05-08-2021, 21:36
![[Image: wba-h.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/NykgKpR/wba-h.jpg)
As the country's routine slowly returns to normal, and the football calendar rights itself with the familiar August start replacing last year's tardy September kick-off, there's an irresistible sense that the world is healing, and the natural order of things gradually reasserting itself. Certainly, that feeling is all the more inescapable after a glance at Albion's summer transfer business, which - in keeping with hallowed tradition - somewhat lacks the urgency that might have been desired after spending last season encamped in the basement of the Premier League. To shore up the central defence, Matt Clarke is in from Brighton (or more accurately Derby, where he spent two seasons on loan); Alex Mowatt and Adam Reach provide midfield options, while Portuguese teenager Quevin Castro has also been recruited, presumably because Quevin Queegan wasn't available. Whether that'll be enough, there's no telling yet; but there'll certainly be no dodging the limelight for Albion on their Championship return, as our opening match at Bournemouth will also be the curtain-raiser for the whole domestic season. Charity Shield, eat your heart out.
It's our first meeting with the south coast side in over three years, and our past visits bear few happy memories; our last league win in those parts was in 1993, and even cup encounters haven't given us much joy. But as the new man at the helm, Valerian has the tools and the objective. All we can do, for our part, is make sure he has the support.
"I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to choose between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I should make straight for West Bromwich." - J.B. Priestley
