BY Victor Akhidenor
Alan Irvine, West Bromwich Albion coach, is backing £10m man Brown Ideye to make the most of his fresh start at the club.
Ideye made his fourth Barclays Premier League start for the Hawthorns since his summer move from Dynamo Kiev in the 3-2 loss to QPR on Saturday.
The Nigerian was preferred to Saido Berahino and he flattered to deceive once again.
His time in the first team might be running out after a largely forgetful performance and he was replaced in the 70th minute for Berahino.
However, going by his comments before the game Irvine is ready to give the frontman time to prove his worth.
“He’s been through a spell where he looked as if he had no energy whatsoever and couldn’t move,” Irvine said.
“He looked as if he had no confidence and no sharpness in front of goal. In recent weeks he’s been scoring goals in the training practices. He’s had the energy to stay behind to do extra finishing afterwards which he just didn’t have for a while.
“He was crawling off the training ground. Now he’s in much better condition physically which helps him to be in better condition mentally.
“I didn’t want to put him into the team as early as we did but that happened because of injury. It was clear that that was a bit unfair on him because he wasn’t ready.”
Ideye is the club’s record signing but Irvine does not believe the pressure has weighed heavily on striker’s shoulders.
“I think it’s just been the circumstances really,” he said.
“The price-tag’s been an extra stick to beat him with at times when things were difficult. I don’t think he’s really over concerned about that. He just wants to get out and play and play well.
“You’re never 100 per cent sure if a player is going to fit in exactly as you want.
“You can probably think of examples of players who cost a lot more money and in the end it didn’t work out at the clubs they came to and yet they’ve gone elsewhere and been extremely successful.
“Sometimes these things work out and sometimes they don’t. We can only judge that during the fullness of time.”
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