West Brom crisis deepens as players forced to apologise for 'stealing taxi' during warm-weather training in Barcelona
West Bromwich Albion's troubled season has been plunged into deeper crisis after four senior players allegedly hijacked a taxi during a drunken night out on the club’s mid-winter training camp in Barcelona.
Club captain Jonny Evans, Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore and Boaz Myhill have all made a grovelling apology for the bizarre incident which has heaped fresh embarrassment on the Premier League’s bottom club.
It can be revealed that:
The four players stole the taxi from outside a McDonald’s restaurant in the early hours of Thursday morning
The quartet were out until 5.30am, breaking a midnight curfew imposed by head coach Alan Pardew earlier that day
Spanish police say they will be called to court to answer charges.
Pardew has now admitted he faces an uncertain future following the dismissal of chairman John Williams this week
Pardew was also robbed on Tuesday night, with thieves stealing his wallet and mobile phone
West Brom have launched an investigation into the incident, with the four players facing fines of two week’s wages, while Pardew’s decision to take his squad to Barcelona is now under closer scrutiny.
Pardew felt the warm-weather camp would have a galvanising effect on his struggling squad, with the club bottom of the table, but many sources have claimed the players were reluctant to go in the first place. One source even described the atmosphere as "rotten".
Now, however, Pardew’s future appears increasingly under threat after his four players became the latest Premier League footballers to embarrass abroad.
In a collective statement released on the club’s website, the players said: “We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to our team-mates, the head coach, the club and especially the supporters for the events which have been the subject of widespread and negative publicity.
“We felt it important we identify ourselves as the players involved in an incident which occurred during the training camp in Spain this week out of respect for team-mates who otherwise could be implicated by association.
“We freely acknowledge and apologise for the break of curfew which we accept represented a breach of the standards of professionalism required of us as representatives of West Bromwich Albion FC.
“The club has informed us that it will now conduct its own inquiry into the incident and we will co-operate fully.
“In the meantime, we would like to assure our supporters that this incident does not reflect the determination and resolve we possess to do all we can to recover a difficult season.”
Pardew had given his players permission to have a night out on Wednesday, with a strict midnight curfew, though many players opted to stay at the five-star hotel The One to watch the Champions League games.
However, some players including Evans, Barry, Livermore and Myhill went for a night out near the Barcelona Olympic Port. It is understood that when the bars shut in the early hours they hailed a taxi, with the driver taking them to a McDonald’s drive-through restaurant.
The driver then temporarily left the car, for reasons unknown, with the quartet then commandeering the vehicle and driving up one-way streets. Incredibly, they then decided to abandon the taxi outside their hotel, with the car returned to the driver at around 8am.
The quartet were interviewed but not arrested by Catalonia police, though Spanish sources claim they could be called to court to answer charges. There is widespread surprise over the players involved.
Northern Ireland international Evans, 30, was a target for Manchester City and Arsenal in the January transfer window while Barry, 36, is the record Premier League appearance holder.
Livermore, 28, and No. 2 goalkeeper Myhill, 35, were also involved but Pardew has revealed the quartet are likely to be included in the squad for Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Southampton.
Pardew has admitted he feels “let down” over their decision to break the curfew and even conceded his future is now up in the air, after chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman were both sacked earlier this week.
He said: “They broke a curfew and that’s unacceptable and I feel a bit let down by that.
“I don't usually set too many curfews and I've had many trips as you can imagine – mid-season, pre-season, end of season with football teams. I've never had an incident before, so yeah, I'm a bit disappointed.
"When your chairman and financial director have been moved on you can't be certain of your job, you just have to try and do your job and that's what I'll do.
"I'm an experienced manager and I'm going to try and use my experience to get us out of this situation. This is obviously not ideal and wasn’t what I wanted.”
Pardew, it can be revealed, was also robbed on Tuesday night after leaving his jacket in a bar – with thieves taking his wallet and mobile phone.
But he has defended the training camp, with his squad flying out on Tuesday morning and returning on Friday afternoon.
“In hindsight, after the incident, would I have gone? No. But before, if I knew there was not going to be an incident, would have I gone? Yes I would,” he said.
“We needed to go away and get ourselves right for the run-in. I have done that many times to good effect. This time it hasn't worked out.”
West Brom are bottom of the table, seven points adrift of 17th-placed Huddersfield, while Pardew has only one league win since his appointment in November.
