Dorrans is our top signing

I had a brief conversation with a work colleague and fellow Baggies fan yesterday about the results over the festive period and our current situation on and off the pitch,

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I thought he summed things up quite nicely when he said "Things ay looking too bad at all am they?" Although the three hard-earned victories against Peterborough, Scunthorpe and Huddersfield won't go down in the history books as one of our most challenging Christmas and New Year schedules, they were games where we could quite easily have come unstuck if we hadn't applied ourselves in the correct manner.

Thankfully, Roberto Di Matteo and his coaching staff seemed to have installed more of a mental toughness in the squad this season together with a greater discipline. We have also developed the habit of winning games when we are not performing as well as we know they can which augers well for the future.

We do appear to be 'on target' with 45 points being accrued at the half way stage with a very healthy goal difference over the chasing pack. But now that the transfer window has opened, hopefully Di Matteo will be able to persuade the Chairman that some modest activity will ensure we are in the best shape for the push for promotion.

However, perhaps we have already made our best 'signing' in January by persuading Graham Dorrans to sign a new deal that should deter would be Premiership suitors from unsettling him. He has emerged as one of our key players this season and it certainly shows in our performances when he is not firing on all cylinders.

His goals from midfield are also becoming an important aspect of our recent successes and it easy to see why other clubs are starting to sit up and take notice of him.

So well done to all concerned for getting things sorted out so early on in the New Year to enable Graham to fully concentrate on the three important league fixtures that occur in January. It is also good to see that we have moved quickly to sign a centre half to cover the absence of Abdoulaye Meite whilst on International duty. I would now like to see us turn our attention to bringing in another striker prior to the end of the window.

Although it's great news that Ishmael Miller is well on the way to a return to the first team squad, I think there is still a need to add to the goalscoring department if possible. It would seem that Victor Moses is a player on our radar but unfortunately, it looks likely that he is destined for a move to the Premiership if the newspaper stories are to be believed.

I wonder how much truth there is in the story that there is a potential swap deal in the offing involving Leon Barnett and Leon Best. It could well be worth the gamble considering that it appears as if Barnett does not have a long term future with the club now. Let's hope there are also one or two 'unknowns' that we are pursuing that turn out to be as effective as the likes of Gonzala Jara, Jonas Olsson or Robert Koren.

There is an almighty long way to go but I tend to agree with the sentiment that "things ay looking too bad" at this moment in time. Happy New Year to all Baggies fans everywhere.