Albion duo’s mutual appreciation society
ROMAINE Sawyers has paid tribute to fellow midfielder Jake Livermore after the pair’s sterling start to the campaign.
The newly-formed partnership, following Sawyers’ return to West Brom this summer, has flourished in the early stages of the season and both have played significant roles in Slaven Bilic’s table-topping side, who return to action after the international break away to Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Sawyers got himself off the mark with a composed finish to seal the points against Cardiff last time out, and Livermore too played a considerable part in Grady Diangana’s strike before half-time.
The duo have hit it off away from the pitch, and on it they’re proving to be an effective combination.
“When Jake talks I listen,” Sawyers said. “He has been different class on and off the pitch. He’s been there and done it with Tottenham and England. His career speaks for itself.
“I’ve got so much respect for him as a person, I’ll dig deep for him and he’ll dig deep for me. We complement each other without strangling each other and he gives me so much confidence.
“I know I’ve got the trust of him and Barts (Kyle Bartley) and Semi (Ajayi). If I make a mistake, like against Cardiff when I stepped over the ball, Jake could have easily ripped my head off, but he said, ‘Rom it’s OK, but do better next time’. That goes throughout the dressing room. We haven’t got anyone who is going to rip your head off and is coming from a bad place. I think that’s going to stand us in good stead.” Charlie Austin joined Sawyers in breaking his league duck against the Bluebirds. With both of them finding the net in the second half, it meant that every outfield player on the pitch at the time had scored for Albion this season.
Though Austin, prolific throughout his career, has been made to wait for his first Championship goal, Sawyers has reasoned that he’s brought so much to the table in the meantime. The character as a collective is there for all to see.
“Charlie is amazing,” Sawyers said of the striker. “He’s the biggest joker in the dressing room, but at the same time, he’s the most serious guy.
“The things he says before the games, both on the pitch and in the dressing room, you know his experience is second to none. Barts is the same, Livermore the same. There’s a lot of senior players in the dressing room and people like Grady Diangana, Matheus Pereira, Kyle Edwards and Nathan Ferguson can all learn off them.
“We’ve got a nice balance and it’s an amazing dressing room to be in. We’ve got a real togetherness from the gaffer all the way down.”