West Brom's £3m Liverpool transfer looked good on paper but it was far from it | OneFootball

Rickie Lambert's time in B71 didn't go according to plan

During his first pre-season in charge of West Bromwich Albion, Tony Pulis was tasked with progressing the Baggies further forward after a respectable 13th-place finish in his first four months in charge after taking the reins on New Year's Day 2015, when the club were just a place and a point above the relegation zone.

However, a strong second half to the season, fuelled by the goalscoring prowess of Saido Berahino - who netted 20 goals in all competitions - meant that optimism was high in this part of the West Midlands.

The Welsh manager then went on to make nine new signings in the summer transfer window, with plenty of those going on to have varying levels of success in the Black Country.

One of those recruits came in the form of Rickie Lambert, who had endured a pretty underwhelming prior campaign, despite sealing a dream move to his boyhood club, Liverpool, for approximately £4m after his most notable stint with Southampton, which began in League One and resulted in 117 goals across 235 appearances, came to an end.

Despite going on to score for the Reds in the UEFA Champions League against Ludogorets in his solitary season at Anfield, the then 33-year-old would make a move to The Hawthorns just a year after returning to Merseyside.

And, whilst an initial £3m investment for a player of such experience looked a reasonable investment on paper, circumstances meant the 11-time England international's transfer would prove the exact opposite.

Ironically, Lambert's first involvement in an Albion shirt came imminently after signing, as he would score twice against his former club, Bristol Rovers, in a pre-season friendly.

"Rickie is a good, strong, solid player who is a great character, good in the dressing room and good on the pitch," Pulis said after the deal was confirmed.

The frontman made his debut in the opening game of the Premier League season in a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City, before registering just one of two goal contributions for the club as he set up record signing Salomon Rondon for the winner against Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium.

Lambert was then reduced to an abundance of substitute appearances, with Pulis admitting that the striker had suffered as a result of the Venezuelan's arrival just hours before the start of the campaign.

"Rickie is knocking on my door all the time. He wants to play. It's difficult at times because I understand he wants to play," the Albion boss stated.

"We didn't think we would get Salomon right up to the last minute. Salomon was a real coup for us in lots of ways."

Lambert's only goal in Blue and White would come from the penalty spot in the 84th minute of a 3-2 defeat against eventual champions Leicester City at The Hawthorns in October 2015, proving to be the last of his 31 top-flight goals.

Only two more starts for the club came Lambert's way, although the last of those would see the Baggies complete the double over Stoke, as he would play just four more minutes of Premier League football for the remainder of the season.

Rickie Lambert's exit from The Hawthorns

Despite a distinct lack of gametime, the veteran striker expressed an eagerness to remain at West Brom after their 14th-place finish in 2015/16, saying to Sky Sports: "My objective is to help West Brom, that's what I want to do, but it didn't happen for me last season."

Regardless of those hopes, it was obvious that Lambert's future in B71 was rather uncertain, with local rivals Aston Villa, who plotted a move for his services in January 2015 whilst in the Premier League, were linked with Lambert once more as former Albion boss Roberto Di Matteo looked to fire the Villans out of the Championship at the first attempt.

It was also reported by the Telegraph that the man who was named in England's World Cup squad just two years previous, could leave the club on a free transfer after it was stated he was earning approximately £42,000 per week under Pulis.

A short-distance move to B6 never materialised, but Lambert would find himself out of the Albion exit door on Deadline Day, joining Cardiff City on a two-year contract 11 days after making the last of his 120 Premier League appearances with a 12-minute cameo against Everton.

However, the Kirkby-born man wasn't able to make a strong impact in South Wales, scoring four times in just 19 appearances for the Bluebirds, which included a brace against Rotherham United and two goals in as many games against Huddersfield Town and Villa in November 2016.

He would leave the Cardiff City Stadium by mutual consent just a year into his deal, announcing his retirement just four months later on October 2nd, 2017.

Whilst Lambert is remembered with great fondness by those who watched him fire in plenty of goals at St Mary's and the Memorial Stadium, his underwhelming period at West Brom summed up an unfortunate ending to a well-respected career.