Supporters' club chairman urges West Brom to appoint an experienced manager

The Baggies have already lost six loanees and released five players with a number of other high-profile players expected to be sold.

And Homer believes such a large overhaul of players requires a head coach with experience of building a squad and a contacts’ book to match it.

“That’s an essential,” said Homer. “We’ve had managers in the past who have turned over a squad, but at least we had the nucleus.

“Before, when we came down, we’ve always had the nucleus of a decent side to get back up.

"Last season we went with loans, it’s a good gamble if you get up, but now you need to replace them.

“Looking at Dwight Gayle alone, you’ve got to replace 24 goals, that’s more than a quarter of what we scored in the league. You could lose Jay Rodriguez and you’re down to less than half of your goals.

“It’s not just happened overnight. The whole affair fell apart with the Alan Pardew appointment and we’ve been playing damage limitation and recovery since then.

“This time around, it’s not just necessary to be able to manage a squad, but to build a squad too.

“The more experience they have, the more contacts they’ve got, the more likely they can build up a squad.”

Albion have held talks with Bruno Labbadia this week, and the 53-year-old has 16 years of experience managing in Germany.

He is the current front-runner for the job, although others are also being considered.

It’s been more than two weeks since the Baggies lost to Villa in the play-offs, with many supporters wondering when the new manager will be announced.

But Homer believes this is the biggest appointment for some time at The Hawthorns, and it’s worth making sure.

“This is a vital choice,” he said. “They’ve got to make sure they get it right. I’m not too concerned at this stage.

"The squad we finished the season with is going to be nothing with the squad we start with next season.

“You have to have the man in place to make sure he’s got time to assemble the nucleus of the squad.

“He needs to be in place by the start of the friendlies. The worst case scenario is that it drags on into the middle of July.

“They’ve got to do their due diligence. More so than in recent years. That was a vital appointment after Tony Pulis, but the worst case scenario was what happened.

“This time around, if you get it wrong you’re on a slippery sole. The consequences are far greater.

"When you go out and buy a car, you don’t buy the first one you see.

“If it goes much longer you’ve got to be a little concerned but they’ve got to get it right.”

Homer does want former caretaker boss Jimmy Shan to be included in any coaching set-up moving forward.

“We have to say Jimmy Shan did remarkably well," added Homer. "But for a dodgy decision at Villa Park we might have been at Wembley.

“I would hope there’s a position for Jimmy as a reward for doing so well."