West Brom manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed his interest in departing Town central defender Gareth McAuley and former Baggie Tomasz Kuszczak, who is currently with Manchester United. On Monday, the Northern Irishman told Blues boss Paul Jewell that he would be moving on when his contract is up at the end of June, with the Hawthorns understood to be his destination.

Hodgson said: "They are players that fall into the West Bromwich Albion category. If those players are available they will certainly be players we'll discuss.

"At the moment all that type of talk is pure speculation and I think there is going to be an awful lot of speculation in the next couple of weeks.

"This is the time when the agents are trying to move their players around and make them attractive to other clubs by supposedly having clubs who are interested in buying them."

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prozach added 17:05 - May 12 Will be interesting to see if McAuley can do it in the Prem, assuming he ends up there
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Bluetone added 17:12 - May 12 Probably be able to join a long list of bench warmers.
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jas0999 added 17:13 - May 12 Best of luck to McAuley - such a shame he leaves for nothing.
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Marshalls_Mullet added 17:17 - May 12 Phil - Surely worth mentioning that Tomasz Kuszczak would be RETURNING to WBA. And who is this Gareth McAuley character??
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PhilTWTD added 17:24 - May 12 I'd forgotten that's where Kuszczak had been before. Amended.
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WoodfordTim added 17:34 - May 12 I think that Norris & McAuley (or rather their agents) knew exactly what they were doing last summer in trying to get a lot more than Town were prepared to pay. We have to back Simon Clegg, who is acting for the owner, who in turn is bankrolling the club, in not being taken in by the agents' tactics. All that, "we love it here & want to stay" nonsense. The players would not say anything else for fear of the supporters' reaction. Pity they have contrived to leave for nothing & get better signing-on terms for themselves. About £2Mn for PJ would have been useful.

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stevieiriswattii added 17:38 - May 12 Well said Woodford, its not Clegg's fault or Jewell's fault (or even Keane's!), its down to the players whether they stay or not & they don't fancy it. Best of luck chaps & we move on.
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h32 added 17:39 - May 12 Bluetone - I guess you'll soon be saying Hodgson doesn't know what he is doing - as if !
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rightwinger added 17:45 - May 12 A rep who called today was sad that mc was leaving ITFC as he scored a lot of goals for his team ncfc, but was pleased when I told him WBA were after him.
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bluelady added 17:46 - May 12 i still dont think he has the speed for the premiership... he seemed to struggle against really attacking oposition.... still wish him luck.
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muhrensleftfoot added 17:48 - May 12 Sorry Woodford & stevieiriswattii - it certainly is Clegg's fault for. If the players refused to sign new deals last summer, then they should have been sold. We would probably have got £1m - £2m for the pair. Poor business. Now PJ has to spend good money on replacements for decent Championship players who have left for free, due in the main, to Clegg's incompetance.

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OneBobbyRobson added 17:56 - May 12 Just as Roy Hodgson starts to do well at West Brom he's considering bringing in McAuley to tighten up his back four? Yes he's good at Championship level and yes it will be shame not to have him in our team next season but he's certainly not Premier League quality. Crazy!
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Mark added 17:58 - May 12 He should have been signed or sold last summer, absolutely. I take it Ipswich's offer is now withdrawn so that if McAuley and Norris do not get better deals elsewhere they cannot come back to us - it would be amusing if they ended up on less money at other Championship clubs.
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itfc1981 added 18:01 - May 12 Woodford & stevieiriswattii, its as clear as Buxton that Clegg is to blame.
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ITFC4daprem added 18:04 - May 12 would think it would be better for him to go to rangers but if hogdson rates him then he could be there new number 4
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howdonblue added 18:18 - May 12 Bluelady your soooo right he neither has the pace and there is a little matter of him being an average player !!!!! Many people on here rate him , but I think not . Some of us on here are old enough to Remember real class centre halfs we've had at the club. Sorry if I upset anyone saying this
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bedsitfc added 18:21 - May 12 muhrensleftfoot - if itfc had sold them and we went down what would you be saying today??? also if we did get £2 million for them would you have trust keane to find suitable replacements??? i am glad its gone this way as it could have been league 1 for us and that would cost the club a lot more.
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bedsitfc added 18:28 - May 12 howdonblue - yes you have upset me!!!!! damn i am that old lol
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h32 added 18:34 - May 12 howdonblue - we heard all this from people when Walters moved on - reckon he's just about shut everyone up by now, once and for all. So how good's the judgement ? - it has to be asked.
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cornishnick added 18:58 - May 12 Totally agree with muhrens. Should have been offered contract last summer. If refused, we could have sold. We risk spending all our money just to stand still. Sorry, but Clegg appears clueless. I just wonder who'll cotton on first, ME or PJ?
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jas0999 added 19:23 - May 12 I disagree with those who say Clegg isn't to blame. I just can't see it. As many have pointed out these deals should have been signed last year - or the players sold and replaced. The comments about players holding the club to ransom were not particularly clever and by all accounts annoyed both Norris and McAuley. Also, I was reading that at Ipswich station, guess who is the face of the season ticket campaign - David Norris. You couldn't make it up.

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theblueginger added 19:25 - May 12 i thought half the reason WBA stayed up is because of a decent defence? hes gonna be another bench warmer.
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alfromcol added 19:49 - May 12 Can't see him being much good against Man U and the like who play the ball along the ground. Good with his head but his feet are a long way a way. Imagine GM against Wayne Rooney et al. NO CONTEST
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TractorCam added 19:58 - May 12 Good luck to Mcauley!
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bluelady added 20:26 - May 12 H32 agree about Walters but he was very young big MAC has noticeably slowed I believe.... thirty is quite old to start in premiership think it could prove a step to far but I do wish him all the best
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