Eric Ramsay could not have had a much worse start to life at West Bromwich Albion after a nightmare first two matches in the dugout in the Championship.
A 3-2 loss, thanks to a 90th-minute goal from Daniel Burgzorg, against Middlesbrough in his first game was bad enough, but the dismal defeat to Norwich City on Tuesday night was on another level.
They suffered their heaviest defeat in the second tier with a 5-0 loss to the Canaries, who scored five goals from 1.08 xG on the night, per Sofascore.
Josh Griffiths has now conceded 7.46 more goals than expected, based on the xG of the shots against him, per Sofascore, after he let in 2.11 more than expected in the 2024/25 campaign.
Bristol City goalkeeper Max O’Leary has now officially joined to bolster the manager’s goalkeeping options, but it remains to be seen if he will be the last addition of the window.
West Brom eyeing move for Premier League talent
The Championship strugglers have also been linked with a higher quality shot-stopper from the Premier League this week, who would be even better than O’Leary.
According to Football League World, West Bromwich Albion are preparing a swoop to sign Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson before the end of the January transfer window.
The report claims that Ramsay wants to add a new number one to his squad, suggesting that he does not trust Griffiths to start week-in-week-out, and has identified the Premier League back-up as a target.
It adds that the Baggies are looking to sign the English shot-stopper on loan until the end of the season, as he has been a back-up to Robin Roefs in the top-flight for the Black Cats.
However, it remains to be seen whether or not the club are still looking to go ahead with this after the deal to sign O’Leary, so this is one to watch for now.
Why West Brom should sign Patterson after O’Leary
Per FotMob, the Baggies have conceded a staggering 13 more goals than expected based on the xG that they have faced, which illustrates just how poor Joe Wildsmith and Griffiths have been.
West Brom are seventh for xPTS (42) yet sit 19th in the division on 31 points, per FotMob, in large part because their goalkeepers have consistently conceded more than they should have, which suggests that signing O’Leary and Patterson to replace Wildsmith and Griffiths would be a good move.
In the 2023/24 and 2024/25 campaigns combined, per FotMob, Patterson recorded 27 clean sheets and conceded 2.56 fewer goals than expected based on the xG against him in the Championship for Sunderland.
The Black Cats goalkeeper was described as an “outstanding” shot-stopper by journalist Josh Bunting, which is backed up by the aforementioned statistics, but he added that his footwork lets him down, hence why he has been a back-up in the Premier League.
Despite those flaws in possession, Patterson would still be a much better option than O’Leary between the sticks, based on their respective performances at Championship level.
|
23/24 + 24/25 Championship seasons |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats |
||
|
Games |
87 |
91 |
|
Clean sheets |
27 |
23 |
|
Goals prevented |
+2.31 |
-0.94 |
|
Error led to shot |
3 |
2 |
|
Error led to goal |
2 |
5 |
|
Penalties committed |
0 |
0 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
||
As you can see in the table above, the Sunderland colossus outperformed O’Leary in the last two full Championship seasons, with a much better goals prevented rate and three fewer errors that led directly to goals.
These statistics suggest that Patterson would solve the key issue that has been created by Wildsmith and Griffiths’ poor goalkeeping, whilst O’Leary may not if he comes in and struggles as a shot-stopper and keeps making errors leading to goals.
Per FotMob, the Sunderland star also ranked in the top 30% of goalkeepers for high claims (23) and the top 45% for sweeper actions (10) in the Championship last season, which shows that he can offer quality as a commanding presence to go along with his shot-stopping ability.
When you add in his aforementioned shot-stopping statistics for the Black Cats, Patterson looks like he would be a colossal upgrade on Griffiths between the sticks for West Brom, and be even better than O’Leary.
Ramsay can end Molumby’s West Brom career by signing “barnstorming” star
Jayson Molumby could be nearing the exit door at West Bromwich Albion even more if Eric Ramsay bags this January signing.
Therefore, West Brom could completely revamp their goalkeeping unit by signing Patterson as well as O’Leary, to solve a key problem within Ramsay’s squad.
