West Brom flop played his part in historic Bayern Munich moment, Tony Pulis said he ‘wasn’t at that level’ in 2015

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West Brom supporters will acknowledge the 2024/25 campaign as one to forget as they missed out on a top six finish following a poor run of form under Tony Mowbray.

Still managerless, the Baggies have a big summer ahead with players such as Tom Fellows likely to be targeted, and fans could see plenty of new faces arrive at The Hawthorns in the next few months.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
6	Bristol CityBristol City	46	17	17	12	59	55	4	68
7	BlackburnBlackburn	46	19	9	18	53	48	5	66
8	MillwallMillwall	46	18	12	16	47	49	-2	66
9	West BromWest Brom	46	15	19	12	57	47	10	64
10	MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough	46	18	10	18	64	56	8	64
11	SwanseaSwansea	46	17	10	19	51	56	-5	61

Ryan Mason has been targeted by West Brom, but with the transfer window yet to open and the regular season only just over, there is still plenty of time for Shilen Patel to make a decision about who Mowbray’s replacement will be.

Nevertheless, outside of the Black Country, one former Baggies player was involved in a huge moment in German football – but memories of him at The Hawthorns will perhaps still be sour nine years after his loan came to an end.

Serge Gnabry played a huge role for Bayern Munich on Saturday, but he struggled while at West Brom

Thomas Muller made his final ever appearance for Bayern Munich on Saturday afternoon, as his team lifted the Bundesliga title. He never saw out the final whistle as he was brought off to a standing ovation at the Allianz Arena.

Coming on in his place was Serge Gnabry, a player that has come on leaps and bounds over the last few years and is now a familiar face to those who support the German giants.

However, West Brom supporters will hold very different memories of the winger following his loan spell in the 2015/16 campaign while they were in the Premier League.

He failed to impress after joining from Arsenal, and his manager Tony Pulis was less than impressed with his performances for the West Midlands outfit.

“Serge has come here to play games but he just hasn’t been for me, at the moment, at that level to play the games,” Pulis said (via: ESPN) 

“He’s come from academy football and not played much league football – does academy football really prepare players for league football? And we’re talking about Premier League football here.

“As a manager you pick a team that’s going to win a game of football. You pick your best team — you don’t leave people out because you don’t like them, because of this, that and the other.”

Serge Gnabry has proven Tony Pulis wrong

While it was not the greatest of first impressions for Gnabry to have shown Pulis, he has proven in the years since that with hard work and the right environment a player can thrive.

He has been outstanding over the course of the last seven years, helping Bayern Munich to six Bundesliga titles, a Champions League and two DFB Pokals.

West Brom supporters may not be able to comprehend that it is still the same player that they saw nearly a decade ago on just a few occasions, and there must also be a feeling of what if?

Nevertheless, the focus of the Baggies will be on their next manager, and they must forget about their lack of luck with Gnabry in the past.