After a below average first season in the English top flight with West Bromwich Albion, record signing, Brown Ideye says he has buried the ghost of the past and is ready for the challenge ahead.
Prolific scorer for Neuchâtel Xamax in Switzerland, Sochaux in France and Dynamo Kyiv in Ukraine, but his adventure in England didn’t quite turn out right because after thirty games in all competitions, Brown Ideye only had seven goals to his name.
Before his sojourn in England, Ideye had played 249 professional football matches, twenty-one in Nigeria and 228 in Europe.
He had also scored 105 league goals including 8 for Ocean Boys, but at West Bromwich Albion, there were no easy days for him.
“It was really tough for me,” Ideye told Naijafootball247.com.
“The thing is that, in all that happened last season, I never looked down on myself.
“It was tough and hard but never did I lose confidence in myself. I knew they were just tough times that players normally pass through so I told myself I would work harder,” Ideye said.
Tango with the fans
At a stage in Ideye’s West Bromwich Albion career last season, some fans of the club turned against him and his twitter mentions were filled with curse words, most of them insinuating he was a flop and not good enough for the club.
As the club’s record signing, they expected more from him than he gave the club.
“People expect you to perform in every game and score in every game and that is simply what happened last season,” he said.
“I have the same mentality and I push myself, I give my best and I keep pushing until I get what I want, which is goals to help my team win.
“It’s hard because sometimes the fans do not understand what you are going through at every point so they just say what they want, based on what they feel.
“Some of them still think I am not the real deal and I received a lot of insults but people do not know what you are passing through. It’s part of football. They just see you from the outside and express their views, but those things that happened last season just made me stronger.
“I still believe last season went well under the circumstances. I have no regrets at all.
“I always find a way to work hard and for the team. Things were not always the best for me but I know I always worked hard and now I hope for the best this new season.”
At his home in Port Harcourt, Nigeria in June, just before he jetted off to England to join his club for the pre-season formalities, Ideye didn’t look like one who was scared or bothered about the challenge ahead.
He certainly, also did not look like someone weather beaten by his travails of the previous season. He seemed Happy-go-lucky, expecting to be a big hit when the season resumes.
Returning from the gymnasium he told Naijafootball247.com, “I will just make believe this is my first season with the club because one problem I had last year was that I didn’t join them for the pre-season camp and tour.”
He continued, “I’ve looked forward to the off season and pre-season and I believe this will be a good year for me.
"The fans will remember my goals.”
West Bromwich Albion in the USA
True to it, Ideye made it to the team’s pre-season camp in the United Kingdom and was part of the tour of the United States where he played in all three games for the club.
In the 3-1 loss to Austrian champions, Red Bull Salzburg, he came on as a 50thminute substitute for Victor Anochebe, while in the 3-1 loss to Orlando he was taken off in the 50th minute for Anichebe.
In their final game of the tour, a 2-1 win over Charleston, Ideye, who came on in the 45th minute for Anichebe scored in the 82nd minute after Saido Berahinho had put his side ahead in the 42nd minute of the encounter.
Going to the Middle East
But all these would have counted for nothing if Ideye had moved to the Middle East on Transfer Deadline Day at the end of January 2015.
Suddenly the football world woke up with the news that West Bromwich Albion had agreed terms with a Qatari club, Al Gharafa in a deal worth about $5.9m and Ideye would soon be on his way to have his medicals, but he stayed back and started a goal scoring run in the League and FA Cup in February.
In a six day spell, he scored four times with goals against Burnley and Swansea City in the League and two against West Ham United in the FA Cup
“It was tough. Every day I walked on the street people looked at me and said I would be going to Qatar, but some of those things toughened me.
“I never thought of leaving England to Qatar. England was always my first choice destination when I left Ukraine and I wanted to come here to perform and play football. It was never in my plans to leave for Qatar or any other league and I did not want to go,” he said.
Pulis’ great words of knowledge
With manager, Irvine losing his job in the side and Tony Pulis joining the fray, it was always going to be tough for a player who was never really in the plans of the former coach.
And Ideye agrees that it was tough at first, but says he had a straight up talk with the new gaffer.
“After Pulis came he called me into his office and asked if I really wanted to play for him and of course I said yes.
“We spoke about the club and he told me everything will be okay if I do my job well and train hard.”
Ideye continued that he had never had doubts about his capabilities as a footballer and a top goal scorer.
“I never doubted that I could do the business for West Bromwich Albion.
“The coach told me he believes in me and I can turn things around. I didn’t get all the goals I wanted but there is always this new season,” he enthused.
Another bite of the International cake?
![]()
After being shut out of the Nigeria National Team by former coach, Stephen Keshi, Ideye says he wants another bite of the cherry.
“I expect to return to the national team. Why not? Every player wants to play for his country so anytime I am called up to honour an invitation I will come down and be hundred percent glad to play,” he said.
But he also knows that his footballing future is tied to how well his goals count for West Bromwich Albion when the season starts on August 8, 2015.
“I will be a different Ideye this season. I will push myself to that height people know me to be and I will do better than last season.”
It all starts on August 10 at the Hawthorns against Manchester City.
As they say in the Midlands, Boing! Boing!!
