Wednesday 18 June 2014

Faded Footballers: What ever happened to Jason Koumas?

Arguably my favourite ever Albion player. Pace, skill, class, attitude and ability in abundance, Jason Koumas had it all, but he never quite made it.
One thing he did do was make the plunge back down the leagues into the football wilderness.
Koumas made his name at Tranmere coming through the youth system in the late 90's and in the end bagged 25 goals in 127 games.
The flair player was a class act, and showed that leading the Prenton Park men to a famous 3-0 FA Cup win over Everton at Goodison Park in 2001.
He caught the eye of Gary Megson at Albion who took him on for £2.25 million, massive money for a team like West Brom at the time.
He was the Baggies player of the season in the Premier League but couldn't keep them up. During this time I met Koumas when I was just a primary school boy. He was my hero, and I was overawed by his presence.
Koumas back in the early days

He was a Welsh international born to Greek parents, which at the time seemed extremely weird. But as I grew older I realised Koumas wasn't the massive hero I once saw him as.
He had on and off spells at Albion, he got on with Megson, but when he was given the boot, Koumas and new man Bryan Robson didn't see eye to eye, with Robson questioning his attitude.
By this time it was clear to see that the Welshman had the personality about him, one of a spoilt child some would say.
Despite a successful loan spell at Cardiff and an apperant strike regarding contract negotations back at Albion, Koumas signed a new three year deal for the Baggies.
Under Tony Mowbray he flourished in a side that boasted the likes of Phillips, Gera and Kamara.
Albion missed out on the play-off win and Derby went up only to record the worst ever Premier League season.
However Koumas had seen enough and Jeremy Peace cashed in for £5.3 million. A huge loss to Albion he was a great player, however from here he seemed to go off the rails slightly.
After a bright start at Wigan, it went wrong with injury after injury and rumours had it after a spell at Cardiff in 2010, he returned to Wigan, and temporarily retired after being a free agent.
On researching this blog post Google throws up searches such as 'Jason Koumas depression' and 'Jason Koumas Drugs.'
Bags the Baggies a goal in the relegation 02/03 season

I should really have been expecting to see something like that as it is usually the case when a footballer goes off the scene.
Such a wasted talent if this was the case, however Koumas was back on the scene last summer.
He signed for Tranmere after apperantly 'enjoying his time out of the game.' If the drugs claim is true I am sure he did!
After catching a glimpse of him back at Prenton Park I was impressed. He bagged three goals in 29 appearances back at Tranmere. Following this he turned down a string of higher clubs to play for the club who gave him his big chance in the in football, back in League Two.
Respect to the man for that and now he is moving into a coaching role and could be club captain.
Not bad really, but I can only help think what if with Koumas.
We will never know, but he is another one of many who has fallen by the waste side.

Next FADED FOOTBALLER blog: Craig Gordon

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