Ally Robertson: Give new man time to make an impact

Tony Pulis was already under serious pressure before the Chelsea game, so the board will have been preparing for this eventuality for two weeks over the international break.

You would hope they narrowed down their shortlist during that time and planned to interview one or two of their top picks this week.

Hopefully it gets sorted soon, because we’ve got three huge games coming up against Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Swansea.

It would be handy to have the new man in place by Tuesday.

My pick would be Martin O’Neill. I think he’s a steady pair of hands who has, in the past, played some good football.

He did well with the Villa and Leicester and has been keeping his hand in for the past few years as the Republic of Ireland boss.

Another possibility would be a Nigel Pearson and Craig Shakespeare partnership. Both men have Albion connections, they’ve worked together in the past and they both have Premier League experience – something the board are looking for.

Alan Pardew is the bookies’ favourite, but a lot of the fans I’ve spoken to have not been 100 per cent behind that particular possibility.

But I would urge supporters to get completely behind whoever the board choose.

It doesn’t matter who comes in, the fans need to give them time to get used to their new squad and hopefully, change the philosophy.

These sorts of changes do not happen overnight.

Yes, there is the ‘new manager bounce’ phenomenon, but once that wears off, the new man still deserves a healthy period of grace.

It’s also time for the players to stand up and be counted. We’re constantly told how good this squad is, well now it’s time to see some of that in action.

Pulis has gone, so there are no more excuses, no more hiding behind the manager.

Today’s game against Tottenham will give us an indicator of how big a job this is.

Hopefully Gary Megson changes two or three things and gets the team on the front foot a bit more.

I know the fans will get behind him, and hopefully it will be an enjoyable day out at Wembley for the travelling Baggies.

After the last few months, they certainly deserve it.