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Paul Robinson returns to West Bromwich Albion this weekend as Millwall’s first team manager, but fully aware of his former team’s capabilities when two play-off hopefuls meet in the return of domestic football.

Former left-back Robinson, who made 238 appearances for Albion between 2003 and 2009, is part of Gary Rowett’s coaching staff at New Den. Both return to the West Midlands with the sixth-placed Lions this weekend for what could be a crucial encounter in the context of the championship showdown.

Albion have been shaky on the road, but their home form, by comparison, has been close to flawless, pretty much since Carlos Corberan arrived. In fact, Albion’s last game of the season before Corberan was appointed, in October, was the reverse fixture as Millwall prevailed against Rich Beale’s ten-man Baggies with a dramatic, late winner – Robinson expects nothing more What a tough afternoon here, though.

“The team of players there are very experienced, Premier League footballers, who want to prove a point,” Robinson said. birminghamlive. “They have great depth of strength. It’s difficult when a coach takes over, it can take time to get the system in place – Carlos had that, they lost their first game, but they’ve gone from strength to strength.

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“It’s a quality team, they have great players with fantastic support week after week, wherever they go. It’s a club that has underperformed, but you can see signs of it, once they get going, once “That the standards are high, you can see where they should be. That’s in the Premier League.”

Albion’s record for Hawthorns is, as mentioned, pretty amazing. They have won ten and conceded just one goal in their last 11 home games in all competitions. How, as a visiting team, do you prepare your team for that record?

“You have to trust the players,” Robinson said simply. “They work like crazy, we have to trust the XI we pick to go out there and get the job done. It’s all you can ask for. They need to be totally focused on the game, because if you give some of the West Brom players half a opportunity, they will take it because of its quality”.

Millwall will also, for the second time this season, take on former star and former winger Jed Wallace who, as it stands, must be considered the favorites for the club’s player of the year award. He scored 43 goals in 260 appearances for the Lions before retiring in the summer.

“Jed is a great guy, I really enjoyed my time working with Jed. He’s a great character. A fantastic footballer, he has great dedication, great energy and for me, when I saw that he had signed for West Brom, I thought he was fantastic. Robinson added.

“I texted him straight away to congratulate him, spoke to the people at West Brom to tell them what a great signing he has and make sure I take care of him. I’m not surprised to see Jed playing the way he has and to the standards.” that he has, because he can win the game without help. That’s the quality he possesses.”

That’s it, no more international breaks between now and the end of the season! We have successfully negotiated the last one, which for Albion involved five senior players leaving to represent their respective countries. However, the return of domestic time brings with it greater anticipation. This is the sharp end, when the promotions and relegations and the play-off places are confirmed.

It kicks off this weekend with Luton Town welcoming rivals Watford to Kenilworth Road. It’s 9th to 6th at The Hawthorns, but in the South it’s 4th to 10th. The race for the play-offs will resume strongly.

“You have to focus on what you’re doing as a team, what variables you can control,” Robinson said. “Our main focus is the three points, we have to concentrate on how we are going to win the game. Whatever happens, it is out of our control. When you are watching the Premier League or League 1, you are on the edge of your seat because It keeps changing, it keeps moving. It’s exciting, for the fans this period will now show what teams are made of.

“For teams like us, like West Brom, like Norwich, we’ll be watching that game closely because Watford are out of the play-offs and Luton are flying high there. Everyone will want a draw or a Watford win, then the other teams can take it back. terrain. It will be an interesting watch.”

For Robinson, it will be all about being professional and trying to take care of business this weekend, quite a different mindset and environment to when he last visited The Hawthorns to celebrate the spells of former teammates James Morrison and Chris Brunt, who will cross swords again this weekend.

Still, he will allow himself the opportunity to reflect fondly on happy memories of the things he and the Baggies of the past achieved during his six-year stay: two promotions, the Great Escape and a memorable FA Cup run, to name a few. only some. .

“I don’t talk to these guys before these games, but I’ll probably text Mozza just to ask how he’s doing,” Robinson said. “I always check on Mozza just to see how she’s doing, like me, she’s at the top of the coaching ladder and it can be hard to find your feet and see which direction you want to go.

“I always check on Mozza just to make sure he’s okay, and I know Brunty is the loan manager, so I know the young guys are in good hands with his experience and leadership.

“West Brom holds a huge place in my heart because of what I’ve achieved as a player there. The promotions, the Great Escape and just being around the people, the fans, I have great respect for the club. I love coming back, because the Good memories come back when you walk on the ground.

“Me and my family too. My family loved their time there. It was probably my best time, as a footballer, along with Watford. They were the places where I enjoyed my best football.”

“The away game at QPR, when we won the Championship, it was a great moment. The Great Escape with Bryan Robson, the way we did it. When I signed with Gary Megson and played with the likes of Jason Koumas, Andy Johnson, Sean Gregan, all those characters, so many good memories.

“My best moment was with Tony Mowbray with Kevin Phillips, Jonathan Greening, Zoltan, Roko, Brunty, Mozza. It was a special two years for me, with that group. The 90th minute equalizer at Villa obviously rubs it a bit in the face from the people”. A bit! There are so many. That whole period with Tony and Bryan Robson, those two together, were the best moments and the best group of players that I played with.”

Albion, at least off the pitch, is a far cry from the stability of those days. Even if there was frustration back then from the fanbase over the initial inability to get the club to stay in the Premier League, or the often frugal nature of player spending during the Jeremy Peace era, at least they went to sleep at night not worrying about their safety and long-term future.

Albion is inundated with loans; loans they have lent, to majority shareholder Guochuan Lai, and loans they now owe, in the form of the costly MSD deal. It paints a very worrying picture, only a matter of years after Albion were held up as an example of how clubs of a similar size should be operated and managed.

The fans are naturally concerned, many of them furious at how the club is doing in this situation. However, what if you’re a player or a staff member who works at ground level every day?

“It affects you,” Robinson admitted. “You never know what’s going to happen, that’s the reality. You can play football, enjoy your football, but if you have these problems that happen constantly, people lose their jobs, they don’t get paid, it’s hard to see that”. and work in that environment.

“You’re a professional, you have to block it the best you can, you have to do your job, that’s why you get paid to work at these clubs, but it’s hard to see people go through tough times, and it’s hard to see the club in yeah and the way it’s going you just hope that stability comes back at some point and it goes back to the way it was.

“You always think it will happen, but you always worry about how long it will take and what the repercussions will be.”

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