West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Mowbray is confident his side’s quest to thrive in the Premier League will not be affected by the loss of Kevin Phillips.
The 34-year-old, the Baggies’ top scorer last season, secured the two-year deal he craved with Birmingham City and follows Martin Albrechtsen and Zoltan Gera out of The Hawthorns this summer.
It leaves the Baggies in need of key replacements as well as reinforcements, a situation not ideal given the club’s desire to have had all their transfer business completed before the start of the new campaign, now just five weeks away.
Mowbray said: “We were getting on with it whatever happened with Kevin. Our enquiries for other players have continued. All areas of the pitch needs strengthening.
“There was always a strong possibility that we would lose players this season and, as I was saying a couple of weeks ago when Martin [Albrechtsen] left, it is a lot easier to entice players away from clubs when they are out of contract.
“I could sit here and argue that this time 12 months ago five or six key players had left and nothing really changed. Football is continually moving on, new people get opportunities and my job is to gel them into a team that functions.
“I am not talking about anyone specifically but no individual is bigger than the team. I know that’s a cliche but it’s never rung truer.
“Cristiano Ronaldo scores 30 or 40 goals in a season but without the creative passes from Paul Scholes, the clean sheets at the back or the guy putting the ball in the box he doesn’t score that many goals, it’s all about the team unit and it keeps moving on. I am sure if Manchester United lost their ‘star player’ they would move on.”
Nor will the loss of three pivotal players in Albion’s promotion season unduly hinder the club’s chances of surprising a few cynics in the Premier League, according to Mowbray, who believes his side has more than enough quality to compete in the top flight.
He added: “I don’t think about what’s successful and what’s not – I have every confidence in the team. I don’t know [where we’ll finish] but I do know we have some good players and will be able to compete with most teams when we have the ball. We have nothing to fear.”
