Albion blog: Let there be light

Finally it appears that the vast majority of fans are starting to understand and appreciate our status as a football club, battling for stability in the Premier League...writes blogger Duncan Hodgkiss

For the first time since his appointment Tony Pulis's name rang around the stadium from four sides of the ground. I can't remember there being such vociferous backing, even including the victory against Chelsea. It would have been influenced of course by our opponents on the day being Stoke, but nevertheless a most welcome chorus.

Even the doubting Thomases appear to be relenting on various social media platforms, with those that are still opposed either marginalised or derided.

The true definition of a 'doubting Thomas' is an interesting one. It describes someone who refuses to believe without direct personal experience. Surely the only doubting Thomases that remain in our fanbase are those without any direct personal experience, i.e. those that don't attend or even watch games from their armchairs.

How is it possible not to like a man that has completely turned our club around? Certainly on the playing side he has put measures in place to ensure progression. He has instilled discipline, belief, character and a teamwork ethos where the message is 'everyone pulls together or they're out'.

Let us not forget our plight this time last year. Pulis is a man all of us should admire. He's proud of his working class roots, understands football, he's honest and hard working; he doesn't pull any punches and is very impressive in front of the cameras.

He is very well respected by most in the game and a measure of the man is the fantastic selfless work he does for charity.

He seems to get the very best out of players who are now unified towards a common cause.

He has brought in class and quality in the shape of Jonny Evans and Darren Fletcher, two high profile footballers from arguably the biggest club in the world. They seem to be very happy with their new lease of life.

We have the relentless effort and craft of McClean and Rondon, both of whom were performing well until their needless suspensions.

We have a rejuvenated Sessegnon, and my word doesn't he look the part! Even the commanding Jonny Evans has stated he would not like to be playing against him in this form. Prior to the Stoke game all of the media focus and attention was on Arnautovic, Bojan and Shaqiri. Sess outshone them all and capped it off with a great strike.

Plus; we are consistently getting excellent performances from the seemingly interminable Gareth McAuley, a constant supply line combined with steady defensive work from Chris Brunt, solid performances (with the occasional blip) from Myhill, strong work on the right from Dawson and Gardner has been putting in some excellent displays along with Yacob and Mozza of course.

We even had a 'for one night only' extravaganza from Big Vic. Lambert does some good work but I fear his disappointment hangover from Liverpool is weighing too heavy. He doesn't look like he's enjoying himself out there sadly and mistakes and fatigue are evident.

When Olsson has come back in he has displayed the kind of form we used to purr about. We now have the added bonus of Foster returning to fitness to push Myhill for that No1 spot.

All in all we are in pretty good shape. Morale is excellent in the camp, the players are performing, we are getting results and we are starting to look like a team that has all the fundamental basics in place.

We are showing real signs of progression in footballing terms too. The nature of our last three games indicates a more attack minded philosophy. We outplayed Swansea, particularly in the second half, battered Newcastle and deserved the win against Stoke. Statistics support this.

I remember the days when we played some lovely stuff against Stoke.... and lost. We have now racked up three consecutive wins against them and the boot is firmly on the other foot.

I'm pretty sure our neighbours down the road would love a Tony Pulis barking out orders passionately from their technical area. Our current positions could conceivably be reversed if this were the case. We have a lot to be grateful for.