The drop holds no fears for Evans
JONNY EVANS can leave for £3million if West Bromwich albion are relegated this season. That explains a lot, straight away. What is the penalty for evans if West Brom go down? he gets the move he has been hoping for, no doubt with a wider choice of clubs, given the cut-price fee. Not much of an incentive to push hard for survival, is it? Remember the statement from the four players involved in the Barcelona debacle. ‘We would like to assure our supporters that this incident does not reflect the determination and resolve we possess to do all we can to recover a difficult season,’ they said. What a lot of hooey. If West Brom drop, the supporters are stuck with it. So is the owner and the manager, alan Pardew — if he survives, which is unlikely. The players get away scot free — certainly experienced ones like those at the centre of the taxi adventure. Gareth Southgate may look at Jake Livermore and wonder whether he really has the quality or commitment to be at a World Cup with england, but he is sure to find another Premier League suitor. Given the dearth of good centre halves right now, evans is also likely to be sought after. and Gareth Barry is 37 with 653 Premier League appearances. This could be his final season, either way. Perhaps the most depressing aspect of this saga is the blame now being shifted from the players to Pardew. That it was his fault for taking them to Barcelona, not their fault for behaving irresponsibly when they got there. The players are questioning his tactics; the players are questioning whether he has lost his way. Maybe they should question why he was brought in on November 29: because they had won two league games since the previous March. It is not so much that Pardew has lost his touch, but that West Brom never had a touch to lose. That many of those most responsible will sail on regardless whatever happens from here is part of the problem. at doomed clubs, it always is.