Sam Johnstone’s bust-up with West Brom boss explained after being left out of match

Sam Johnstone’s bust-up with West Brom boss Valerian Ismael has been explained after being left out of Wednesday night’s match.

The 28 year old was dropped from the Baggies line-up after a row with boss Valerien Ismael over team selection, it’s reported.

Now Premier League suitors look on with extra interest ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline especially as he also is set to be left out as the team travel to Millwall on Saturday.

Johnstone, who has made 24 starts for the 2021/22 campaign, was available in midweek after serving a three-match suspension for his red card against Cardiff earlier this month.

However the shot-stopper, who has three international caps, was surprised to learn that he would instead be left out of the starting XI against his hometown club.

After having a row with Ismael, the boss chose not to even include Johnstone in the squad altogether as he kept faith with David Button and put youngster Alex Palmer on the bench.

The argument has thrown the former Man Utd trainee’s future into doubt if it hadn’t already been with his contract up this summer after declining fresh terms.

It had looked like he would be planning to stay with the West Midlands outfit but now the argument is a wake up call for admirers West Ham, Tottenham and Southampton.

Johnstone has been the Baggies regular keeper since joining in 2018 from Manchester United.

Many were surprised when he stayed with the club despite relegation, getting rave reviews after making 166 top-flight saves and broke into the Three Lions team despite his side being drop zone for most of the season.

West Brom had been keen for Johnstone to sign a new deal to prevent losing him on a free transfer in the summer.

His exclusion for Wednesday night’s game have left team-mates confused as the side picked up their first home league defeat of the season with fans now calling for the boss to be sacked.

Johnstone could face a wait to be back in goal, with the likely fixture being a trip to Sheffield United on the 9th of February, meaning he would have missed five straight games by then.

The row adds to the pressure on Ismael, with fans fuming in midweek after one win in six games.

Ismael assessed: “It’s no excuse [Johnstone’s omission] for us.

“We cannot afford to find excuses to drop into victim mood.

“We have no excuses for that performance, we are professional, we meant to put in a performance.

“It was a poor performance.

“Every time we’ve had a chance to close the gap on teams around us this season we’ve missed it, and this is another one.

“We didn’t produce the right performance and we didn’t manage to do all the things we wanted to carry out, but there can’t be any excuses.

“It was a strange feeling and we didn’t expect to see this, especially after the win against Peterborough on Saturday.

“The good thing about football in the Championship is that there’s another game and another opportunity in three days time for us to bounce back.

“We have to show a reaction, embrace the fight and now we need to show another mentality.”

Preston’s Ryan Lowe said: “You’ve got to come to these places and believe you can win.

“West Brom is an intimidating place to come and they’ve got a wealth of money coming from the Premier League and they’re trying their best to get out of this division.

“But we wanted to go toe to toe with them and the lads were fantastic.

“We nullified their strengths and worked on doing that over the last couple of days on the training pitch.

“West Brom try to drag you all over the pitch but I thought we were fantastic in not getting sucked into that.”

 

Twitter users reacted after Sam Johnstone’s bust-up with West Brom boss gets explained after being left out of the match…

@Nikolaiwilliam9: It’s not very professional by sj if someone performs you can’t just take there place because you think your better train hard to get your place back

@Dava711: Agreed, but what does he think when he sees Livermore and Mowatt walk straight back in time after time

@speedhorn14: But he’s got no problem dropping the likes of TGH with his MOTM displays when Livermore was back fit/suspension and mowatt back from being suspended

@PostPopDepress1: I like Sam Johnstone. I don’t like Val. But why would SJ think it’s fine to just stroll back into the first XI, when the only reason he was out in the first place was because he got sent off and suspended for being a twat? #wba

@grizzly1479: Maybe If Johnstone hadnt got himself sent off in the first place it wouldnt be an issue

@admhlt83: So cause he wasnt allowed straight back in, he said VI has favourites?! Button has done well, play well keep your shirt! Val cant however have 1 rule for one and another for others

@Dava711: Absolutely agree with that but Val cocked up when he said his captain will always play when available and others come straight back in

@BaggieBoy1982: He’s got a point, Livermore, Mowatt straight back in after suspensions regardless of previous results and performances.

@Carl__Poulton: Livermore walks back in every time and yet when he was out we won 2 games back to back. One rule for one…

@DWUK89: Whether you like Val or not there’s a serious lack of discipline in our squad, players should not be questioning the managers decision. What’s to stop them from doing this with the next manager. Too many players who think they’re bigger than the club.

@JamesWBA4: If SJ hadn’t have acted like a prat & got sent off he would have still been in the the starting XI

@EnoTheWonderdog: So SJ had a temper tantrum? Sounds right.

@StuartD40391205: Pack your bags Val, you’re so far out of your depth and tactically clueless. Big Sam had more structure and planning.

@Nockkky: I’m sorry but deciding to keep button in goal over an eager Johnstone considering our current run of form is just poor management, even a win at Millwall won’t change my mind on him. Got to go

@WBAWatch: In all fairness I don’t think Johnstone deserved to walk straight back in! Was poor the 2 games before his sending off and Button did well in his absence