seven-times England international.
Livermore’s good performances are few and far between and he’s not going to hit an incredible achievement of being banned for eight matches this season due to a red card earlier in the season, plus a ban for five yellow cards.
We could sit here all day and write about how much we want Livermore to be stripped of the captaincy and maybe even dropped from the starting line-up altogether.
That’s down to Bruce but Big Sam rooted out a major issue straight away and performances, as a result, improved.
In other West Brom news, a new document has confirmed a major behind-the-scenes exit at The Hawthorns in the last 48 hours.