Quote Originally Posted by baggieal View Post
Really feel for him too but also as a business and a travelling fan, I feel for the depleted options up front from a clinical striker which could cost us. As sad as a situation is with injury prone players a business does need to make a call at contract renewal unless of course they have the luxury of being cash rich. You are right some players are more susceptible to injuries. Furlong for example who was having a kip for their goal does give 100% - goes into tackles and rarely gets injured
I do understand your point and know from personal experience that in business (and particularly so in tough times with severe financial constraints) you have to make decisions based on your head not heart. As others have said, purchasing any player entails an element of a gamble but you have to then live by this and honour contracts offered (unless you are in the fortunate position to afford to buy them out ).

As for Dike, I believe that he does have potential and I am sure he wants to play and do well for us and is obviously absolutely devastated by this latest injury but his record has to be taken into account when it comes around to deciding whether to offer him a further contract or not when his current one expires. Depending on the results of his rehabilitation and performance afterwards this doesn't necessarily mean that he won't be an Albion player going forward but it's only due diligence to take everything into account when the time comes. This is all a bit academic though because as far as I am aware his contract is not up until June 2026.


You also mentioned Phillips whom many wanted to get shot of prior to this season, not least because he was too far past his prime. Under Corberan he was rejuvenated first half of the season and has done well for us but the fact remains that he is on a decent wage that we can ill afford to pay for someone whose age is surely now a contributing factor in the injuries that keep him out for so long. I don't doubt his commitment and it's not his fault but it makes little business sense to continue paying out such a wage for the return we get from him across a season.

The problem, of course, is that in our current financial situation we have to make the best of those players we have. We cannot afford to buy out existing players we might want to get off the books and we cannot afford to bring in replacements.

Regardless of all the above, I'm sure we all of us wish Daryl all the best and truly hope that this injury turns out to be not as nasty as it seems.