West Brom urged to make big Aston Villa transfer decision in January - 'he's flattered to deceive' | OneFootball

FLW’s West Brom fan pundit has commented on whether Albion should cut Samuel Iling-Junior’s loan spell short in January.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

It could be argued that West Brom boss Ryan Mason was left short in the summer by Albion's team recruitment.

Over the course of the summer transfer window, the Baggies brought in nine new faces to The Hawthorns, with a big emphasis on revamping the backline.

The likes of Nat Phillips, Chris Mepham and Krystian Bielik were added to offer some much-needed guile due to the departure of Player of the Season Torbjorn Heggem to Bologna and the retirement of long-standing servant Kyle Bartley.

While the defensive department was bolstered, Albion weren’t quite as busy with recruits in the final third of the pitch, which was head-scratching for supporters given they sold their star winger and academy graduate Tom Fellows to second-tier rivals Southampton.

Fellows had notched a sensational 14 assists in the second-tier last season, with the Baggies always going to struggle to source a replacement as consistent and reliable as the 22-year-old.

It was unfortunate that Albion signed off the departure of Fellows on deadline day of the summer window, leaving the Black Country outfit scrambling to find another option for Mason to utilise.

They managed, in the final hours, to recruit winger Samuel Iling-Junior on a season-long loan from Aston Villa. The winger was viewed as a promising addition given his previous second-tier experience with Middlesbrough, while he had featured and scored in the UEFA Champions League with Italian side Bologna.

With an impressive pedigree, there was hope Iling-Junior would come in and fill the void left by Fellows, but it’s been anything but, with the former England U21 international failing to show any consistency with his performances and struggling to provide in the final third for his teammates.

It’s led to fierce criticism on social media by Albion supporters, with some demanding he departs The Hawthorns in January.

With this in mind, FLW’s West Brom fan pundit has outlined his thoughts on whether Iling-Junior should stay or depart B71 when the January transfer window opens.

West Brom advised to sanction Samuel Iling-Junior exit in January

Speaking to Football League World, West Brom fan pundit Callum Burgess believes the Baggies' hierarchy should consider terminating Samuel Iling-Junior’s loan spell in January and focus on bringing in another right-winger, given the Aston Villa loanee is “flattering to deceive”.

Callum said: “I wasn’t too keen on the signing of Iling-Junior when he did initially join the club towards the end of the transfer window, as I was fearful he was ending up being the Tom Fellows replacement, and unfortunately, that did seem it was the case.

“It did start well with his goal against Leicester and I thought there might be a player there, but since then he’s really flattered to deceive, and I think regardless whether of Iling Junior’s loan coming to an end or not, I’d very much say that Albion really do need a new right-winger brought to the club as soon as possible in January.

“Possibly, he could be more effective on the left with Johnston back on the right, but I think the majority of Albion fans wouldn’t be too disappointed to see his time at The Hawthorns cut short in January.”

Samuel Iling-Junior set to go down as another West Brom loan flop due to Ryan Mason's stubbornness

Over the first half of the Championship campaign, Samuel Iling-Junior has failed to make his mark in the blue and white stripes.

While it started so positively with an outstanding piece of individual brilliance to net against Leicester City, the Aston Villa loanee just hasn’t been able to kick on and showcase those moments on a regular basis.

Mediocre displays since then have seen the 22-year-old displaced by both Mikey Johnston and Karlan Grant, while the wideman has failed to justify occasional starts and failed to influence many matches when coming off the bench.

In his defense, Iling-Junior has only ever played on the right-wing so far at West Brom, and it’s a position that really doesn’t suit his attributes.

While at the Riverside Stadium with Middlesbrough, Iling-Junior’s eye-catching contributions came on the left flank in a left-wing back role, while the attacker admitted in his first interview as a West Brom player that was his preferred position.

So it seems to be baffling as to why Mason isn’t considering switching his role up, which could bring the best out of his game and transform the current opinions that the Albion faithful have about him.

While Mikey Johnston has impressed on that side of the pitch in recent weeks, Albion badly need depth in that area, with Iling-Junior failing to catch the eye, while Jed Wallace continues to be sidelined by a long-term calf problem.

One thing is for sure, though, is that Albion must recruit on that side of the pitch, with the likes of Romain Esse and Dwight McNeil potential players to eye up on loan, given their lack of gametime at Crystal Palace and Everton respectively.

As far as Iling-Junior is concerned, if he continues to be persevered with on the right-wing by Ryan Mason, then a serious decision needs to be made over his future at Albion in January, as there are no signs that he is going to pick up any form on that side of the pitch.

He needs to be given a go on the opposite flank to see if he can do any damage, with Mason’s inability to try something different hindering both Iling-Junior's confidence levels and reputation.