The Czech striker thrived at Watford but, after scoring just three times for West Brom, is yet to find his shooting boots at Derby County.
Since Matej Vydra earned the 2013 Championship Player of the Year gong for a prolific campaign under Gianfranco Zola at Watford, he has netted just 24 league goals – 16 of which came during a return to Vicarage Road in 2014/15.
A loan spell at Reading produced a measly tally of three in 33 games while, after somehow convincing Derby County to part with a club record £8 million transfer fee in the summer according to the BBC, he has continued to struggle.
That explosive finishing and rapid acceleration that characterised his first season on English shores in Watford yellow has barely been seen since.
Therefore, if West Brom had any doubts that they made a mistake not giving him more of an opportunity during a season-long loan in 2013/14, they should look to the fact Derby have had almost as many managers as Vydra has scored goals this season – although, in his defence, he has spent most of the season playing in an ill-suited lone strker role.
However, the 24-year-old claimed that his total of seven Premier League games during his spell at The Hawthorns was the major reason behind his inability to prove himself in the top flight, as reported by Sky Sports.
“I scored three goals, which isn’t something great for a striker, but what can I do about it now that the season is over? I don’t want to praise myself but, in most cases, when I played from the first minute, I did quite well,” he said.
“When you go on the pitch for the last 10 or 15 minutes, then you have little power to do anything.”
Yet, starts have not been difficult to come by at the iPro and Vydra appears to be the classic case of a striker who cannot replicate his prolific form at one club in a different environment.
He averaged roughly one-in-three during two spells at Watford but, at West Brom, Reading and Derby, nets almost every nine games.
The Baggies are clearly crying out for a striker with 37-year-old centre-back Gareth McCleary the club’s joint top scorer alongside Salomon Rondon, who has not found the net in three months.
But Vydra’s struggles at Championship level hardly suggest that he should have been given more of an opportunity in the top division.
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