A busy and hectic 24 hour period was in store for Tyrone Mears following the announcement of his signing at West Bromwich Albion on a short-term deal.
The 35-year-old experienced right-back has come in for cover and to give former playing colleague Darren Moore additional options following the failure to secure his more first choice options, and despite his recent arrival at the club, he was selected to make his debut that night as we faced Mansfield Town on Tuesday evening in the second round of the EFL Cup.
Some West Brom fans were already less than impressed when we announced his capture, and it didn’t take long for a section of the fanbase to take to social media to criticise his performance either.
Why does it make sense Matt ? Firstly Mr Jenkins said we have a strong Budget, Net spend of -2.5 Million and savings of around 600k a week in wages doesn't suggest that, Why Villa who almost went Bust sign Bolasie, secondly Mears fit Yes, but I thought he was awful tonight ????
— Simon (@BeefyBaggie1965) August 28, 2018
Don’t disagree with you Matt. But if Mears, aged 35 and clubless, is better than Nyom who we had in Prem, what the hell have been signing for years? #wbav
— London Baggies (@LondonBaggies) August 29, 2018
I’ve gotta say, those questioning the signing of mears and the clubs lack of support for Dm is astonishing. I wonder they said the same thing about mcauley. Was Roy too stitched up ?
— wonderstuffed (@justinmulholla1) August 29, 2018
He was awful no way to dress it up.
— Lee Jackson (@JACKO_BRAND) August 28, 2018
Mears did a job. Good back up.
— Mike Campbell (@WBAcambolia) August 28, 2018
Better than Nyom based on that – albeit League Two opposition.
— The Shepherd (@DickLaurent96) August 28, 2018
Rubbish
— colbert fitzpatrick (@ColbertFitz) August 28, 2018
I must’ve wathed a different game,not writing him off already,not had time to settle/train etc but he was absolutely woeful… didn’t make a single good pass,lost aerial battles and tackled dawson ????????
— John Faz Farrington (@johnfaz89) August 28, 2018
Enjoyed tonight. Competitive match, some lovely goals, far more going on than on Friday. Some exciting performances from youngsters, and good for Barry and Dawson to get minutes, though Mears appeared to be limited as expected. All in all a positive evening. #wba
— Josh Bland (@JoshBland13) August 28, 2018
Wilson is on loan in a league where he will play every week and learn more and more. That's the time they should be investing in him
— Cricket_outlaw (@cricket_outlaw) August 29, 2018
As if Tyrone Mears made his West Brom debut today.. the blokes 35! Swear cup games against league two sides or below will be the only appearances he makes before his release next summer
— Jack Toulson (@JackToulson12) August 28, 2018
For me, it’s far too early to judge whether or not he can be an asset, I find it a strange decision to debut him so quickly given the timing of his arrival as even presuming he’d maybe been training with us for fitness purposes as he searched for a new club, there’s a difference between training, being sharp and then taking in proper match tactics.
I don’t believe he had been training with us though, to my knowledge he flew over from Minnesota to sign the deal, so probably didn’t even have a training session to lean on. So the criticisms seem overly harsh and he appears to be a quick scapegoat for Board level concerns within the fanbase.
