Comment: Baggies’ January a tale of woe for the West Brom faithful

But the January transfer window closing was effectively a non-event for Albion fans.

Normally social media is filled with people claiming a certain player is arriving while another is departing.

But yesterday there was hardly any transfer gossip for supporters to sink their teeth into.

That is, of course, because there is only one story in town.

The vast majority of Baggies fans want head coach Valerien Ismael to be sacked.

Many were expecting that news to come after the dreadful defeat to Preston North End last Wednesday.

Even more fans expected it come following a another poor showing at Millwall on Saturday.

But at the time of writing, Ismael is still in post – even if his future is believed to be under serious jeopardy.

The irony of Ismael clinging to his job as the transfer window closed is that January couldn’t have started any better for him.

All season the Baggies had lacked a powerful centre-forward who can score goals and knit the front three together.

And just hours after the window opened, the man Ismael wanted more than anyone else walked through the door.

It is well documented Daryl Dike was the bosses number one transfer target.

Many had expected the American to arrive on loan.

But owner Guochuan Lai gave the green light to complete a permanent £7million move.

And that, even with Ismael’s future in serious doubt, looks a great bit of business.

Dike’s talent means he is surely going to be a success at The Hawthorns – even if he did injure his hamstring in only his second outing for the club.

That knock was undoubtedly a hammer blow for Ismael.

But to the boss’s credit, he knew Albion couldn’t continue with Callum Robinson and Matt Phillips playing as central strikers.

So for that reason, Albion entered the market again to bring in Andy Carroll.

If you’d have offered Ismael at the start of the window Dike and nobody else – he would have taken it.

But it is believed the boss would have liked to bring in a creative central midfielder as well.

In Ismael’s 3-4-3 formation, you need one central midfielder who is more defensive-minded and one who is more attacking.

The defensive side of things is well covered with Jake Livermore and Jayson Molumby.

And in Alex Mowatt, Albion have a creative player capable of scoring spectacular goals.

But with Robert Snodgrass injured and out of favour, there is little behind him – with Adam Reach now looking to be the understudy despite having spent the vast majority of his career out wide.

Overall, you have to say the January window has been a successful one.

Dike looks an excellent addition – especially at £7million. And Carroll is a shrewd short-term fix.

And Carroll and Dike together feels a frightening prospect.

At this moment in time, though, none of that really matters.

Fans want to know what is happening with Ismael and what the future direction for their club is.

It’s a situation the club is going to have to address, one way or another.