Five reasons why time was up for Alan Pardew at West Brom

Team was simply going through the motions

Everyone knows Albion are going down, which means the only thing at stake in these remaining few games is pride.

But that pedestrian first-half performance against Burnley suggests that even that was not enough to get this group to perform for Pardew.

The players deserve to shoulder plenty of blame for this season, but they weren’t helped by a series of confusing tactical changes in the first half which left them unsure of their roles.

Several players appear to be in cruise control now, simply waiting for all this to be over.

Pardew himself admitted after the game that he was finding it difficult to motivate his team, and when that’s the situation, time is most definitely up.

Pardew and John Carver lost respect of the squad and the fans

Pardew’s tactics have been questioned behind the scenes by players before, but in recent weeks we’ve seen a more public revolt.

Grzegorz Krychowiak’s touchline bust-up at the last home game was followed at the weekend by confused looks from Albion’s players whenever they headed over to the dug-out for instructions.

Add to that the fact Carver allegedly had a row with supporters in the Halford’s Lane stand, and it seems the management team had lost all control of the situation.

The way Pardew treated the younger members of the squad did not go down well with the senior professionals, who have been questioning his authority for weeks.

Fans are understandably turning away

The official attendance may have been 23,455 but there were thousands of empty blue seats on display.

Season ticket holders aren’t bothering to come anymore, and after nine defeats in a row, who can blame them?

One or two people in the Smethwick End even threw their season cards on to the pitch in frustration, and there were so few fans left when Salomon Rondon scored that it was one of the least celebrated Albion goals at The Hawthorns in years.

Apathy is spreading, and the board had to act, or face a half-empty ground for the rest of the season.

Keeping Pardew until the summer could have done some lasting damage with the fanbase.

His selection and tactics continuously befuddle

On Saturday, Pardew played five defenders and two holding midfielders and was at a loss as to why the team struggled to create.

The midfield lacked pace and goals, even though Claudio Yacob and Jake Livermore were actually two of Albion’s better performers.

The chronic lack of pace in the starting line-up was odd considering Oliver Burke, Matt Phillips and James McClean all sat on the bench.

Phillips has been poor this season but he scored for Scotland in midweek and looked threatening when he came on, so why didn’t he start?

Pardew’s decision to keep faith in the senior professionals who have lost nine in a row has made no sense.

Nine defeats in a row

Tony Pulis was sacked after four straight defeats, and in reality, the remarkable thing is that Pardew had lasted so long.

He’d been a dead man walking for weeks now, but under him, this team was destined to lose every game until the end of the season.

That would have eclipsed the club’s worst losing streak of 12 under Alan Buckley, and matched the worst losing streak in the Premier League, set by Sunderland.

Darren Moore is inexperienced and shouldn’t be expected to work miracles, and if the losing streak continues, it shouldn’t taint his reputation with the fans, but at least his presence on the sideline might re-invigorate the club.

Time to go down fighting.