THOSE of us who are privileged enough to sit in the press room and spout our opinions tend to be a cynical bunch.

Any player rested must immediately be under suspicion for scrapping with his manager. There will have been haymakers, name calling and they'll have rolled around in the mud like dirty pigs, stinking the place out.

A player falling ill on the day of a game? No bother - he's been dropped for some reason or other. He's probably been caught out in a Summer Row nightspot two nights before a match. Tut tut.

Someone else being brought back in...well we all know that he's related to the manager. They must be. Or someone has pictures that the other doesn't want releasing. It's obvious.

But what of Abdoulaye Meite?

Such was the Ivory Coast defender's inactivity at Albion that there was more chance of him walking around the Mailbox on a Saturday afternoon than patrolling his six-yard area.

A colleague - no longer on this patch I should add - used to refer to Meite as May Day, such was his tendency for goalmouth 'disaster'.

Harsh? Without a doubt. But somewhat understandable. Let's be honest, how many people groaned when they saw the team-sheet before the Stoke game?

He got a 'three' out of 10 in his last outing of 2010, versus Ipswich. Only special performances warrant such a lack of respect. I've counted four 'threes' during my 10-year spell covering the club.

But, credit where it's due, Roy Hodgson has tapped into something. And Meite has responded.
Two outstanding performances - and yes, they were that good - have given hope.

This isn't totally surprising. Think back to the start of his Albion career in 2008. He and Jonas Olsson were always the most convincing central defensive partnership of that campaign, even though they rarely figured as a partnership for one reason or another.

Gary Megson famously fell out with Meite during half-time when Bolton played Manchester United. On the night Albion signed Meite, I, by total coincidence, bumped into Bryan Robson when I was out with a mate. The gist of the conversation is that Albion had dropped one.

Meite has taken some strides towards proving us all wrong. The warning signs could soon be removed, the cynicism will tail off.

The 30-year-old is now being challenged to fight for his Albion future by Baggies boss Hodgson.

He clearly has the ability, the nous and the fight when he wants to. Perhaps Hodgson is exactly what Meite needed. He's brought the giant back to life.

Good news for all concerned.

In January, nobody wanted him. Celtic sniffed but weren't sure, the rest were sure in showing no interest.

Two months on, if Meite can impress he will stand a good chance of being kept on by Albion, who have the option of taking up a 12-month clause.

Meite has a lot of catching up to do. But, based on these 'first' two performances, perhaps he's finally retrieving some of the ability we all suspected he had within him.

It's now up to him. He should view this as the second chapter of his Albion career. It's certainly a second chance few of us envisaged he would get.