The Winding Road- The Tale of Nat Phillips.

'And all the roads that lead you there were winding”

For years you’ve moved, and for the most part, made a solid impression.

But never a home.

For Nat Phillips, a career forged often in short term fixes, the travails of a serial loanee, is a true test of a transient.

A life of fleeting visits.

A future with a seemingly, never ending, question mark?

Teams are all about squads and as Liverpool have highlighted in the past several seasons, central defence has always been sacrosanct, a rich conveyor belt of Anfield talent.

Van Dijk, Matip, Quansah, Gomez, Konate, Lovren.

No other Premier League club has close to that depth, and effectively this became a straight competition for who to select next to the irrepressible VVD, [who Tony Pulis boasted as, ‘very close to joining West Brom", in 2015, when we signed Jonny Evans], and who Nat labels as the best player he’s ever played with.

But where in the LFC pecking order did that leave Nat Phillips?

No matter how well Phillips did in his seven seasons of loan spells, it was a return to Anfield, and seemingly fated to be,

 “a dream of a professional”,

as Jurgen Klopp labelled Nat.

And a future steeped in uncertainty.

Phillips, the first signing of the Ryan Mason regime, mirrors our new boss, a clear product of that sometimes, rocky road less traveled, but it CAN be character building.

And in a club clearly in need of a new progressive attitude, with an influx of proven and trusted, on and off the field characters, there may as well have been a sign at The Hawthorns advertising,

‘LEADERS REQUIRED’.

And with Nat, we clearly have that..

Nat is a no nonsense Northern lad, like his dad, Jimmy, born and bred in Bolton.

I got to know Nat’s dad, in a very different environment.

The Manor Ground, Oxford.

I was in charge of the weight training gym at Oxford Utd from 1988, the year Jimmy Phillips signed from Glasgow Rangers, and his consistency, athleticism, humility and quiet hardness as a player stood out.

As one of Jimmy’s team mates at Oxford Utd, Robbie Mustoe told me today,

“Yes, Jimmy was tough, a bloody good left back.” 

 I’m quietly confident these traits are part of Nat’s DNA as well.

Nat spent his early years at the Bolton Wanderers Academy, the club he supported as a kid, bewitched on the terraces by the talents of Jay Jay Okocha, but his parents totally understood the need also of a solid education and Nat balanced his footballing seriously with his school studies.

Nat gained three A Levels, earning an impressive two A’s and a B, and was looking towards taking an Economics Degree, as the stark financial reality at Bolton was,

“The club really wasn’t in a position to offer contracts.”

The heartbreak of being released by his hometown team in 2016 was sadly all too predictable, but with planning, this rejection, created an opportunity for a new start in life.

By this stage, Nat’s dad, did not want his son to have a career in the lower leagues, the advice was NOT to take any one year contract from a team below The Championship level, and keep your options open..

Including the US.

And a new life at college and Collegiate Level D1 Soccer.

Nat’s future was now in his own hands, and rather than wait and see what happens, it was all about taking the initiative and reaching out.

In December 2016, University of North Carolina Head Coach, Kevin Langan received an email sent by Nat, exploring the possibility of doing an Economics Degree on a four-year Soccer Scholarship, one of the literally hundreds of emails Langan receives on a daily basis from budding players, but this one stood out.

Langan spoke about Nat’s obvious intelligence, and great potential through, ‘brilliant basics of defending’, and allied to a maturity and leadership skillset seldom seen in one so young.

It may sound a small thing, but whereas most sports scholarship prospects may be deemed unreliable in terms of promptness of tasks being completed, for Phillips, it was the polar opposite, another sign of maturity and obvious genuine character and commitment.

For Kevin Langan, this attitude was refreshing and stood out.

By the end of the recruiting process, Phillips had signed his National Letter of Intent to UNC, [ a huge deal in the US, and your final step into committing to being a Collegiate Athlete], and his signing had been announced with justifiable pride on the UNC website.

Flights and accommodation had all also been sorted.

Even the choice of a roommate for Matt, a lad who became an MLS player, Callum Montgomery.

But in one of life’s ironies, in order to get fit for the forthcoming US College Season, Nat undertook some pre-season training at Huddersfield Town.

But there was to be a very unexpected turn, two weeks before the move to UNC, Nat was subsequently asked to train with Liverpool, after being spotted at HTFC, and due to several defensive injuries, led quickly to a trip to Germany and turning out for the LFC first team in a friendly match.

As Phillips reflects,

“ The manager started taking a liking to me.”,

and as history has proven, Jurgen Klopp can certainly spot a fellow central defender?

Two days before Nat was due to fly to North Carolina, instead he signed for a future with the Liverpool Academy, initially, for two years.

Nat was incredibly apologetic to the University of North Carolina, but the realistic response of the UNC Coach Langan, spoke volumes.

“I’d have done the same”, was Langan’s generous response, if he was faced with the same scenario.

Ironically, Phillips first ever time with the LFC Senior Squad, was on a US Pre-season Tour in 2018.

The LFC base for that trip?

University of North Carolina, of all places..

Liverpool's U23 team was stacked with talent, the likes of Harry Wilson stood out, but no more so though than the defence, including Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander Arnold, augmented by the signing of Phillips.

Phillips leadership again stood out, he was soon captaining the division winning LFC U23 team, and his potential was rewarded with a new and improved three year contract, and an immediate loan move to Bundesliga 2 and VfB Stuttgart.

It was to be the start of a life for Nat as primarily a loanee, only to be ended by signing for The Albion, seven seasons later.

Klopp was the prime mover in Phillips moving to Stuttgart, being a close friend to their Sporting Director, Michael Reschke, and the loan move was set in stone..

It’s obvious how tight the bond is between Phillips and Klopp, as Phillips proudly reflected,

“How good Klopp has been to me, and he helped me out so much”.

Phillips made his Bundesliga B debut v St.Pauli and immediately signed his No.5 match shirt, with a message on the shirt to his parents, thanking them for all they’ve done in his development.

A lad who thanks his parents first and presents them with a gift like that, has clearly been brought up correctly.

Experiences like living alone in Europe, developing a new language, from the original very basics of ‘Ja’ and ‘Gut’, repeatedly shouted, “Like a lunatic!”

Nat smilingly reflected from his first Stuttgart training session, only sets the stall for his overall personal development in the future.

“The benefits I made were massive, as a player and a person"

Nat gained so much from his European loan experience, mirroring his future boss, Ryan Mason.

[Mason and Phillips were coincidentally both 22 years old during their Euro loan spells], Mason from Spurs to Lorient in France, just five years previously.

There may well be a level of empathy that connected both player and manager to be?

In January 2020, Liverpool faced a huge injury crisis prior to their 3rd Rd FA Cup Tie v Carlo Ancelotti and Everton, being down in Klopp’s words, “to just twelve fit players”, as the Festive period of games wreaked havoc on his squad.

As this was an emergency, Phillips duly returned from his Stuttgart loan, impressing in his debut in a famous 1-0 win for Liverpool.

Klopp’s words and respect post game for Phillips said it all,

“It’s nice to have Nat around again as he’s just such an exceptional person”.

Two weeks later, Nat returned to Stuttgart for warm weather training and the rest of the Bundesliga 2 season, where he started 19 games for ‘Die Roten’ [The Reds], resulting in promotion, finishing Runners Up.

Nat returned to Liverpool in 2020/21 to a team who were now Premier League Champions and made his league debut v West Ham in October, but his main impact was in the final run in for that season.

Injuries again decimated the defence, and it was the highly unlikely central defensive partnership of Phillips and fellow, unrecognized LFC Academy graduate, Rhys Williams, who were the bedrocks, a final ten game, unbeaten run that inspired Liverpool to securing third place and qualification to The Champions League.

The following season, Liverpool’s central defensive injury woes were a thing of the past, Van Dijk and Matip started 65 of the 76 League games, that season and LFC conceded just 26 goals in the league.

Phillips fleeting appearances were mostly in the Champions League, and if ever Nat’s determination and strength were ever to be questioned, how about playing despite fracturing a cheekbone in a win v AC Milan, a performance Klopp lauded for the immense character shown?

It was to be Nat’s final LFC appearance that season, Klopp sensing his prodigy needed and deserved more game time at this stage of his career, loaned Nat out to Bournemouth in Jan 2022, despite overtures for a transfer from Newcastle Utd.

At the time, Bournemouth’s promotion charge had stalled and they were in 5th place in The Championship, and the Phillips loan deal didn’t come cheap.

1.5Million with a Quarter of a Million bonus, if The Fighting Cherries were to be promoted.

It was to be an inspired loan move, in the nineteen games Nat played for Bournemouth, eight were clean sheets and their late season exhilarating form saw them finish six points in front of Carlos Corberan’s Huddersfield Town, and automatic promotion back to the EPL.

At the start of 2022/23, there was much speculation of Nat signing for either Bournemouth or fellow promoted side, Fulham, for a price of around 10 Million, but neither materialized and it was the enticement of Champions League Football and Brendan Rodgers' Celtic, that led Nat to Glasgow.

Add in the caveat of Nat’s dad, Jimmy in his playing days for the loathed Gers across the city, this loan transfer that piqued local interest, but was surprisingly a flop.

The one and only flop of Nat’s career.

In the five months Phillips was with The Bhoys’, he played just eight games, the last one was the nadir, scoring an awful own goal to top a wretched performance in a defeat to lowly Kilmarnock.

On returning to Liverpool, for just three weeks, Nat was back on the road, this time to Cardiff City, where the club unveiled their new loan signing, in a similar scenario to the Bluebirds Baggie loanee from just 18 Months prior, Cedric Kipre.

Maybe it’s something about loan moves to Cardiff that rehabilitates and re-energizes players?

Both Cedric Kipre and Karlan Grant, [KG was at Cardiff at the same time as Phillips],thrived in the Principality, seemingly the same with Phillips, who quickly established himself as the Bluebirds best defender, through not only his playing but also his leadership traits.

But success also came down to one of the key ingredients, Nat spoke about when signing for Albion this week.

“The need to play regularly and get into that rhythm of match reps.”

Playing regularly made all the difference, confidence flowed and after 16 appearances, and one diving headed goal for the Bluebirds, Phillips continually impressed, and a final position of 12th in The Championship was a grim reminder of how the following season was so inept and finishing bottom.

The 2024 return to Liverpool was a watershed moment for Nat, as it was the first time at Anfield without his mentor, Jurgen Klopp at the helm, and with two years left on his contract, it was interesting to see how Arne’ Slot would best judge Phillips’s future?

But the plethora of centre halves at Slot’s disposal again proved immovable barriers, Phillips simply could not get past, and rather than be seduced by the overtures of Trabzonspor, and of course the enticement of Okay Yokuslu as a future teammate, on the last day of the 2024 August Transfer Window, Nat settled for one of the Baggies true nemesis's, Derby County.

This was to be the last of the Phillips loan moves, and despite Paul Warne’s claim that Nat would give the defence, ‘greater flexibility’, after initially impressing, Warne inexplicably dropped Phillips, only to thrive under new boss, John Eustace, who deploying a back three, got the most out of his LFC loanee, an absolute rock in Derby’s successful fight from seemingly being doomed to relegation to safety.

In the last thirteen games of the season, Derby only conceded nine goals, the bullet header winner by Phillips in the penultimate game of the season v Hull City, essentially earmarked Derby’s survival and Hull’s relegation.

No doubt on both sides of the pitch, Phillips' role was crucial in Derby staying up and it was small wonder, John Eustace wanted to make Phillips his first long term signing, but financial restraints stymied The Rams hand.

In a season when Derby struggled, but yet again, almost inevitably, took all six points against The Albion, you’d have to say, Nat Phillips performances in both games were absolutely key.

As a Baggies fan, seeing some of our slipshod errors and questionable defensive leadership over recent years, the potential signing of a player of Phillips character and ability is a definite step up in quality.

Central defenders have always in my mind been the most pivotal and influential players, where leadership and credibility reigns, and getting the right fit is crucial.

This is the first statement of intent by Ryan Mason, who clearly sees Phillips as one of his team leaders to build for the future.

His future.

Our future.

And at 28 and lightly played for a player of his age, a three year signing is a very smart piece of business by Nestor and the Bilkul Group, at an initial fee of just one Million, with extras earned abd paid for.

Rather than the insecurity of not knowing where your next footballing home will be, [even more key now Nat and his partner, Molly, will be parents for the first time in Feb 2026],

A home should be where the heart is, and no doubt putting roots down for a young family to be, is so vital, a theme explored by Phillips in his initial WBA interview.

I’m ecstatic about this signing, reinforced by his natural leadership and strong character, and Celtic experience apart, Phillips has had a myriad of successful loan moves to build on.

But those days are over..

Or, as his partner Molly's dad, the inimitable Mr. Liam Gallagher would gloriously sing.

‘And all the roads that lead you there were winding’..

As that loan life for Nat was..

Welcome to The Hawthorns, you’ve found your home..