West Brom should still look to get rid of Kyle Bartley despite player of the month nomination
Kyle Bartley has been nominated for November’s Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month award, but that shouldn’t stop West Brom from wanting gone.
Bartley’s form for West Brom this season has been a huge talking point, with the 31-year-old suffering a nightmarish start to the season.
Under Steve Bruce, Bartley came under huge fire for some terrible defensive displays which led to the then-West Brom boss actually benching him.
Even after Bruce was sacked and Richard Beale took charge, Bartley’s performances were woeful with the centre-back sent off against Millwall before they then scored a last-gasp winner.
By the time Carlos Corberan was appointed at The Hawthorns, Bartley looked extremely low on confidence, out of favour and nailed on to leave the club.
Remarkably, Bartley has managed to turn his form around under Corberan during the Spaniard’s first few weeks at the club. He scored in the 2-0 win v Stoke just before the winter break, and West Brom’s official website has now confirmed that he’s received a nomination for the Championship Player of the Month award.
It marks quite the turnaround for Bartley – who just a few months ago was the last player fans wanted to see in the starting lineup.
But Albion can’t afford to fall into the naive trap of buying into Bartley’s purple patch. He’s still reaching the twilight years of his career and was utterly awful for the first few months of the season.
As Corberan’s honeymoon period comes to an end there’s a good chance Bartley reverts back to being unreliable.
It’s time for some fresh faces to grace the West Brom defence. Letting go of Bartley in the summer will free up spaces in the club for Corberan to start crafting his own squad.
In other West Brom news, Okay Yokuslu shares his three-word verdict as the Baggies get ready to jet back into the UK from Spain