West Brom may be burning wages on Tom Rogic after Reading snub
After a tumultuous deadline day, Steve Bruce and West Brom panicked before going out and buying free agents like there’s no tomorrow.
Australian international Tom Rogic was one of the trio who arrived after the summer transfer window closed alongside Erik Pieters and Martin Kelly.
The latter duo were both starters in Richard Beale’s first game in charge since Bruce was sacked from his post after a horrid start to the season but the attacking midfielder was nowhere to be seen.
Being a multiple league winner in Scotland with Celtic, the 29-year-old won’t have been used to being left out of the squad entirely and Beale’s comments might not be the comfort West Brom fans need or want.
“Tom Rogic is a top player. As I say they’re not easy decisions. He’ll come right into the thinking for Tuesday’s squad,” Beale said, as quoted by the Glasgow Evening Times.
“He hasn’t looked off the pace, he hasn’t done anything to not be in the squad at Reading.
“I just had to make a decision at the top end of the pitch and we’re very lucky at this football club that we’ve got lots of players to pick from. People have to miss out and, at the minute, it’s my job to make those decisions.”
It was far from a bench full of nobodies at the Select Car Leasing Stadium and the Baggies did win 2-0 thanks to goals from Matt Phillips and Taylor Gardner-Hickman but it was an odd choice to leave Rogic out of the reckoning entirely.
The Australian has hardly been given a chance to show what he is all about at The Hawthorns so far and now he is being left at home altogether which will be making him question why he bothered to join the club at all.
Beale might backtrack on his decision and include him in the next squad but if he doesn’t West Brom will very quickly be burning through money as he sits on his sofa getting paid plenty by the club.
In other West Brom news, Beale will take charge of the next game but Albion have a new manager on their radar and he’s having a stellar season so far.