James Morrison: West Bromwich Albion helped me grow up

Sep 24 2008 By Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

JAMES Morrison has grown up not only as a player but also as a person following his move from home-town club Middlesbrough 20 months ago.

No longer does he have to rely on his mother to do the washing, cleaning and cooking. Morrison now has a house of his own in Sutton Coldfield and has settled down with his partner, who has a degree in public relations and works for Blues.

But as the midfielder prepares for arguably the biggest game of his Albion career this weekend – a trip to The Riverside – he admits to initially finding the transition extremely difficult as he adjusted from being undoubtedly a small fish in a big pond to a big fish away from all the home comforts.

“It was a difficult move for me,’’ he said.

“I wanted to move to play more football but my friends and family are up there and I’m very close to them. It was a difficult move coming here and being on my own.

“My mum does everything for me but being away has helped me and I’ve grown up.

“I can use the washer now.”

It soon becomes clear that Morrison holds a great deal of gratitude to Tony Mowbray for rescuing him from the Boro fringes and kickstarting his career.

“I feel I’ve come on as a player and as a person,’’ he says.

“One of my aims when I came here was to become a better person and I think the people here and the manager have helped me.

“The manager trusts me and that helps when you go out on to the pitch.

“At Middlesbrough that didn’t happen.”

Morrison is now as settled as he ever was back home in the North-East.

He continued: “I got an apartment straight away and now I’ve got a house in Sutton Coldfield.

“It’s always nice when the family come down and watch the games and it’s always special when I go home.

“I try to cook but I’ve moved my girlfriend in now and she tends to do it.”

Will there be any split loyalties within the family at Boro on Saturday? Not a chance. And they are all clamouring for complimentary tickets.

“My family are Newcastle fans,’’ he said.

“Everyone wants to come who is close to me. It’s going to be weird.”

The banter has already started to fly between Morrison and his former Boro youth team-mates.

Morrison played a key role in Boro’s FA Youth Cup triumph four years ago, scoring two crucial goals in the 3-0 final first leg win at Villa.

“My mates are there who I grew up with in the youth team there –hopefully I don’t pass them the ball too many times,’’ he said.

“I’ve been speaking to them a lot this week, having banter and telling them I’m coming for them.

“I’m close to Andy Taylor, Adam Johnson, Ross Turnbull and David Wheater.

“I’ll be stopping up there on Saturday night. I had to be a Boro fan and I still look out for the results.

“It’s nice to see they’re doing alright.”

As to whether Albion have a chance of success this Saturday, Morrison believes they must quickly develop a cutting edge at both ends of the pitch after the 2-1 defeat to neighbours Villa.

“We’ve done really well with the ball but I think we’ve just been lacking in both boxes. That’s what counts.”

He firmly believes, though, that the team will get things right and dismisses notions of a switch to 4-4-2 with Mowbray favouring one up front so far this season.

“There’s been talk of 4-4-2 but if you look at our team I think our strength is the midfield at the moment,’’ Morrison said

“If we keep believing in the way we’re playing that will help us start getting wins. It’s difficult in this league but we’ve got four points on the board and if we go and win at Middlesbrough the last result will be forgotten.”

He continued: “We need to look at who we’re playing, what position we’re in and how the forwards are doing. We may go two up front against Boro but there’s always got to be caution.

“A point away from home is a big thing and I’d settle for that.

“When we played 4-5-1 at Bolton we were outstanding.

“When we’re winning people say the formation is fine and when we lose it’s not.

“We’ve just got to deal with that and take it on the chin.

“Everyone knows what we’re trying to do and what the gaffer’s methods are.

“We just need to put that out on the pitch on Saturday and try and enjoy it.