Phillips Contract talks

He hit his 18th goal of the season on Tuesday, giving the Baggies a thrilling last gasp victory over the divisions’ strugglers Sheffield Wednesday. He is the Championship’s leading goal scorer despite missing spells of the season with a persistent knee injury, and yet super striker Kevin Phillips is, as of yet, without a contract to keep him at the Hawthorns next season.

Contract talks between Phillips and the club are rumoured to have been open for several weeks, but at the moment the 34 year old striker is still unclear about whether his future lies at the Hawthorns or not. 

In total, Phillips has spend two months of the current season on the sidelines through injury, yet gaffer Tony Mowbray insists that his knee problem is manageable and that it has not had an effect on the contract talks.  Despite the time missed Phillips has notched up a credible 18 goals so far this season, and has headed the Championship strikers table for most of the campaign.  In fact his statistics are so impressive he has actually netted 24 goals in his last 29 appearances. 

With Albion’s status for next season as yet still undecided it is unclear whether this had had a bearing on contract discussions.  But team mate and former captain Paul Robinson today urged Chairman Jeremy Peace to make a sensible decision and capture his signature quickly. 

Robbo believes that Phillips role at the Hawthorns is fundamental to future success, attributing the proportion of his injury down to defenders over zealousness in dealing with the striker, whose reputation for scoring goals has them on their toes. 

Robinson has also praised his role as a mentor within the dressing room, particularly to the young and upcoming strikers seeking guidance.  With an abundance of strikers building up at the Hawthorns it might appear that Phillips’ time is limited.  However, Mowbray who is clearly building for the future has not seen it to exclude Phillips yet, and has openly shown that some of Albion’s striking assets will be loaned out elsewhere to gain match experience before pushing for a place in the Baggies squad. 

Nonetheless, Robbo remains insistent that the striker who was last week crowned FourFourTwo Championship Player of 2007, has a part to play at the club, commenting that “But he gives us that extra quality on the pitch and in the dressing room. There’s no doubt in my mind we need to get him signed up as soon as possible.”  

*Quote sourced from the Express and Star