Great news.

SAIDO Berahino has been rewarded with a new-and-improved contract which commits him to the club until June 2017.

The Academy graduate, who made his eighth Barclays Premier League appearance by coming off the bench at Newcastle on Saturday, put pen to paper on his three-and-a-half-year deal at the club’s training ground this morning.

Sporting & Technical Director Richard Garlick said the contract is just reward for the rapid progress the 20-year-old striker has made this year.

He also claimed it is a red-letter day for the club’s Academy, whose staff spotted Berahino as an 11-year-old and nurtured his talent before he advanced into the Development Squad.

“It was always our intention to reward Saido for the huge strides he has made over the past few months,” said Garlick.

“He started to make really positive noises at the start of last season but couldn’t quite break into Steve’s first team.

“But he went out on loan to Peterborough United and did really well. He played games, scored goals and was in a really good place.

“Unfortunately, he picked up a knee injury which ruled him out for the rest of the season.

“But he came back here for his rehab, got his head down and concentrated fully on getting fit and healthy.

“At the moment he peaked in his recovery, the first team reported back for pre-season.

“That meant he hit the ground running and pretty much underwent a second pre-season. He did well in the friendlies before really coming to the fore with his hat-trick against Newport in the Capital One Cup.

“From then on, he hasn’t looked back, scoring his first Premier League goals and hitting the net regularly for England Under-21s.”

Garlick insisted it is important for Berahino’s progress that expectation levels remain at a realistic level and he has urged the forward to simply keep doing what he’s been doing.

“To be able to reward one of our proteges, who has worked his way up through the ranks from the age of 11, is a great moment for the club,” added Garlick.

“It’s a fantastic story for us and especially for our hard-working Academy staff, who have played a fundamental role in his development over the years.

“Producing one or two players who can supplement the first team is something we want to achieve every year.

“We hope this is the start of that process as we feel we have a number of other young, exciting players coming through.

“Saido’s progress should be an inspiration to all of the players within our Academy.

“It’s difficult for any 20-year-old to get into a Premier League side and there are going to be times when Saido’s maybe not playing as much as he would like to.

“He’s not the finished article and he has to remain patient, as we do with him.

“But he has done exceptionally well to get where he is and he now has to focus on what got him here – hard work and keeping his feet on the ground.”

Read more at http://www.wba.co.uk/news/article/saido-signs-new-contract-1204017.aspx#i1fOTRuAdbwRUoJ2.99

@smadeley_star: Berahino has signed a 3-and-half-year deal thought to be worth around £14,000 a week - that's around £2.5m over the length of the deal. #wba

Are you the only person on the Albion board? But lonely.

Pretty much.

Great news but no surprise. He was always going to sign!

Fantastic news, a good deal for both parties and hopefully Saido can now press on with his first team claims. We've missed his pace and directness the last couple of games.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0uWxrqvhIDc

Keep up the good work on JA606, JH. Not everyone can get on every day and we do need to be kept informed!
Fantastic news about Berahino. He could turn out to be absolutely massive for Albion.

Cheers aries, pal

And...

Let's hope Saido can celebrate his new contract by scoring the winner on Wednesday

@SBerahino: God is great, iam happy to say ive signed a new contract at west brom,wana thank all the players staff and my family for helping me get it.

God is indeed great. Hallelujah!

I reckon we'll be lucky to get nil against Man City! Their crap away form has to end somewhere, and we usually oblige in that department.

With the form Nasri, Navas, Aguero and Negredo are in, I'd be astonished if it's anything less than 4.

All we can do is get behind the boys.

The Hawthorns can be a difficult place to come when we back the boys.

Our home support is generally not very good, half of the songs are about other teams rather than our own (slup a dingle, sheet on the villa etc). The atmosphere at The Hawthorns is almost always a disappointment for me. I much prefer away games.

As a Smethwick End season ticket holder id disagree personally but that's your opinion.

You seem to have a bleak look on all things the Baggies.

I bet you're a blast at away games. I really do.

I am. I sing. I shout. Away games are great. But at home about half of the songs are about Wolves / Villa / players from those clubs, rather than being 100% Albion. It takes away from the atmosphere for me, as it's not supporting our club.

I moved from the Smethwick two years ago as I was quite frankly embarrassed by the songs coming out of there. Am now in the East Stand, which may be boring, but I can at least watch the game in some sort of peace.

So...you moved so you can watch the game in 'peace'

.......but

You don't think our atmosphere is great at home.

Okay

I was surrounded by numpties yelling songs about Wolves, I could not enjoy the game being surrounded by such plebs. Support OUR team by singing about OUR players, for God's sake. I really hated sitting in the Smethwick.

Think yourself lucky, Azzy.
In the 70's it was quite normal to get pizzed on while you were hearing songs about Leeds or Chelsea...

" ...Ohh me lads, you should have seen their faces, running round the Brummie road to see the Don Howe aces....."

Back to Saido...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LJwZrgcdU-E

From where I sit, near the Millennium Corner, I think the Smethwick's a hoot. V. funny!

And I think our home support's as good as anyone's. Wolves' home support is shít (and who can blame them, having to watch two relegations on the trot) and so is Man U's and Villa's.