Blog: It's time for West Brom to gel together

As the old adage reads 'judge them on September 1,' writes West Brom blogger Warren Stephens.

It's a saying as old as the transfer window and this year it's deadline was the September 2, but the excuses are over for West Brom and it's time to produce.

Sebastien Blanco was to be our 11th and final summer signing and he joins Craig Gardner, Joleon Lescott, Chris Baird, Sebastien Pocognoli, Brown Ideye, Jason Davidson, Cristian Gamboa, Giorgos Samaras, Andre Wisdom and Silvestre Varela in a new-look Baggies squad.

I doubt I'm the only Albion supporter who hadn't seen much of some of our acquisitions before but, for chairman Jeremy Peace and technical director Terry Burton, it will very much feel like a case of job done, for this window anyway.

There's an obvious element of risk in signing six players who'd never played Premier League football before and, yes, there could even be a Scott Sinclair among those that have.

However, it's difficult to argue they won't be an improvement on those they have replaced, even if Liam Ridgewell now embarks on goal-scoring 50 yard runs and is a shoe-in for the MLS All-Star team.

In that respect the Hawthorns hierarchy have, in theory, fulfilled their summer brief: to be stronger now than we were in May.

The baton of responsibility now very much lies with head coach Alan Irvine, whose fortunes thus far have been variable.

The opening day draw with Sunderland was both encouraging and frustrating in equal measures.

There will be many Baggies who feared the worst before a ball was kicked, perhaps we all harboured some doubt, yet despite a notable lack of pace or flair in the available team.

Albion controlled large parts of the game and played with a degree of purpose. We also threw away a lead and two points against a side who I think will really struggle this season (they will undoubtedly qualify for Europe now I've written that).

A draw at Southampton isn't a bad result ,regardless of their alleged player shortage, as their win at West Ham has since proven, and then there was Swansea.

A 3-0 drubbing at the Liberty Stadium isn't something entirely alien to Albion, we even managed it under Roy Hodgson in 2011.

In truth, we often seem to struggle against a Swansea side so capable of keeping possession and utilising their pace in wide areas.

However, there were plenty of warning signs that Albion cannot afford to dip below a threshold of application or competence if we want to survive this season. Irvine could certainly have done without such a result or performance.

There have been plenty of accusations of negativity levelled in Irvine's direction after the opening game and his withdrawal of Stephane Sessegnon for Baird in the Capital One Cup slog at home to Oxford United.

What he needs more than anything is a Premier League win, particularly given the scepticism that surrounded his appointment.

It would seem, publicly anyway, that Jeremy Peace is happy with his man. It would also seem that the players have warmed to Irvine's methods.

Without points on the board, it's difficult for supporters to match their optimism just yet, but I think we need to be fair.

When I began following the Albion as a youngster, it always gave me a great sense of pride that I felt our supporters were, in the main, supportive, certainly more patient than some of our immediate rivals.

Only in recent seasons does that seem to have changed slightly, bizarrely inversely proportional to the relative success we have achieved on the field, something undoubtedly magnified by the emergence of social media.

We are, however, only three games into a thirty-eight game season. Irvine shouldn't be under pressure, nor should Baird be experiencing audible negativity from his own supporters when he hasn't yet started a league game.

Our next games are against Everton and Tottenham, so it's quite conceivable that we could play to our capabilities in both games and yield little in return.

Such is our comparative standing in Premier League terms; the Burnley game at the end of this month already has the potential to be significant.

Now all the artillery is in place and working order, it may still be a few weeks before this Albion team gets up and running but we have to stick with them and get behind Irvine and his players.

He and they deserve a chance to prove they can be successful. Time to produce. Come on you Baggies!