Recently by James Peacock

GIANNI Zuiverloon did not take long to get up to speed with the demands of the Premier League.

He was named man-of-the-match after his home debut for West Bromwich Albion, an achievement made even more impressive considering he wasn't even fully operating on British time.

The young Dutch full-back only returned from the Olympic Games on Monday and a week of sleepless nights and jet-lag had blighted the Dutchman's preparation for the game against Everton.

Although Albion supporters loved what they saw, Zuiverloon promised there was far to come.

WEST Bromwich Albion manager Tony Mowbray has tipped his two youngest strikers to come of age in the Premier League.

The stories behind Ishmael Miller and Luke Moore, England Under-21 internationals both, are similar.

The failure to make a lasting impact at their former Premier League clubs has left them hungry to prove people wrong and, now that Albion are back on the stage they believe they belong, their manager is eager to see them grasp the opportunities before them.

"I hope all the strikers get off the mark in the next few weeks and the midfield players are threatening to score," said Mowbray.

WEST Bromwich Albion's chance of staying in the Premier League this season can be roughly judged at 50-50 on the basis that only 23 of the 47 teams promoted to the division have survived to see a second year.

At that stage, five more have fallen back into the clutches of the Coca-Cola Championship.

Reveal such basic research to Tony Mowbray and it is met with an exasperated, almost disdainful snigger, followed shortly by a rub of his furrowed brow.

However, it is because of numbers like these that Albion are once more among the 'experts' and bookies' favourites to be relegated - along with Stoke City and Hull City - which was news to the Baggies' manager, especially as no one has seen his side play.

WEST Bromwich Albion received some welcome news yesterday when defender Abdoulaye Meite signed for £2million.

The deal for the 27-year-old had earlier this week been described as "dead in the water" by manager Tony Mowbray but after his side's final pre-season run out against Real Mallorca he intimated the transfer was on the brink of being resurrected.

He also admitted the transfer window has been a frustrating time and could not resist having a swipe at the "outsiders" who, he says, have made his life more complicated than it should have been this summer.

If it were possible for football agents to have gone down in Mowbray's estimations, they have come close in the past couple of months.