Farewell Jonno, you'll be missed

AND so the day has finally arrived - Jonathan Greening is leaving.

It's been some time since an Albion player left with such dignity and, it has to be said, so much support from Baggies fans. There will be no booing if Jonno returns to The Hawthorns.

He made 224 appearances for the Baggies, scoring eight goals.

So what made Greening such a popular man and captain?

Gary Megson, the man who signed him back in 2004 - I recall he arrived in the same week as Zoltan Gera and Kanu, imagine that now... - spoke of his joy after convincing Greening to join his newly-promoted Albion. He was, said Megson, "a proven Premiership player who will be a big player for this club." How right you were Gary.

Bryan Robson rated him highly but the man who got the best out of Jonno was Tony Mowbray. Shifting him from the left wing into the centre of midfield, Mowbray was to eventually make him captain - a strange decision it seemed initially, yet I've known few players to command as much respect from managers, coaches and players at the club. Mowbray once described him as the most important player at the club. And it showed.

One contact, who has been close to the club for 40-odd years, recently told me that Greening was one of the best captains the club had in terms of his ambassadorial qualities and the respect he commanded by all around him.

Roberto Di Matteo also spoke in glowing terms about the cultured midfielder. You'd expect him to, given his own playing career. He was one of those players who often frustrated during games but wasn't half missed when he was absent - Albion could have done with him during the second half at Peterborough when the game needed slowing down.

Yet, next summer, Albion will start collecting in excess of £4.5million for a player who turns 31 next birthday. Even if the Baggies had taken the fee now, it would have still been paid in installments, as most deals are. This way, Albion will no doubt get a loan fee and the full amount in the future.

Off the field, Jonno was a gentleman but utterly bonkers at the same time.

Few of us who dealt with him will ever forget those Jonnoisms which kept us entertained.

At times he was pure Gold.

There was the time Jonno was asked by journalists about Steve McClaren a few days before his Middlesbrough were due to visit the Hawthorns. When a journalist mentioned McClaren's credentials as a possible future England boss, Greening replied: "England boss? He's not good enough. Look at the signings he's made at Boro and some of the lads don't even like him." Albion's press officer simply put his head in his hands. But Greening was spot on.

Another time he famously offered his thoughts on the music industry, asking: "How can there be any more songs to write when surely they've used up all the notes by now..."

Greening clearly had a liking for other kinds of music. I once went Christmas shopping to Sutton Coldfield and spotted a group of carol singers being watched by shoppers, mainly senior citizens. But there was one figure who stood out as being somewhat younger - Jonno, Christmas shopping. Songs about Jesus, a long-haired bearded man stood watching, with people around him bearing gifts. This was getting surreal and somewhat biblical.

There was a time Jonno used to turn up to training in a brightly-coloured Mini. He claimed it belonged to his wife. Goodness knows what Mrs Greening must have thought when, on one occasion, her husband drove home completely oblivious to the fact that several dead mice - the kind you buy for pet snakes - had been Sellotaped to his parcel shelf and aerial. Andy Johnson, Albion's prankster-in-chief, was clearly bored that day.

And speaking of driving, Kevin Phillips wasn't amused to be kept waiting by Greening when the Albion skipper had promised him a lift to training. Phillips waited and waited and waited, before getting a phone call from a weary Jonno explaining that the journey was taking longer than he had expected.

It turns out Greening had typed 'Uttoxeter' into his satnav, rather than 'Uttoxeter Road', which was where Phillips was living at the time. Greening was practically in Uttoxeter when he realised his error. The two finally arrived somewhat late, well after training had started, but I'm sure Tony Mowbray sees the funny side of it these days.

All of this, and plenty of other footballing reasons, are why Jonno will be missed by all close to the club. He was liked by pretty much everyone at the club.

Good luck Jonathan.