West Bromwich Albion will still have Premier League football on their minds despite their recent spotty form, with promotion the ultimate goal to round off an overall enjoyable season.
Carlos Corberan’s men need Brandon Thomas-Asante in top form for the upcoming playoffs if they are to succeed in their mission to get back into the top flight, with the former Salford City striker suffering a significant drop in form during the grueling season to date .
During his performance against Sunderland in the middle of the month, BBC Radio West Midlands commentator Tony Brown even branded the 25-year-old striker “terrible” and received an unnecessary red card to give the Black Cats a rare Championship win.
Thomas-Asante’s strong goalscoring prowess this season – in which he scored 12 goals – means he is not a complete lost cause, unlike a former Baggies bloke who suffered a major bust during his disastrous year-long stay at the Hawthorns.
Rickie Lambert’s time at West Brom
When West Brom signed Rickie Lambert in 2015 after Albion spent £3 million on the ex-Southampton hero, West Brom probably thought they had managed to get a good deal for a prolific goalscorer.
Lambert had scored an astonishing 117 goals in 235 games on the south coast before a move to Liverpool became too much for the experienced centre-forward after he left the Saints behind with just three pitiful goals scored in 36 games at Anfield.
The Baggies would have hoped this was just a temporary blip before Lambert got back into the swing of things and so were banking on the success of his signature, but his goalscoring woes with the Reds would eventually follow him to the West Midlands.
However, the 1.90 meter tall striker could have had an even worse goal tally for West Brom, as he only scored once in a total of 26 games.
It wasn’t just Lambert’s high transfer fee that would have left the West Midlands club in financial distress, as his excessive wages left the club drained during his difficult season-long stay.
Lambert even earned double Thomas-Asante’s current salary of £20,000 a week at the then Premier League club, although the former Salford player was far more efficient in front of goal in the here and now than the notable idiot.
Lambert’s wages at West Brom
Taking into account his £3 million transfer fee and his hefty £43,000 weekly salary, Lambert ended up deducting an inflated £5.2 million from the Baggies, despite only playing 26 games for the club in the ill-fated move.
Amazingly, Lambert wasn’t even in the Hawthorns’ top five earners based on his wages in the 2015-16 season, while players like Salomon Rondon are swimming in cash on £60,000 a week.
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West Brom top earner – 2015/16 |
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|---|---|
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1. Salomon Rondon |
£60,000 per week |
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2. Darren Fletcher |
£52,000 per week |
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3. Ben Foster |
£50,000 per week |
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4. Johnny Evans |
£47,000 per week |
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5. Jonas Olsson |
£45,000 per week |
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Source: Capology |
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On the other hand, looking at Corberan’s current camp, he would narrowly overtake Adam Reach as the highest-earning player, earning £3,000 a week less than Lambert.
Unfortunately for the once lethal ex-Saints man, his next move to West Brom, Cardiff City, also saw him endure lengthy periods of fruitless spells in front of goal – scoring just two goals in his first nine Bluebirds games, with both goals coming a competition.
Shortly afterwards, in 2017, he announced his retirement, as his brief spell with the Baggies is certainly not one that he looks back fondly on when recalling his playing days.
Contract distiller
Football FanCast’s Wage Burners series examines the wages of modern football.