Big West Brom transfer decision involving Ipswich Town has affected Premier League hopes – Here’s why | OneFootball

The departure of Alex Palmer to Ipswich Town could be the reason West Brom don’t make the play-offs.

West Brom’s hopes of a play-off place come the end of the season took a heavy blow after Tony Mowbray’s men conceded a 96th-minute winner to Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Tuesday evening.

The Baggies’ fall at the hands of the Robins means that Albion have suffered three straight defeats in the Championship and have failed to win an away game since November 2024 at Hull City.

With five games to go of the regular season, Albion now find themselves six points behind Bristol City after the late heartbreak, while Coventry City have the chance to extend their lead over the Baggies to five points if they can dispatch Portsmouth at the CBS Arena.

It now appears that all the work done under the Carlos Corberan regime has unravelled since Mowbray entered The Hawthorns hotseat, with the club suffering more defeats under the 61-year-old than the Spaniard did from 22 second tier games in charge this term.

Seemingly going backwards under Mowbray’s leadership, numerous West Brom players have made individual mistakes to cost Albion vital points in the final run-in, with the goalkeeping department a hot topic at the moment.

This was all brought about by Alex Palmer’s departure to Ipswich Town at the end of the winter window, and this decision looks set to cost Albion a top six spot come the end of the campaign.

Alex Palmer’s sale decision has brought about West Brom downfall

On the eve of the winter window shutting, many West Brom supporters would have been devastated to see academy graduate Alex Palmer achieve his Premier League dream by moving to Ipswich Town, joining the Tractor Boys for a reported fee of £5 million.

Palmer had been such a reliable and consistent figure in between the sticks in B71, making strides in his development, particularly under Carlos Corberan.

The 28-year-old managed to establish himself among the finest shot-stoppers throughout the division. It had taken a while for the academy graduate to cement himself in the first team, but he grabbed his chance with both hands when displacing David Button under Steve Bruce and managed to win the golden glove award when recording 18 clean sheets in the 2023/24 season.

Since his departure, Tony Mowbray elected to promote Joe Wildsmith into the number one role, but the former Derby County goalkeeper has been far from a safe pair of hands, making notable errors against Blackburn Rovers, Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland to cost Albion crucial points in the pursuit of the play-offs.

Mowbray then made the big call to displace Wildsmith with Josh Griffiths against Bristol City, with the former Bristol Rovers loanee having a relatively impressive outing, making a superb double save to deny the Robins in the first half.

But in the 96th minute, Haydon Roberts’ left-footed effort squirmed through Griffiths’ legs to hand Liam Manning’s side all three points, with yet another goalkeeping mistake leading to Albion dropping points at such a crucial time.

Mowbray also revealed at the time that Palmer’s departure gave the club the financial resources to recruit Adam Armstrong on loan from Southampton, but his spell at the club has been so underwhelming, with the frontman scoring just two goals and playing in a system that doesn’t suit his attributes whatsoever.

Overall, it’s been a mess of a deal for Albion to sign off, with the departure of such an important figure having damaging repercussions at both ends of the pitch and severely derailing what the Baggies could achieve this term.

West Brom should still back Josh Griffiths to be a West Brom success

Despite the Baggies still reeling from Alex Palmer’s departure, Josh Griffiths has come from a similar background through the academy and is seemingly the future of the goalkeeping department.

The 23-year-old showcased the qualities he has as a shot-stopper by making a number of fine saves on his return to the West Brom goal at Ashton Gate, but, of course, such a grave error at the end marred all the previous good work.

Nevertheless, with an extended run in the team, Griffiths should be able to restore his confidence at such a young age and hopefully put a consistent run of solid performances together to cement his place as the starting goalkeeper for the long-term future.

Griffiths can still become the next Palmer, but he desperately needs the backing of the supporters to help him shake off this error and allow him to move forward for the remainder of the season.