COMMENT: Saido Berahino's stupid outburst in tweet of the moment

With Tony Pulis having made no secret of his desire to bring several new faces on board, things had been surprisingly – and disappointingly – quiet.

Holding on to Berahino, despite two further bids from Tottenham, looked like being the one positive. Then came that tweet.

No matter which way you look at it, from the striker's perspective it was an incredibly stupid thing to do. The timing gave the impression of a spoiled child launching his toys out of the pram.

You would have thought by now Berahino might have learned Jeremy Peace is not a man to be messed with.

Whatever might have gone on behind the scenes during the myriad of talks in recent weeks, the striker would have been better keeping his grievances private.

Having been denied a move to Spurs, Berahino has now risked his future at Albion and put himself in an incredibly compromised position. In a few short taps on a smartphone he destroyed any sympathy for his position and the goodwill built up over recent months among supporters.

Berahino's relationship with the Baggies fanbase has always contained an element of love and hate. Supporters reacted with predictable fury, for example, when he talked earlier this year of a desire to move on to 'bigger things'.

The fact those comments were made during an unauthorised interview only served to antagonise those within the club, while his appearance in court on a drink-driving charge were grounds for the Baggies to put talk of a new contract on hold.

Yet the arrival of Tony Pulis, coupled with a return to form over the second half of last season and talk of a new "mature" Berahino brought a new harmony to the relationship. Even when the striker was left out of the team having become "distracted" by Spurs' interest – and handed in a transfer request – there was an element of understanding. Yesterday he erased all the good work in a second.

Few supporters will blame Peace for turning down the offers from Spurs. With so little money offered up front, they were at best derisory for a player of Berahino's undoubted quality and potential. Another element to throw into the mix is the timing of the final two bids.

Both gave the impression of too little, too late and there was nowhere near enough time for the Baggies to have spent any of the proceeds.

Quite what the club do from here is unclear – as of last night, there was still a certain amount of shock at what Berahino had done.

There is no question Peace holds all the cards but the chairman should know from experience the dangers of reacting too strongly, at least in public, when a player goes off message.

Peter Odemwingie was hung out to dry in many respects and his relationship with the club never recovered.

Albion turned down Spurs' bids because they want Berahino to stay and play so while the striker will undoubtedly be in for some harsh words, there is also likely to be an attempt of reconciliation – as demonstrated in the chairman's statement last night.

Whether Berahino will want to play remains uncertain. His tweet, gramatically dire as it was, seemed to say he won't play for Peace but in reality that would not serve his own interests.

It had already been a tough end to the transfer window for Albion. The moves for players in the attacking third Pulis had continually hinted at over recent weeks simply never materialised.

In many senses, this already felt like job half done, before Berahino went and left the club with another huge headache.