Derek Statham: West Brom spine should be the focus

The 58-year-old Wolverhampton-born former left-back made more than 350 appearances for the Baggies during a successful 10-year period between 1977 and 1987. The Baggies don’t have any specialist left-backs at the moment, and they pulled out of a deal for Charlie Taylor to prioritise a centre-back and a striker.

But Statham, who now lives in Spanish town Estepona on the Costa del Sol, thinks Pulis has made the right call. “I agree with him,” he said. “Even when I was playing, the basis of a solid and good side is the spine of the team. He’s got a valid point.

“You can fill in the peripheral positions, you can get by, people will accommodate and change their game, as Chris Brunt has done for a number of years. Having a good, solid spine to work from is the most important thing.”

Statham thinks the primary aim this summer is to get a poacher with an eye for goal to ease the burden off Salomon Rondon.

“We don’t score enough,” he said. “Rondon has been a good acquisition but he needs help up there. “I don’t think we can continue playing with just one up front.

“Goalscorers are very hard to come by but we need someone who can just put the ball in the net.

“It’s crying out for a Tony Brown, someone who will bring you 15 goals a season, then if Rondon contributes 10 or 15 as well, that’s more like it.

“I think Rondon would benefit from that because he’s a big strong but when he’s out on the limb on his own, it takes a hell of a lot of time for people to get close to him. He needs someone near him for 90 minutes.”

But if the spine is fixed, Statham hopes the Baggies manage to find a left-back towards the end of the transfer window.

“Chris Brunt has done a magnificent job filling in when he’s had to,” he said. “I do rate him. He’s got a fabulous left foot, he’s done a tremendous job all the way down the flank.

“He’s not a natural left back so it’s to his credit that he’s been able to fill in for the last few years.

“The big lad, Allan Nyom, has done very well, but again I don’t see him as a natural left-back. He’s more of a centre-half for me, although he’s a great athlete, which is a plus. He can get up and down the pitch.

“Ideally, it would be nice to get a specialised left-back which would make the team look more comfortable and perform more naturally.

“Who that is, I don’t know, there’s not too many around, obviously the better ones are sought after If there was one that would came available, I would try and get a naturally left sided defender.”