Eight weeks into his Albion mission and Roberto Di Matteo can celebrate a major triumph.

Promotion back to the Premier League will take a good deal more patience, perseverance and points. But the new head coach already has a significant success on his Hawthorns CV.

The roars of approval that rang around the ground in the early evening sunshine on Saturday as Ipswich were swept aside confirmed that the Italian has achieved his first small but significant objective.

Di Matteo and his new-look team have put a collective smile back on a the face of a club left reeling by a summer of setbacks.

That is no mean achievement given the potential problems he and his staff were presented with when he stepped into Tony Mowbray’s shoes in the closing days of June, to a mixed reception from a shell-shocked fanbase.

Possible player unrest, a relegation hangover and gloom in the stands were three of the major fears that Di Matteo inherited when he pipped Alan Irvine to the managerial vacancy.

Just five competitive matches into his reign, the new ‘head coach’ looks to have nipped all three in the bud and switched the focus at the club from a potentially damaging row about the past to an optimistic glance at the future.

It is impossible to know for certain, but a sluggish start to the Di Matteo era might have proved tough to recover from.

The frustration of another ill-fated collision with the Premier League was compounded in the summer by the loss of a manager who, despite some misgivings from a vocal minority, retained a groundswell of support among supporters.

A summer of pessimism and uncertainty made for an uneasy backdrop to Di Matteo’s appointment and the coveted members of Mowbray’s team would have needed little excuse to agitate publicly for moves away from the Hawthorns.

A spluttering August might have been just such an excuse. Thanks to some bottle, bravery and a dash or two of attacking brilliance, the theory was never put to the test.

The Di Matteo era is up and running, with the new head coach dodging the traps that lay before him when he took his first steps into the unknown.

Five matches unbeaten and three clean sheets represents a fantastic opening burst from the new Baggies.

The head coach, assistant Eddie Newton and coach Michael Appleton have built the record, while simultaneously attempting to stamp their own mark on the club’s style of play. The new-look team lacks the swashbuckling adventure of Mowbray’s men.

But Di Matteo makes no apologies for drawing the side back from the extreme margins of footballing philosophy that his predecessor’s team occupied.

Yet Saturday’s entertaining victory over a fellow pre-season promotion favourite was further evidence that the first Di Matteo campaign will not be without its thrills and spills.

The new boss, however, is intent on blending the aesthetic beauty of his predecessor’s side with a healthy dose of Italian pragmatism.

As the frenetic opening month of the campaign draws near and the international break promises a break to reflect, the signs are hugely encouraging.

They were aided and abetted on Saturday by a Tractor Boys outfit struggling to shoulder the burden of their new-found profile, inspired by the presence of their own demanding new gaffer. Roy Keane’s men were poor, flimsy in defence and impotent in attack.

Yet Albion still had to take advantage of the opportunities their visitors provided. They did so with plenty of structure and the hint of a swagger.

There was solidity from the back, where new club captain Scott Carson looked rock solid in goal, and a useful combination in attack where Chris Wood and Luke Moore both impressed.

But all eyes were on the Baggies midfield, as they took the field for the first time since the departure of the influential Jonathan Greening became 99 per cent certain.

Robert Koren and Youssouf Mulumbu combined in the team’s engine room to kick off the post-Greening era in spectacular fashion.

Both men scored fine goals but it was their all-round displays that caught the eye. Mulumbu provided the destructive energy while Koren delivered the attacking spark.

The Baggies ran the game from first whistle to last and only a string of excellent saves from visiting goalkeeper Richard Wright prevented a rout. The die was cast within 10 minutes as Jonas Olsson’s header was blocked on the line, but Mulumbu collected the resulting clearance and rifled home from 25 yards.

Koren added the second when he and Wood combined on the edge of the box with a neat one-two, before the Slovenia star rounded Wright to score.

Carson then pulled off a smart double-save in a goalmouth scramble and a decent flying stop from Jonathan Walters, but it was Wright who was busier by far. He twice denied Moore with good saves and pulled off a fantastic block to frustrate Jerome Thomas as well as making several other crucial interventions.

When loanee Shaun Cummings was felled in the box by Tommy Smith, Wright denied Moore again, this time from 12 yards.

Success from the spot for Moore would have given the game the emphatic scoreline to match Albion’s dominant performance.

But the penalty failure did nothing worse than prolong the niggling nerves for a few moments longer for the supporters.

For the loyalists who were there and those watched on TV, the score was a minor concern compared to the manner of their team’s victory. They cannot fail to have been impressed.

The season’s ultimate goal remains a distant spot on the horizon and there will be setbacks as Albion aim for their target.

But they have negotiated a footballing minefield quicker than they might have hoped, emerging looking refreshed and recharged.

Now they can move on to the main business at hand. The Baggies can do so with a spring back in their step.

By Steve Madeley