Ally Robertson: Next appointment vital for West Brom
It’s always easy to look back with the benefit of hindsight, but Alan Pardew probably should have gone eight games ago.
It looked like we were on our way back after victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup, but that has now been proved to be nothing more than a false dawn.
There’s no getting away from the fact that Pardew’s four months at the club were absolutely abysmal, but we were in a terrible position when he joined.
You would hope a new manager would bring a bit of a lift with him, but the attitude from the players hasn’t changed. If anything, it got worse.
They have to shoulder a certain about of blame in all this. Considering what has happened over the past few weeks and months, particularly after incidents like Barcelona, the players have to take some criticism.
But it appears that Pardew did not give them the leadership they needed.
It’s now up to the players to prove in the final six games that it was Pardew’s deficiencies more than theirs that is to blame.
If they go out and play for Darren Moore, it suggests poor leadership from the man just departed.
Those that want to stay need to prove they are worth keeping, and those that want to move on need to earn their moves.
The question on everybody’s lips now is who next?
I think we should have gone for Nigel Pearson before, and I wouldn’t be against that appointment. He’s a good leader who has proven with Leicester that he’s capable of getting out of the Championship.
Craig Shakespeare and Michael Appleton have also been mooted.
In my opinion they’re number twos rather than out-and-out managers, but I would be happy to welcome them back.
Whoever comes in has got to show some strong leadership, because it’s a busy summer ahead.
We’ve got to rebuild the club carefully, because the danger is that this negativity seeps into next season.
Just look at what’s happened to Sunderland.
That’s why this appointment is hugely important. Technical director Nick Hammond made a mistake recommending Pardew, and he can’t afford to make another bad call this time around.
While you always need to have one eye on the long term future, I would personally plump for the candidate most likely to get us straight back to the Premier League before rebuilding. You can think more long-term once you’re back up there.
