“Haven’t been massively impressed” – West Brom fan pundit delivers verdict on January signing

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Bromwich Albion are not playing to Andy Carroll’s strengths, according to FLW’s fan pundit, Matt Smith. 

Carroll was brought in at the Hawthorns late in the January transfer window in a reaction to Daryl Dike picking up an injury.

Six games into the 33-year-old’s spell with West Brom, the club is transitioning from Valerien Ismael to Steve Bruce, with results continuing to take a massive hit.

Despite that, FLW’s fan pundit, Matt, believes Carroll has shown his fellow forwards up with his desire to help West Brom’s fortunes change.

“Carroll’s performances reflect poorly on other senior players,” Matt explained.

“He’s come in as an emergency signing after Daryl Dike’s injury and showed up other senior players, just because he’s got some fight and demands more. He’s one of the only ones that does so in this squad.”

However, Carroll is yet to score for West Brom, who now sit 13th in the Championship table after six defeats in seven. Since Bruce took charge, the team has only scored once.

Matt explained how Carroll’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed, but his contributions in the final third haven’t quite matched that.

“On the pitch and with his technical contribution, he’s been OK,” Matt continued. “He did well in the build-up to the goal at Middlesbrough, he could’ve probably had a couple at Luton and he came close at Millwall.

“He hasn’t been great on the pitch, but who has been for Albion this season?

“If Albion could exploit Carroll’s biggest strengths, getting balls into the box and him on the end of