Tom Rogic snubbed by Australia again, Socceroos will miss West Brom ace
Tom Rogic was left disappointed as he was not named in Australia’s World Cup squad and the West Brom man has suffered from Deja Vu.
A spot in the Socceroos squad opened up on Sunday (20 November) as Hibernian winger Martin Boyle withdrew from the tournament through injury to be replaced by Melbourne City ace Marco Tilio, as reported by The Scotsman journalist Barry Anderson.
The 29-year-old’s initial omission had already sparked a heated on-air debate between cricketing icon Michael Clarke and rugby league ace Laurie Daley in his native Australia.
Rogic has been very much on the fringes of the Albion team since his post-summer transfer window arrival at The Hawthorns with neither Steve Bruce nor Carlos Corberan giving him a run of games from the start.
That could have been a factor in Graham Arnold’s decision to leave him at home rather than have him on the plane to Qatar but he has still got minutes under his belt in a highly-competitive game.
He looked to make a real difference against Stoke City with a lively cameo off the bench in the 2-0 win which took the Baggies out of the bottom three ahead of the month-long break.
And let’s not forget that last season he was a champion in Scotland with Celtic which he has been for the vast majority of his time in Glasgow.
53 caps and 10 goals for the Socceroos says that he has been a staple of that squad for a long time now and to leave him out of the biggest tournament in the world because he hasn’t started many matches is a bewildering decision.
Even if Arnold doesn’t see him in his best team, the experience he brings of big matches such as the Old Firm should be enough to have him in the group so he can guide less experienced players through tough times.
In other West Brom news, this teenager could be the heir to the throne at the Hawthorns after he signed his new three-year deal.