BYE-BYE BERA
Want-away Saido all set for move to Stoke
SAIDO BERAHINO could finally end two miserable years at West Brom by signing for Stoke before this week’s transfer deadline.
The Albion striker, dropped to the bench by boss Tony Pulis to “clear his mind”, was booed by his own supporters when he did finally emerge for the final 20 minutes.
And he then turned his back on both the Baggies fans and his team-mates at the final whistle, heading straight down the tunnel without stopping to shake anybody’s hand.
Stoke, who have lodged a £20m bid, are likely to resume talks today for Berahino, 23, ahead of the window closing on Wednesday night.
And Pulis is ready to use the funds to bring in new blood. A £15m deal for Malaga midfielder Ignacio Camacho is in the pipeline while Tottenham winger Nacer Chadli is set to join for £13m.
“I think the boardroom know about the need for new faces,” said Pulis. “They don’t need people to boo to know my feelings.
Snore
“We have to bring some fresh faces in – the players as much as anybody need to see something fresh, and not just any new signings but players with quality.”
Berahino wasn’t the only Baggies star to be booed. Those fans who stayed to the end of a snore draw also vented their frustration on a side that failed to find enough creativity to break down newly-promoted Middlesbrough.
The only man ever likely to be happy this game was screened on live TV was the manager of the local B&Q.
Take away a few superbly fluent touches by teenage midfielder Sam Field on his full Premier League debut and suddenly painting the spare room on a Bank Holiday Sunday didn’t seem such a bad idea.
But don’t kid yourself that the dullest of dull goalless draws was only down to Pulis, even with his reputation for safety-first football.
Boro manager Aitor Karanka might have worked at Real Madrid alongside Jose Mourinho but he very definitely didn’t come away from Spain having fallen in love with free-flowing, attacking football.
Karanka’s Boro gained promotion by virtue of conceding just 31 goals in the Championship last season – earning them the
distinction of being the meanest defence in the top four divisions.
And he’s brought that same safety-first approach into the Premier League.
Boro had most of the possession but didn’t even try to do anything with it, keeping every player behind the ball.
It was 74 minutes before they had a shot at goal and even that was a tame effort that Cristhian Stuani hit straight at Baggies keeper Ben Foster.
Albion at least started the game with energy with James McClean splitting the Boro defence with a dashing run only to slip before he could get a shot away.
On-loan Everton left-back Brendan Galloway had a shot saved by Brad Guzan after another promising run. But, slowly, the early impetus petered out.
To make matters worse, the hosts were robbed of a penalty when both referee Anthony Taylor and his linesman ignored a blatant shirt pull by Ben Gibson that stopped Salomon Rondon reaching a dangerous Galloway cross.
From there it went from bad to worse with Boro boss Karanka about the only man happy with the way it turned out.
“I was really pleased with the reaction to losing at Fulham in the EFL Cup. It shows we have great spirit,” he said.
“We have five points and the club has worked really hard this summer. The intensity was the same as last season’s.”