West Brom have just lost a key figure.
No players have left the club and the manager is still there, but Steve Hopcroft has departed Albion this week, and that could be a big blow for the Baggies.
For one reason or another Albion’s head of junior recruitment handed in his notice, and he’s immediately been placed on gardening leave by the club.
Watch West Bromwich Albion Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below
The backroom staff member seemed to be enjoying life with West Brom, even going as far as to turn down Manchester United a few years ago in order to stay at The Hawthorns, so this decision has come as something of a shock.
So what was Hopcroft’s role? He was in charge of bringing young players into the club, and he’d done a stellar job at it.
He was directly responsible for the arrivals of Saido Berahino, Jonathan Leko, Izzy Brown and Rekeem Harper, all players who have gone on to make an impression in football whether that be at West Brom or elsewhere.
While that doesn’t look like the best list in the world as there are no true world-beaters on there, it’s not easy to spot talent at such a young age. For example, Harper arrived at the club as a 12-year-old and has gone on to make it as a first-teamer.
With talented budding footballers in the Midlands spoilt for choice due to the number of professional clubs operating in the area, sniffing out these gems is even harder, but somehow he kept on finding them.
And that has helped West Brom establish their academy as one of the best in the country. Brown was poached by Chelsea, while Nathan Ferguson – albeit not a talent Hopcroft is directly responsible for – came close to joining Crystal Palace in January.
Kemar Roofe, Tyler Roberts and Kyle Edwards also came through the academy during Hopcroft’s time with West Brom and again, while he’s not played a direct role in developing those players, he’s clearly had a hand in making the Baggies’ academy competitive enough to produce such gems.
Unfortunately, West Brom will now have to go forward without Hopcroft, and it will be a long time before we see whether or not that has a negative effect on the club, especially when it comes to producing their own talents.
However, his track record suggests that Albion may live to regret losing him.
In other news, one West Brom man’s season has been better than the fan reaction suggests.