Comment: Alan Pardew's approach at West Brom could provide perfect tonic for players and fans

Thanks to a strange twist of fate, his first match in the Albion dug-out will be against the club he has a strong affinity with.

Pardew enjoyed a successful playing career at Selhurst Park before returning to the club as manager in 2015.

He lifted them from the relegation zone to the top half and took them to an FA Cup final, before he was sacked 11 months ago after a run of six wins in 36 league games. But much of that team remains.

“It’s a group of players I know very well and a lot of people I love in the dressing room,” he said.

When managers use the word ‘love’ they are usually referring to a player’s attributes on the pitch rather than their actual personalities off it. Not Pardew.

Albion’s new boss has a reputation for being a brilliant man-manager, an approachable friend for the players to confide in.

It is a different approach to his predecessor, who was a known drill-sergeant on the training pitch, even though he mellowed during his time at Albion.

Pardew’s appointment has been criticised in some quarters for being safe and uninspiring.

Albion will today become the fifth Premier League club the 56-year-old has led out during his career and that top-tier experience was a crucial component for the board.

But his arrival has been lumped in with this season’s other managerial changes, like Sam Allardyce heading to Everton, Roy Hodgson going to Palace, and David Moyes going to West Ham.

The fact technical director Nick Hammond has a close relationship with Pardew from their time at Reading together has only encouraged the suggestion that this is a ‘job for the boys’

Despite the fact Albion started the search process during the international break, and sounded out several candidates before agreeing a deal with Pardew, it has been heralded a cautious appointment.

But Pardew’s approach to the game, and his approach to the players, suggests it could be a shrewd one, as well as a safe one.

He is not a firefighter in the same mould of Allardyce or Tony Pulis – he does not go into clubs and put a rocket up underperforming players or relentlessly drill them.

He is a sweet-talker, a manager who believes the best way to make his players tick is by telling them they’re a million dollars.

Pulis was guilty of praising the opposition too much while denigrating the lack of quality in his own squad – reducing them to hard workers and hard runners.

But Pardew has been far more effusive about the squad he’s inherited, he thinks it is capable of far more.

Players respond to that. Look how Sam Field performed on Tuesday night after Gary Megson publicly revealed he was the best passer in the club. Those comments raised eyebrows at the time, but a day later the 19-year-old proved it.

It would be wrong to pigeonhole Pulis or Pardew into set boxes and dilute their methods on the training pitch to one particular style.

You don’t get to the top tier of English football with just one trick in your book. Of course Pulis was able to put his arm round a player, Pardew is not afraid to hand out rollickings.

But there are obvious differences – and it does feel like this group could benefit from Pardew’s approach.

On his first day, he gathered all the staff together – not just the coaches – but the cooks, the cleaners, security, everybody at the training ground that makes the club tick.

He’s eager to lift the mood, both on and off the pitch. If his words then were as smooth as they were at his unveiling, then it would have worked.

Pardew said all the right things to the Albion fans on Wednesday. There was a nod to the glory days of the 1970s, a promise to play attacking football, and an ambition to go deep in the FA Cup, something he’s done before.

He has a reputation for tailing off after an initial burst. One that he himself disputes.

“I think it’s a little bit unfair,” he said. “When I left Newcastle we were ninth.

“With the clubs I’ve managed you’re going to get difficult spells.

“I’ve not been fortunate enough to be at Arsenal or Liverpool where you can win 70-80 per cent of your games.

“You’re going to have spells where you have to dig in.

“I still don’t think I’m perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I hope I’m a good manager for West Brom.”

But question marks about longevity can wait for the future. Albion are on a 13-game winless streak and sit one place above the bottom three. The players are in desperate need of an immediate confidence boost, the fans are in desperate need of something exciting to watch.

Pardew can potentially offer both of those, alongside that Premier League experience the board craves. The proof will be in the pudding, of course, and every appointment has some element of risk.

But as we start this new chapter, history suggests he has the experience to guide the team to safety this season, the style to appease disgruntled supporters, and an approach to management that will appeal to players who grew tired of his predecessor.