West Brom boss to speak to Callum Robinson about vaccine stance

The Irish international has had Covid twice but has opted against getting the jab

(Getty Images)

West Bromwich Albion boss Valerien Ismael has said he will talk to forward Callum Robinson over his decision to not get vaccinated against Covid-19, but made it clear that he would not place any demands on his player.

The Republic of Ireland international netted twice against Azerbaijan in a World Cup qualifier last week, before also putting a hat-trick past Qatar in a friendly.

It was comfortably his best week in the green jersey, having only netted once on the senior international stage before then, though as many headlines were made when he revealed he had opted against getting the vaccination.

His club manager Ismael says West Brom have given the players the opportunity to ensure they can protect themselves should they wish to do so, but doesn’t want isolate Robinson due to his decision.

“The first thing to say is it’s a personal choice,” he said. “We can’t force anyone to take the vaccine and we need to respect the position of each person and not stigmatise him or make him look bad.

“He has the right to take his decision. The only thing I can say is that I am fully vaccinated and the club provided early this week vaccination possibility for the players so the majority of our players are vaccinated now. So we have a good feeling but we need to respect everyone.”

Even so, Ismael is keen to ensure that the entire squad are not put at risk.

He says he will make it clear that the group dynamic is the most important aspect, while pointing out that a mass breakout could see the club forced to close the training ground - as happened to several clubs last season before the vaccine was available - and affirmed that his view was that being protected meant having the vaccine.

“When you are a public person and you work at a football team you need to make sure you protect yourself, protect your team-mates and protect your family because every day we are in contact with a lot of people. At the moment the only way we can protect ourselves is to get the vaccine. That’s my own thought on this.

“We need to protect team-mates, the squad so we can carry on with the schedule and the games and with the training sessions.

“We don’t need the training ground being shut down for two weeks, that could be massive for us. It’s just to make sure that everyone knows.”

The Baggies are second in the Championship as they look to secure a return to the top flight, with Robinson so far netting three times in 10 appearances.