Arms outstretched, wearing a big grin and sprinting towards the Halfords Lane Stand, where his sister, Mirielle, was sitting, Saido Berahino looked like a man enjoying his football again, in contrast to the stone-faced striker who refused to celebrate any of his four goals against Gateshead in the FA Cup a week earlier.
Was he trying to make a point here? “Of course, because last week what was said was rubbish,” Berahino said. “I don’t understand why people were having a go at me for not celebrating. It is not in the rules that you’ve got to celebrate when you score. Loads of players don’t celebrate when they score. But I’m always the one getting blamed and picked out at West Brom. I just smile at it and keep my mouth shut.”
There is no middle ground with Berahino. He scored six in five games earlier in the season, then went 11 matches without a goal and has six in his past three appearances. As well as being in and out of form, Berahino has been charged with drink driving – the 21-year-old will appear before magistrates in Runcorn on the morning of the game at Everton a week on Monday – and accused of turning up late for matches.
Life is rarely quiet with him around, although Berahino insists the reputation he has picked up is unfair. “I just think everyone now, because I’m almost a target out there, is trying to bring a bad name to me,” he said. “They are always trying to write something about me, I don’t understand why. I think the people who put me down, they don’t know me first of all.”
On the pitch Berahino is back on song. Another goal, after a dreadful mix up between Allan McGregor and Ahmed Elmohamady, took Berahino’s tally for the season to 14 and will do nothing to dampen speculation surrounding his future. “I have big ambitions but at the moment I’m a West Brom player, I’m enjoying my football and I’m contributing goals so I’m happy,” he said.
Asked about the comments Tony Pulis made on the eve of this game, when the West Brom head coach said every player has his price, Berahino replied: “I don’t know what he is thinking. This time of the month is a difficult one. Everyone is playing a game of chess, so I’m just letting my football do the talking. There are always rumours going around but, look, I can’t control anything. All I can control is what I’m doing on the field.”
After marking his first league match in charge with a win, Pulis made it clear it is his intention to find a strike partner for Berahino, rather than cash in on the club’s biggest asset. “I’m not going to say we are not going to sell him because, if a stupid offer comes in, I would look stupid. But I’ll tell you this: we are looking for another striker and, if we get another in and we keep [Berahino], that will make my day. We are desperate to get another striker to go with him.”
Steve Bruce, the Hull City manager, was already in the market for a centre-forward before Nikica Jelavic and Abel Hernández, their top scorer and club-record signing respectively, limped off inside the opening 40 minutes, adding their names to a long injury list. Jermain Defoe is one of the players Bruce has targeted.
“I, like Tony Pulis and Nigel Pearson and all the people, would like a Jermain Defoe,” said Bruce, whose side have slipped back into the relegation zone. “The numbers might cause a problem but then again I suppose that would be the same for most in the bottom half because he’s very expensive. It might be just beyond us. The one thing you don’t want to do is gamble.”
Man of the match Saido Berahino (WBA)
