'Former Man City man will lead and organise at the back'
Sunday 28 September 2014 19:17, UK
Kevin Phillips reckons Joloen Lescott will prove to be a great acquisition for West Brom.
When you’ve got that bit of experience in the back four and someone who can talk the youngsters through games and organise, it is a major boost.
The Baggies shone up front on Super Sunday as they beat bottom side Burnley 4-0 at The Hawthorns, but Alan Irvine’s men also recorded a second straight Premier League clean sheet since Lescott came into the side.
The former Everton and Wolves centre-back – who arrived on a free transfer from Man City over the summer – had been sidelined by a knee injury, but ex-West Brom striker Phillips believes the fit-again stopper will now help his club push on.
“It was a bit of a surprise when [Lescott] signed for West Brom as there were a host of clubs queuing up,” said Phillips. “But he wanted to come back to the Midlands and West Brom have got a real leader.
“We saw that a few a years ago when he struck up a partnership with Vincent Kompany and Man City won the league, and when he put his body on the line against Tottenham [in the 1-0 win at White Hart Lane] last week.
“When you’ve got that bit of experience in the back four and someone who can talk the youngsters through games and organise, it is a major boost.”
West Brom have risen to 10th spot after their successes over Tottenham and Burnley and Sky Sports expert Jamie Carragher reckons those maiden Premier League wins of the season, as well as the Capital One Cup triumph against Hull, will ease the pressure on manager Irvine.
The 56-year-old was a surprising choice to take over from Pepe Mel in the Baggies’ hotseat having been sacked from previous managerial jobs at Preston and Sheffield Wednesday, but Carragher says the Scot may now have won over sections of the Hawthorns faithful.
However, the former Liverpool defender believes Burnley – who have only scored one goal, against Chelsea, since their return to the Premier League – could find it hard to lift themselves out of danger.
“It’s been a huge week for West Brom but Irvine as well,” added Carragher.
“He is someone I know locally and he is known as a great coach and a nice fella who did a great job at Everton’s academy, but he was an underwhelming appointment for the West Brom supporters and didn’t start well.
“The longer you go without a win when perhaps the fans are not on your side and you have to prove something to them is tough, so these few games will do him a lot of good.
“West Brom struggled to break Burnley down early on but when they got the first goal Burnley looked drained and lacked the belief that they could go on and score.
“Burnley don’t have the quality to hurt teams and that’s going to be a massive problem for them – but it was a deserved win for West Brom.”
