Mixed bag for West Brom's John Swift - but reasons to be optimistic

With the onus on Swift to be the heartbeat of the squad from a creative perspective, Albion under-delivered on goals and over-delivered on missed opportunities.

It would be too easy and too simplistic to land all of that profligacy at Swift’s door.

The 27-year-old checked into The Hawthorns after six years at Reading in which he had established himself as one of the division’s best attacking midfielders.

As ‘No.10s’ go, his creative figures for assists had previously been among the best the second tier had to offer.

Not that his record of seven goals and nine assists this season is a poor return – on the contrary, they are not bad figures for a side whose top Championship goalscorer managed just seven.

Swift’s style may not be every supporter’s cup of tea but, when on song, he is effective. Attacking midfielders often possess an – admittedly perhaps lazy – tag of ‘luxury players’. As ever, the challenge is consistency.

Some of his technical ability is wonderful to see at times. But sometimes frustration would eke out from the stands as a first touch got away from Swift, or an ambitious pass failed to come off.

It is also true to analyse any member of Albion’s class of 2022/23 the season should be broken into chunks. Swift, like team-mates, didn’t start badly. But confidence across the board quickly drained.

“Just a load of ups and downs, really,” Swift said. “At the beginning of the season I think I was performing well and the team was performing well, we just weren’t getting the results that were needed.

“The new manager comes in and obviously everything changes, results change, my performances were quite a bit up and down, but we managed to get a lot of wins and home and clean sheets.

“I was coming away from the games thinking I wasn’t playing that well but the team was playing well, but at the back end of the season I thought better than I did maybe at the middle of the season, maybe more consistent, especially in the last few games I think I’ve performed quite well.”

Swift only managed seven goals (six in the league) – the final three of which were from the penalty spot.

That return must be improved on, especially as he netted in the opening day at Middlesbrough and then in the rout of Hull before August’s end.

But Albion’s No.19 cannot have the book thrown at him for the squad’s costly lack of goals. It is more the lack of reliable and regular scorers that told.

It is not his fault Brandon Thomas-Asante and Daryl Dike have top scored with just seven league goals. One striker came up from League Two and the other was only fit to play between December and April.

Indeed, further statistics paint Swift’s chances created in a healthy light.

His total of 99 chances created is strongest among any of his creative rivals in the division. An average of 2.20 chances created per 90 minutes is only just bettered by Swansea left-back Ryan Manning.

Those suggest Swift is doing the job he was recruited for – to lay on opportunities for his team-mates.

Swift has recognised the need for improved numbers next time around. He, like every team-mate, has not been near the required consistency levels – but with more convincing finishing around and in front of him, the picture could well be different.