The best is yet to come for Albion’s Graham Dorrans

Tuesday 22nd June 2010, 11:05AM BST.

Graham Dorrans
Graham Dorrans

Albion star Graham Dorrans has insisted he can still get better despite his award-winning role in the club’s return to the Premier League.

Dorrans, who swept the boards in the Baggies’ end-of-season awards, is relishing a first full Premier League campaign after tasting the top flight briefly two seasons ago.

And he believes fans have yet to see the best of him despite a stunning season in the Championship.

“I feel I can still develop,” he said. “I’m almost 23 and I don’t think that’s young in football any more, but there were some games last season when I came off the pitch disappointed because I still felt I could give more.

“I enjoyed the season but I still feel I’ve got more to come. You can always still improve and you never stop learning.”

“I am confident in my own ability that I can hold my own in the Premier League.

“I came down here when the club were in the Premier League and I was confident that I would work my way in.

“I played a handful of games in the Premier League last time and really enjoyed but unfortunately I picked up an injury towards the end.

“But hopefully next season I can kick on and we can do well.

“I’m sure the gaffer will bring in his own players and strengthen his team and hopefully he can have a good season.”

Transfer speculation continued to surround Albion at the weekend but reports claiming a £2.5m deal for Cameroon World Cup star Pierre Webo, of Real Mallorca, are believed to be wide of the mark.


  1. 1
    No hopers

    If you believe the best is still to come ….you need to leave for a Premier club and not a yo-yo Championship club aye Terry aye…boing boing down you go.

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  2. 2
    Cyril Randle

    No.1 What are you going to do if the Chancellor ups the road tax on that bus you park in front of the Moulinex goal? You won’t be able to move it down the other end if you SORN it.

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  3. 3
    SIR TERRY BAGGIE

    Eat ya hearts out dings eat ya hearts out,yow can only dream of having a player of Dorrans quality,he will run rings round ya aye boing boing

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  4. 4
    baggiepaul1

    Number 1. I assume your name refers to your team?

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  5. 5
    SIR TERRY BAGGIE

    after watching the world cup Dorrans reminds me of,Kaka,Ronaldo,Messi,Torres all rolled into one,aye boing boing SUPER GRAHAM DORRANS SUPER SUPER GRAHAM SUPER SUPER GRAHAM SUPER SUPER GRAHAM SUPER GRAHAM DORRANS

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  6. 6
    quinton baggie

    1. go back to the dark side you fool. Uncle Jez has been stitched up again. JP aint nobodies fool

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  7. 7
    Jaimer

    I unfortunately cannot see a positive situation to come out of this. He will be a marked man next season. If he is superb Man city or Chelsea will come in for him, he will go. I just hope we dont put too much responsibility on young shoulders.

    Come on JP get your chequebook out we need 5 quality signings to make a fight of this.

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  8. 8
    Happy_baggie

    7 – do you really think you are fooling anyone ?? No1 is obviously a moron, but at least he doesn’t pretend to be a baggies fan and so is still brighter than you – jog on !!

    Cyril 2 – quality mate – LOL !!!!

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  9. 9
    The Railway End

    Don’t agree with 1. Dorrans has to prove himself in the Premiership first before big clubs will come in for him. If the lad does well he could move on like Fletcher did from Burnley so they could bolster their squad for a decent punt at the Championship.
    Come on JP, that window doesn’t stay open for ever !

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  10. 10
    Golden Balls

    It’s surprising how many players look good in the championship and then fail to deliver in the Prem. Good luck!

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  11. 11
    Rick

    we are going to need at least 5 proven premiership players to survive next season FACT!!, lets hope jp gives the manger the funds needed, if not and dorrans puts in solid performances we are going to struggle to keep hold of him come january.

    come on you Baggies lets get our selfs established in the prem once and for all and give my generation something to remember instead of hearing my Dad harp on about the Atkinson team of the 70′s

    BOING BOING!!!!!!!!!!

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  12. 12
    truewolves

    i sincerely hope you stay up, utw

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  13. 13
    Cyril Randle

    Does anyone out there think Dorrans wouldn’t have played at least as well as Lampard had he been in the England team? The saddest bit for me is that he is a Scot and without wishing to incite anger from the Scots, he may never see a World Cup. One thing that strikes anyone right between the eyes with this young man is the total control of the ball, the superb balance and for one so young, the strength. As I’ve said before, Dorrans will grow in our team and should wait until Man.U. or similar come in for him, but not to sit on the bench anywhere. He’ll be too good for that!

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  14. 14
    slippy

    number10 it didnt suprise me seb, kightley, keogh, hennersey, foley shall i go on

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  15. 15
    Thomas The Baggie

    13. You are getting way ahead of yourself. He has to prove himself against Premier league players, he is quality but there were several games last season when he didnt do a great deal and others where he run the show. Comparing him to Lampard who has done it at the top level consistently for years is silly.

    He has plenty of potential and as RDM says has alot of room for improvement. The sad thing is if we went down he could end up at someone like Sunderland or Blackburn to play every week and stay and stay in the prem.

    The key is showing ambition. We need to bring in players with premier league experience to mentor him and more importantly keep us up. At the moment we are a little short of survival but JP and co have to make sure that will be put right.

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  16. 16
    Cyril Randle

    Thomas 15. Show me where I said anything about comparing Dorrans with Lampard in the league. Dorrans only played about 6 Prem games, even silly me knows that! But, would you choose Lampard for England on the performances against USA and Albania? Never in a million years. Could you imagine Dorrans disappearing altogether if he had been in the England team? In the Chelsea team, Lampard runs the show. In the England team he’s almost a nobody and it shows. He should be taking the game by the scruff of the neck, imposing his will on the opposition. That’s what world class players do.

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  17. 17
    PF WOLF

    50% success rate of staying in prem
    28,000+ EVERY week,sell out away EVERY week
    jelle van damme picks us over you know who
    Stephen hunt picks us over you know who
    40m stadium plan
    hhhhoooowwwwllll
    aye aye aye

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  18. 18
    Cyril Randle

    17. And 33-1/3% success rate if you don’t stay up this year. Just to save you hurting your brain with the maths.

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  19. 19
    SIR TERRY BAGGIE

    17, does bring a friend and we will give you 40 quid ring any bells,aye boing boing

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  20. 20
    SIR TERRY BAGGIE

    17, and how many times do i have to remind you, you cudent sell your tickets for the play offs agenst us,im not suprised tho you proberly knew wot the outcome wud be ,aye boing boing

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  21. 21
    SIR TERRY BAGGIE

    does that include the 1100 that went on the long haul to birmingham n vile aye boing boing

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  22. 22
    Wbaforever

    Cyril 13 & 16, Thomas 15

    Many people are taken in by myths and legends.
    If you want a perfect example of myths and legends, then i give you Frank Lampard, who is a very good player, but this world class player he is vaunted as is so wide of the mark, it`s gone for a throw in.

    And Cyril is right on the money about his England performances, but we all know he is basicaly bomb proof, so much so that Gerrard would be selected to play in goal before consideration would be given to leave Lampard out of central midfield, the London based press would be in rabid uproar.

    PF WOLF

    I am uncertain why you believe your post is relevant in any way to disscusions on this thread, however a response to your smoke and mirrors offering is probably futile but i feel warranted.

    Rumours abound about tranfer targets, and i am not sure how acurate the rumours were about Albion`s interest in Hunt and Van Damme.
    What i can say without fear of contradiction, that personally, the percieved loss of these two players is a matter of supreme indifference to me, and i suspect a great number of Baggie fans.

    Hunt (midfield) maybe in October.
    Would he have actually appeared in our team ?

    Morrison, Brunt, Mulumbu, Dorrans, Barnes, Thomas, Jara (also see international defenders) Valero (at present) Reid.

    Van Damme (defender)

    Tamas (Rommania) Olsson (Sweden) Ibanez (spain) Jara (Chile) Cech (Slovakia) so i`m not sure where Van Damme would have got a game, plus he has an unsavoury allegation hanging over him that has no place among common decency.
    Regarding your new super stadium, good luck with that.

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  23. 23
    SIR TERRY BAGGIE

    i see the dings are tryin to sign Dembelle, they will become an even bigger joke with Dembelle and Damjelle in the team,aye boing boing

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  24. 24
    Cyril Randle

    I wish I’d written that post wbaforever. You would have blown your main fuse back in the days of Ray Barlow when he couldn’t get in the England team, yet every club in the country admired and wanted him. Walter Winterbottom was a nice man but the London Press picked the team, not him. You could include Ronnie Allen too in that. One reason I have always backed Billy Wright to the full was he HAD to pick him, even the Press couldn’t interfere there. But Billy was very noticeable and couldn’t be ignored. Ray was a modest, unassuming person. Ronnie would have played on the local park with a gang of kids as long as there was a ball. It’s all a million squid away from today.

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  25. 25
    Happy_baggie

    Cyril – more recently I’m sure many of us will remember how Derek Statham was regularly overlooked for the very average, but extremely cockney Kenny sampson….

    Dekka was the best LB in the league by miles but sampson always got the nod – even though Albion were higher in the league than Arsenal most seasons (imagine that kids….).

    London bias has always existed – but i hoped capello was big and strong enough to do his own thing….. ooops.

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  26. 26
    SIR TERRY BAGGIE

    london bias still exist why else wud lampard be playing instead of carl henry aye boing boing

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  27. 27
    Bertie

    Trying to keep the debate on a sensible level, therefore ignoring Sir terry Thrush, I really think this so called “London bias” disappeared years ago. Yes it was prevalent in the days of Fleet Street, but, football, like the UK has become so much more cosmopolitan. Why would an Italian manager with high credentials not pick his best squad because of geographical bias that he’s most probably not aware of ?
    Maybe the answer is that the West Midlands has failed to produce high quality players in the last 20 years…even longer.
    Martin O’Neil has done his best recently, but,even Villa players haven’t really made a sustained mark with the exception of Barry. Maybe our time will come again if the four of us can consolidate and improve.
    I’m old enough to remember Wolves having four ‘half backs’ in the England squad Clamp, Wright, Flowers and Slater, and that was in the days when Walter Winterbottom , the FA and The London Press picked the teams.
    I hope Lampard comes good this afternoon, I don’t care if he was born within the sound of Beau bells, he’s a GOOD player.

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  28. 28
    Cyril Randle

    Bertie, a well presented argument, (although you must never, ever, deride Sir Terence, with a capital ‘T’ please, Knight of The Lady’s Garter). That’s as bad as saying you’re still using Vista on your computer. I don’t suppose anybody in London was born within the sound of Bow Bells these days, so there aren’t any Cockneys anymore, but the Press can still influence decisions and do.
    England achieved 9 unbeaten out of 10 in the qualifiers I seem to remember. Capello more famous than the bloke he stood next to on the Vatican Balcony. Then we have 3 or 4 bad games in a row and he’s The Devil, clinging to his £6million a year job with his broken finger nails. It’s called ‘The Power Of The Press’ and hasn’t diminished.

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  29. 29
    Sedgley ScottyP

    Terry do your homework before spouting off non exsistant stats. We had one of the best away support followings in the league, we had ny on 100% home attendance from home support with the highest season ticket and match day prices outside london.Plus we give sod all for kids unlike you and blues kids for a quid days! so come back when you have some proper knowledge.

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  30. 30
    SIR TERRY BAGGIE

    29, liverpool man u everton to name but 3 have higher ticket prices than you and they aint in london FACT aye boing boing

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  31. 31
    SIR TERRY BAGGIE

    i just looked at the facts about last seasons away support,sorry to say you came 18th even wigan n botlon beat you, aye boing boing

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  32. 32
    SIR TERRY BAGGIE

    29, its SIR Terry show sum respect,aye boing boing

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  33. 33
    baggie 88

    PF WOLF…why the hell would we want stephen hunt realy.
    1..hes crokd and ageing and 2.. look at his record reading,hull get the picture!!!

    as for vandamme and mukoyolo or woteva his name is,im quaking in my boots rly!!
    lol
    oo n i do lik fletcher hes decent again relegated bt decent.but the muny u paid for him is saftness,he only scored 8 goals hahah!!! u might be buying dearer players but lets not 4get uv still gt tht jipo mick mcarthy in charge….cant wait too stuff u lot..again!!!

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