Wednesday 11 April 2018 07:08, UK
Relegation-bound West Brom have bounced back after dropping out of the Premier League before but this time it could prove trickier than ever. Adam Bate examines the rebuilding job required at The Hawthorns and the warning signs from history.
Of the 76 teams that have been relegated from the Premier League, only 21 have returned at the first attempt, with Middlesbrough still clinging onto the hope that they can become the 22nd. Newcastle bounced back as champions last season and Burnley did the same the year before that. So what were the common traits shared by these teams?
Newcastle had seven players make 30 starts or more in their title-winning season. Five of those seven had featured for the club in the relegation campaign, with Ciaran Clark and Matt Ritchie the only two of Rafa Benitez's many new signings to play consistently. The club gambled at great expense on going straight back up. They banked on Benitez.
Burnley also returned to the Premier League at the first attempt under Sean Dyche in 2016 and they did it with a very settled side. Six players started 40 or more games in their title-winning campaign and five of those six had been relegated with the club in the previous season. Dyche kept the team together and he kept them focused. They came back stronger.
So will West Brom be able to do the same as these clubs? Or are the examples of those who have struggled more instructive in this instance? Sunderland are facing up to a second consecutive relegation with Hull struggling too. Albion's great rivals Wolves also dropped down to the third tier upon relegation from the top flight earlier this decade.
The fear is that the Baggies have much more in common with the teams who have been unable to arrest their slide than the ones who have turned it around. Four sides have gone back up at the first attempt in the past five seasons - not one of them were relegated as the bottom team and each of them picked up at least 33 points that year. Albion have only 21.
Clearly, they are up against it and it is not obvious that there is the nucleus of a team to take the club forwards. For several seasons, West Brom have had one of the oldest squads in the Premier League. Tony Pulis identified this issue but was conscious of the cost involved when buying players at the peak of their powers. Instead, Gareth Barry came in last summer.
Barry will be one of many to leave this summer. Grzegorz Krychowiak's loan is up. Jonny Evans, Salomon Rondon and Craig Dawson are among those with release clauses. The task for the new manager will be to sift through the wreckage of this campaign, moving on those who want out sooner rather than later. Not easy with so many angling for escape routes.
Some will stay, of course. "I'll be here," said Ben Foster. "I've got no interest in trying to move clubs. I'm very settled and I'm sure there are quite a few others who would love to stay and help us get back to the Premier League. I'd like to keep a core of the players that really want to dig in and work hard and be in a tough fight to get out of the Championship."
Perhaps that will include James Morrison and Chris Brunt, two veterans of West Brom's Championship title-winning team of a decade ago. James McClean and Matt Phillips may yet have roles to play too. But it will be just as important for the club to find some young and hungry players with a point to prove. Players who the supporters can get behind.
Sam Field, bafflingly omitted from the team under Alan Pardew, will be hopeful of having a big season. Oliver Burke needs a run of games at any level if he is to fulfil his potential. But much, of course, will hinge on the appointment of the new manager. Mick McCarthy remains the bookmakers' favourite to steer the club through the difficult times ahead.
McCarthy has a history of organising teams at Championship level and getting the best from players. That work ethic will please the fans but the onus will also be on the next man to play a brand of football that will excite too. Alan Pardew was the one who presided over West Brom's collapse but the seeds of discontent were sown under predecessor Tony Pulis.
Even prior to this season, attendances had fallen at The Hawthorns for five years in a row. Winning football would galvanise things again. Winning while entertaining with the sort of pace and flair that Tony Mowbray showed was possible in the Championship would be ideal. Whether McCarthy would be willing to indulge that ambition is far from clear.
The veteran's Wolves connections might be another reason why fans will favour a move for Michael Appleton, the club's old midfielder who is highly thought of at the Hawthorns and is currently working alongside Claude Puel as Leicester's assistant manager. He is itching for a chance after earning extensive experience as a manager in the lower leagues.
This is some rebuilding job that is required and history would suggest that whoever is the man tasked with turning things around will face a huge challenge on and off the pitch if West Bromwich Albion are to make a quick return to the Premier League.
