England ‘keeper gets behind Baggies skipper
BEN Foster led the chorus of dressing room support for captain Chris Brunt after Albion’s 2-0 defeat at home to Everton on Saturday.
Foster and Jonas Olsson were culpable of individual errors which went on to prove the difference in the reverse, despite the Baggies dominating play during the opening hour or so.
The full-time whistle attracted a smattering of boos from the Hawthorns faithful as Albion still await their first victory of a Barclays Premier League campaign which is four matches old.
But it was the reaction to skipper Brunt’s 70th-minute substitution which frustrated the Baggies goalkeeper.
Foster said: “It is absolutely ridiculous, for somebody who has been an incredible servant to this club for such a long time.
“He always gives his all and he’s somebody I would always play in the team.
“It’s not needed. It is really silly. It doesn’t help at all.
“Brunty is everything we’re about. He works his socks off. There’s no need to boo somebody.
“If he very obviously wasn’t putting it in or couldn’t be bothered then fair enough, but that’s not the case.
“Nobody likes that, I don’t care who you are, whether you’re the manager or the goalkeeper, centre-forward.
“If you’re getting ridiculed and abused like that it affects you and there’s no need for it.
“These are our supporters and we need our supporters to support us and not do things like that.
“You can understand frustration but it’s not like we’re not trying. If that happens, fans are well within their rights to do whatever they want to do.
“If they can see the club isn’t putting it in and the players aren’t working then they can do that, but that’s not the case.”
Foster went on to reassure fans that Albion will continue to do everything in their power to turn around their winless start to the Premier League campaign.
And he firmly believes that, with a squad which is stronger than last term, it is only a matter of time before the club get that first win under their belts.
“We’re four games in. You don’t even think about pressure to be honest,” he said.
“It’s obviously disappointing hearing the booing because you never want to hear that - but I can assure you we’re working our socks off, we really are.
“We’ve got a fantastic group of players. We are definitely a much better team than last season but it’s just not going for us at the minute.
“We’ve got an eight-day lead into the next game on Sunday (away at Tottenham) and we’ll be working hard to make sure we get a much better start.
“The last few games we’ve let in early goals, which have really killed us.”