Tony Pulis thought he landed "excellent" West Brom recruit but it ended in disaster | OneFootball

"Excellent" a "Winner", these were some of the names Tony Pulis described one West Brom summer signing by who made him pay the ultimate price.

After the loss of a Hawthorns fan-favourite, Tony Pulis thought he'd recruited the perfect player to sustain West Brom's Premier League place, but Grzegorz Krychowiak failed to leave a lasting impression on the Black Country outlet.

A time many look back on now as the ultimate dream, throughout the 2010s, West Brom had established themselves firmly as one of the perennial players in the English top-flight and, at the beginning of the 2017/18 season, were enjoying an eight-season stay.

With taskmaster Pulis at the helm for the previous two and a half seasons, the Baggies relegation worries looked to be a distant memory, especially as the side secured a top-half finish under the former Stoke boss the previous season.

Although the pragmatic Pulis received some complaints over the style of football The Hawthorns collective were witnessing week in and week out, the Baggies boss had established an experienced core to execute his philosophy of football, with one player at the heart.

From his first game in the blue and white stripes, midfield metronome Darren Fletcher endeared himself in the West Midlands as not just a fan-favourite for his class and calibre, controlling the midfield and efficiency with the ball, but because of the winning mentality he retained from his successive spell with the Red Devils, something Pulis immediately put on a pedestal.

The revered manager made Fletcher his skipper from his first appearance in a West Brom shirt, and the Scotsman proved synonymous with the defensively disciplined, workmanlike side Pulis had crafted in the West Midlands that saw them become a stable ship in Premier League waters.

However, after such a success in the 2016/17 season, Fletcher stunned the Baggies fanbase, opting not to exercise his player extension option and instead set his sights on joining Premier League rivals, Stoke City, upon the conclusion of his contract.

With Pulis left without his motor in the West Brom engine room, Albion had to again demonstrate their shrewd reputation in the summer market, finding a suitable replacement for the Scotsman that would retain his winning mentality.

West Brom acquired Pulis' perfect pick on paper

Grzegorz Krychowiak was dubbed a "winner"

As West Brom began their eighth consecutive campaign in the Premier League, the Baggies were quick to forget about the foregone Fletcher, beginning the season with two wins and a draw, quickly filling the Black Country outlet with confidence that they would not be spending the season scrapping above the division's danger zone.

Quick to add to the feel-good factor bouncing around The Hawthorns was Albion's announcement of their replacement for the Scotsman, with Pulis finding his fix who, on paper, seemed more of an upgrade.

Before Albion's fourth outing of the season, the club secured the services of PSG midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak on a temporary term.

The prized Pole was quick to generate excitement in the Midlands, being revered and respected for his European credentials, boasting two Europa League winners' medals, and had the season prior played a part in PSG's domestic treble triumph in France.

Krychowiak had also earned major plaudits for his 2016 European Championship performances, serving as the sides' midfield enforcer as Poland reached the quarter-final stage, narrowly missing out on progressing further to the semis after suffering a penalty-shootout defeat to eventual champions Portugal, but it earned the midfielder major interest from England's elite, putting the Pole on the radar for Liverpool and Arsenal.

The Pole promised to provide everything that Fletcher had and maybe more, and even Pulis was convinced that after being a long-standing admirer of the player, he would be everything the side needed to surge further up the table.

Pulis told the Express and Star: "I think it's a coup for the club and I couldn't be more pleased to get the chance to work with Grzegorz. He's an excellent player and one who is going to add competition to our midfield. As well as being a top player, he's also a winner, as his record shows. And that's very important too.

"I first tried to get him two years ago, and it didn't work out, and I've been trying to get him every window since."

Pulis proved naive in his faith in Krychowiak

Similarly to his deployment of Fletcher, Pulis was quick to involve Krychowiak in the West Brom squad, earning his first 90 minutes in his first possible match, and saw his name in the starting team sheet for the next eight successive games.

However, during this spell, the side's form began to falter in parallel with the Pole's arrival, with Albion failing to register a single victory in any of these nine matches, and Pulis was quick to find himself under fire from The Hawthorns crowd, who grew tired of witnessing pragmatic football that failed to deliver results.

The PSG midfielder failed to hit the ground running as Pulis retained his faith in the Pole, frequently frustrating the Albion crowd with his careless control of the ball and disappointing defensive displays, struggling to adapt to the more physical facet inherent within the English game.

The club were quick to act. In the ninth of Krychowiak's nine-game starting spell, Albion suffered a 4-0 hammering at home against Chelsea, a match that signalled the end of the taskmaster's tenure at the club with Krychowiak unable to pay back the faith the Baggies boss put in him.

Now finding themselves just a point above the division's danger zone, Albion's ambitions for the season had considerably shifted since its advent, with survival the only expectation for the Black Country outlet to deliver.

West Brom failed to find form when it mattered most

With Pulis out of The Hawthorns hot seat, Alan Pardew was next to take the reins as West Brom head coach and attempt to save the side's season, a prospect he looked to fulfill without Albion's PSG loanee.

The Pole would start just 11 of the club's final 25 games of the season, and it would not be long before the PSG man saw another Albion manager face the axe, with Pardew unable to turn fortunes around, something Krychowiak played little part in preventing.

After an eight-game loss streak, Pardew parted ways from his position as head coach, abandoning the Baggies staring down the barrel of relegation in 20th place and leaving beloved former Baggie and newly appointed caretaker coach, Darren Moore, 10 points adrift with just six remaining games.

Despite a spirited swansong from the former Baggie of three victories, two draws and just one defeat in the club's final six games of the season that earned him Premier League Manager of the Month for April, the effort was just too little too late to see the side hold onto their Premier League place and the club were relegated, thus beginning the slippery slope Albion still find themselves climbing as the side seek to sustain a place in the Premier League and become a firm figure as they once were.

As for Krychowiak, the Pole departed the blue and white stripes having played 27 times in the Premier League and making 20 starts, with very few leaving a lasting impression on the West Brom collective.

He would finish the season ranking in the top 24% of midfielders for the amount of times he was dribbled past throughout the season, and within the bottom 27% for pass accuracy, leaving an uninspiring legacy with fans remembering his lack of sustainability with the ball and poor defensive discipline.

Albion remarkably only won one match Krychowiak started throughout the entire season, and enjoyed their best spells throughout a tumultuous time without the Pole playing much of a part.

In a season full of regret, one very obviously would have been the decision to not allow Moore more time to save the sinking ship by bypassing the appointment of Pardew, but by far the biggest regret will be Albion's agony at the sight of their replacement for their beloved Scotsman skipper, a decision that proved key in cementing their fate as they fell to the second-tier.