Grazie Mille

Arriving in the wake of P****r’s departure for ‘bigger things’ most of us scratched our heads and said two things:

• Who?

• I trust Tony

‘Who’ quickly became evident, with open and frank responses to questions and displays on the pitch that gave us something Potter’s football lacked – passion. The opening game at Anfield, the Chelsea drubbing, all got us excited. We sang ‘We’re on our way…’ and yeah, we were.

Roberto is, in my opinion, the greatest manager we have ever had. Taking a modest playing budget and propelling us to our highest ever league finish.

Taking us into Europe, to the most phenomenal experiences for Albion fans.

Beating P****e 4-1 at home was the pinnacle of that time, we were riding high, through to the last 16 of the Europa League, pushing on for a top 7 place again.

But injuries cost us, both in the league and cups, our form dropped away, we found the old P****r era problem of goal-shyness.

Roberto voiced his frustration that we hadn’t strengthened in January. He had a point, but the club stayed within its spending policies.

I thought he was running the risk of being sacked for some time, his honest press conferences clearly showing a division between him and the board. If it’s one thing we’ve seen from Albion’s leadership team is that they want everyone pulling in the same direction. We could all see this wasn’t happening.

Mutual consent sounds like an amicable divorce, but I can’t help thinking it’s the club pushing this. Why let him leave when he’s probably got a big release cause? Someone from a top league will want him; a return to Italy would be my guess.

Back to point 2 though: trust Tony.

Tony Bloom is a fucking genius.

He will know who is next. I wouldn’t be surprised if his successor is announced before the end of the month. This will be a highly sought after job, and the world’s best managerial talent will have sat up when they heard the news.

The best run club in world football, with the best owner. In our Chairman we trust.

We sang Roberto’s name loudly and proudly against United, but Tony Bloom’s Blue and White Army should always be louder.

Players and managers come and go, yet the fans stay forever.

But, Roberto, ciao, grazie, and we wish you all the best. Our best ever manager.