FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

Gareth McAuley with West Brom's 2012/13 season home kit.

You can download the full analyzed squad data here.

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Last Season: Impressive
Being a team who go through the promotion and relegation cycle regularly, West Brom managed to change the situation this time, finishing at glorious tenth place last season. A big part of the credit goes to ex-manager Roy Hodgson though, and with him left the club for England international team, it is a doubt whether they can reach the same height again this season.

This Summer: Clarke's Debut
Steve Clarke has been appointed as the new manager of the Baggies. A risky move as this is Steve Clarke's first stint as a club's head coach.

As for players, Ben Foster's move to the Hawthorns become a permanent one, with midfielder Claudio Yacob, young Belgian Yassine El Ghanassy (loan), free agent Markus Rosenberg and Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku (loan) joining the team. Five players were being released, namely Keith Andrews, Marton Fulop, Paul Scharner, Nicky Shorey and Somen Tchoyi.

Upcoming Season: Uncertain
As mentioned this will be Steve Clarke's first time as a manager - things can go everywhere honestly. The pre-season record is neither good nor bad at the moment. Maybe the first few gameweeks will reveal Clarke's ability to mange a club.

Odemwingie's fantasy stats.

Wet Gun?: Odemwingie (FI: 0.454)

Peter Odemwingie (£7.0m) was an instant fantasy hit during his first season at the Hawthorns, but his performance somehow declined to an unappealing level last season.

Still, the Nigerian forward managed to score double figure goals last season. The lad does have good fantasy potential, so do keep an eye on him and get him when the right time comes.

Ridgewell's fantasy
indices last season.

Great Return: Ridgewell (FI: 0.924)
It really caught me when I saw Liam Ridgewell (£5.0m) scored such a high FPLZ Index last season, which aroused my curiousity to analyze him further.

The defender scored 61 points in just 1170 minutes of action, which he managed to score one goal, one assist, and six clean sheets. Impressive.

He now costs £0.5m more than last season, but nonetheless he should be the first man to consider among West Brom defenders, if Steve Clarke can keep the back as tight as when it was during Hodgson's era, or even tighter.

Tough Battle: Long (FI: 0.344), Rosenberg (FI: N/A), Lukaku (FI: N/A)
Interesting competition upfront for West Brom where we will have three equally good candidate to fight for the second forward spot alongside Odemwingie - Shane Long (£6.0m), Markus Rosenberg (£6.5m) and Romelu Lukaku (£6.5m).

All of them are priced in the same band, so it really takes time to observe and see which player actually plays more and brings good value to fantasy managers.

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