£12m West Brom transfer paid off, but Tony Pulis never truly benefitted | OneFootball

It wasn't until Darren Moore took charge at West Brom that Jay Rodriguez really earned his worth at The Hawthorns

Jay Rodriguez was always someone who Tony Pulis liked during his managerial spell at West Brom, and in the summer of 2017, he was able to get his man.

West Brom had attempted to sign the striker from Southampton twice before their £12 million offer was accepted ahead of the 2017/18 season.

The then-27-year-old described those attempts as "near misses" in his first interview with the club, but then referred to how important it was for Tony Pulis and the club to want him to play at The Hawthorns.

Therefore, it must have been quite demoralising when, 12 league games into his stint at the club, Pulis was sacked and replaced with Alan Pardew following a run of ten games without a win in the league.

Rodriguez and West Brom endured a truly terrible 2017/18 season, resulting in relegation, but in the following Championship campaign, the former Southampton man showed why Tony Pulis sanctioned a £12 million transfer for him in the first place.

Jay Rodriguez's torrid, but promising, first season at West Brom

West Brom's performances plummeted in the 2017/18 campaign, as the Baggies won just six times and finished rock bottom, 12 months on from recording a 10th-placed finish.

Tony Pulis, the man who tried so hard to bring Jay Rodriguez to the side in the summer, was sacked in November after a run of 10 games without a win, a run which stretched even further under new boss Alan Pardew, finally ending in January after 20 games.

However, from the outside looking in, there were positives to take from Rodriguez's point of view that season, as the striker played in all but one league game that term.

Rodriguez had endured a terrible time with injuries over the previous few years at Southampton. A knee injury took him out of the entirety of the 2014/15 campaign - one that provided plenty of promise after a 15-goal season in 2013/14.

From that moment on, he couldn't seem to find his fitness once again, as ankle surgery took him out for six months during the 2015/16 campaign, and thus he fell out of favour in his final season at St Mary's before his Hawthorns switch.

So, to come through a campaign having been named in every matchday squad in the Premier League, starting 31 times, relegation wasn't the main takeaway for Rodriguez in the 2017/18 season.

Additionally, a goal tally of seven was his most since that 15-goal haul in 2013/14, so there was all the groundwork to fully kick on in the Championship. And that he did.

Jay Rodriguez lived up to Tony Pulis' expectations in the Championship

Despite starting the season with a 2-1 loss to Bolton Wanderers, West Brom's first season in the Championship in nine years in the 2018/19 season was, overall, successful. Promotion would have been the aim, but the Baggies established themselves as a solid second-tier side and finished 4th.

Under Darren Moore, and then caretaker boss Jimmy Shan, the Baggies scored 87 across the campaign, with the strike partnership of Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez combining for 55 of those.

Rodriguez netted 22 times across the course of the campaign, including braces on four separate occasions against Norwich City, QPR, Bristol City and Wigan Athletic.

His first season back in the Championship since his time back at Burnley resulted in Rodriguez's career getting back on track following injury woes, proving that he was, indeed, Premier League quality.

And Burnley recognised this, bringing their former academy product back to Turf Moor following his 22-goal season in a £10 million deal, where he'd once again become a Premier League regular for the two following campaigns.

Tony Pulis will be frustrated that he wasn't able to coach Jay Rodriguez for as long as he would have liked, but at least he was able to watch on as Middlesbrough's boss at the time, as his former £12 million signing lived up to his expectations.