This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
For many at West Brom, Hal Robson-Kanu’s red card last May could have been the final straw.
The Welshman left Albion fighting in the playoffs with just the one striker in James Rodriguez after Dwight Gayle also saw red at a similar point of the campaign.
It was a rather bizarre sending off for the 30-year-old, but nonetheless, he’s remained a part of West Brom’s plans this season.
Rather remarkable too, is that he earned a new contract last week, being shown faith until the summer of 2021 by Luke Dowling and co at board level.
Robson-Kanu has never looked too convincing in a Baggies shirt and has rather been living off that quite stupendous goal he scored at Euro 2016, turning on a sixpence before slotting home.
That moment has never been replicated and since then, he’s netted just 10 in 100 matches for Albion.
But after being handed a new deal by the club, he instantly vindicated it this weekend, going level with £4m arrival Charlie Austin for goals scored in the league this term.
Incredibly, he’s just one behind Kenneth Zohore this season as well.
Even if West Brom have lost just once this term, Slaven Bilic’s men have struggled for goals from their central operators but Robson-Kanu is still proving to be a canny operator.
His finish was typical of a poacher. The 6 foot 1 forward found himself in the right place at the right time to put a close-range effort into the back of the net, a goal that was enough for Albion to cement their place at the top of the table.
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It wasn’t the most convincing of performances, winning 1-0, but second-half substitute Robson-Kanu was on hand to provide a glimpse of exactly why he’s been handed a new contract.
The initial decision to do so may have raised question marks but on the face of it, it wasn’t the worst one and Saturday proved that was the case.
Given that Austin and Zohore have struggled for goals, they need all the help they can get and even if they do go up, it’s not as though Robson-Kanu doesn’t have Premier League experience on his side too.
Saturday was just the first step in proving himself.