Kevin Phillips: Chris Brunt's blunt words show how much he cares

I honestly thought Alan Pardew’s side would win, writes Kevin Phillips.

It might sound strange, but I felt the game against David Wagner’s men had come at the right time.

With everything that’s gone on both on and off the field, Huddersfield at home was a real chance to lay down a marker. It presented the team with an opportunity to start a run that could potentially keep them in the Premier League.

That would have really galvanised everyone, the players, the staff and the fans.

But once that rot sets in, it doesn’t matter what level you are at, it’s very hard to win a game of football. It’s clear morale is low, confidence is low and the Baggies no longer know how to win.

It’s going to be very difficult now to survive, relegation almost seems certain.

And Pardew’s future is now in serious doubt.

The owner has shown over the past few weeks and months he isn’t afraid to make decisions.

Guochuan Lai will do anything he can to avoid being relegated because when you do go out of that league – there is no guarantee you are coming back.

Pardew will still believe he can turn things around. There is still time, there are 10 matches still to be played and 30 points up for grabs.

But he has to break the rut, something needs to happen.

The catalyst for Lai might be a new manager.

But it also might be that Chris Brunt had some strong words for Pardew and his team-mates in the changing room after the game.

That was fantastic. I think it’s really good he spoke out.

That is the passion you need.

I have got no issues with that and I’m sure Pardew hasn’t either.

You can’t just sit back and just float from one defeat to the next week after week.

If an experienced player wants to go into a dressing room and start digging his team-mates out, I think that’s great.

You honestly don’t see that enough these days. Players are far too nice to each other.

Coaches and managers have to be careful what they say to footballers nowadays because the mentality is not the same as it was 10 years ago.

When I played with Brunty there was never an issue if a player came into the dressing room and had a go.

You’d accept it, you’d take it on the chin but you’d move on. I don’t see that enough these days.

Maybe that is the thing that needed to happen to get Albion going again.

But it’s up to Pardew to now harness that passion and make sure he plays his part to stop the rut.

It could involve something as simple as playing some in a different position or changing the system just to ensure you have a go.

That’s what we did at Leicester in the year we pulled off a great escape.

It felt like we had tried everything. But we switched to a back three, we had Marc Albrighton and Jeffrey Schlupp move to wing-back even though they were midfield players.

And all of a sudden we won a game, the confidence came, we went on a run and we survived.

Of course, the following year Leicester went on to win the Premier League.

Albion aren’t going to go on and do that. But it’s amazing what can be achieved if you break out of the rut and do something different.