Ally Robertson: Ben Foster's loyalty to West Brom is refreshing
Not only is it great news that Ben Foster wants to stay on and fight for promotion next season, it’s also refreshing to hear him come out and say it in public.
You don’t always hear footballers pledging their future to a club so openly as he did this week.
It’s encouraging to hear a goalkeeper of his ability state his desire to be a part of the club, even after Albion’s inevitable relegation is confirmed.
Loyalty is often in short supply these days, and the lure of the Premier League’s money understandably proves too much for many.
But over the past seven years, Ben has become an Albion fan, and he seems settled here.
I still believe he is one of England’s top goalkeepers, so to have him nailed down for next season is fantastic news.
Once any player gets over 33, the club need to start thinking about potential replacements, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought in a young, hungry no.2 to challenge him next season.
But goalkeepers can go on longer than outfield players and Foster probably still has a good few years left in him yet.
He urged his team-mates – those that were up for the fight – to follow suit and I hope a few who feel the same way come out and echo what he’s said.
It’s emerged that Salomon Rondon and Nacer Chadli each have relegation release clauses around £16m.
I’ve always been a supporter of Rondon, and believe we’d be much better off if every player gave the same effort as he has all the way through the season.
I’d be more than happy for him to stop with us for another year. Hopefully we’ll play a little bit more open football in the Championship and he can start scoring a few more goals.
As for Chadli, he didn’t want to be at the club at the start of the season when we were an established Premier League side, so I can’t imagine he’ll be keen to stay.
He’s been unlucky with injury this season, but if someone meets his buy-out clause it wouldn’t be the end of the world for him to leave.
If he’s still with us come the start of next season, he needs to prove to fans that he’s up for the fight.
It was a better performance on Saturday against Swansea but the same old issues reared their heads.
I felt sorry for Chris Brunt, who was the best player on the day, but it was his mistake that led to the goal. Still, you have to defend corners better than that.
