Daryl Burgess urges West Brom to approach Derek McInnes if Alan Pardew is sacked

Burgess, who spent 14 years at the Albion and still follows them, wants the board to rejuvenate the club by appointing someone who already has a connection to it.

Pardew’s position is under serious scrutiny following five defeats in a row and the current head coach could lose his job after this weekend’s game to Watford.

The board are already looking into potential replacements and Burgess’s ideal partnership would be current Aberdeen boss McInnes as head coach with Everton first-team coach Craig Shakespeare as his number two.

However, he would also back an approach for Leicester assistant Michael Appleton.

“We’ve done the merry-go round trip, why not look at it another way?” Burgess told the Express & Star.

“I’d have Derek and Shakey, if it was a possibility they could work together. Or Shakey and Appleton. (Darren) Mooro’s still there as well.

“You’ve got a base there of people who know and feel the club, it’s not just somewhere they’ve turned up to and they’ve got another job to do. It’s a bit more personal.

“The personal touch has been ebbing away for a long time, but I suppose that’s how the Premier League is, it’s more a corporate monster and money-making machine.

“The club has got a wider audience being in the Premier League, but we’re kind of losing that intimacy, it’s quite cold at times. It’d be nice to get back to being a bit more fan and family orientated.”

Burgess played alongside all three players during his time at the Albion, although he only briefly overlapped with Appleton.

“They were all good players, they all know the game, and they’ve got that connection with the club,” he said.

“Appy and Shakey have coached the youth teams and reserve teams before, they’ve experienced the club on the playing side and the coaching side.

“You would get a lot of fans looking at Shakey’s record at Leicester. I thought he did a half-decent job there, it’s not like he had two years to be judged on.

“Derek’s a leader, he’s done wonders at St Johnstone and Aberdeen. How much further can he take Aberdeen really when you’ve got Rangers and Celtic? There’s not a great deal he could do.

“The fact he turned the Sunderland job down, perhaps it’s just the right time for this one.

“I’d have no qualms if either or all of those were involved. I don’t see how it could be any worse. It can’t be.”

McInnes turned down Sunderland last year but it’s understood he was open to an approach from Albion in November when Tony Pulis was sacked.

Back then Albion plumped for Pardew, but he is now under pressure following one league win from 13 games.

“The whole club seem in turmoil at the moment,” said Burgess. “If we stay up now it would be better than the Great Escape. I can’t see it, as much as I want to.

“When you’ve won three in 37, how are you going to win six in the last 10?"

McInnes had a stint with Bristol City in between his jobs at St Johnstone and Aberdeen.

Over the weekend, the 46-year-old told the Telegraph: “The opportunity to work down south will come again, I’m confident it will.

“I’ve got a plan for myself where I want to manage, how I want to go about things. It would need to take something that would grab me to want to leave here.”

Marco Silva is currently the bookies favourite to be the next Albion manager, but it’s been reported that the former Watford boss isn’t interested in the role.

Gary Megson is unlikely to return following his successful role as interim boss earlier this season because he and chief executive Mark Jenkins do not see eye-to-eye.