Ally Robertson: If Tony Pulis had lost the West Brom players, he had to go

Watching his interviews in the aftermath of Saturday’s defeat to Chelsea, he looked a beaten man.

There had been talk of Pulis having lost the players and if that is true, then it was definitely the right time for him to go.

That doesn’t make it any less sad. For most of his near three years in charge at The Hawthorns, at least in my view, Pulis did a fantastic job.

He inherited a team which looked destined for the drop, kept us up with room to spare, stabilised the club and at one point last season had us dreaming of European football.

The last few months, however, have been hugely disappointing and there is simply no point suggesting otherwise.

Albion’s squad, in my view and that of many others, is the best it has been for a long time. Yet the football we have been playing has been the worst for a long time.

Let’s face it, under Pulis it has never been particularly pretty. When you are winning, however, supporters are more likely to forgive but Albion have not won much of late.

When he arrived in January 2015, Pulis was the right man at the right time for Albion but he will always be remembered as a head coach who was respected rather than loved by supporters.

There never felt like there was much of an emotional connection and when results began to dip, patience was never going to last long.

The last few weeks have been frustrating. At the moment it looked like Albion were about to kick on, we have gone backwards. For that, Pulis is the only man who can be held responsible.

The Welshman has built the reputation of a man who can get the best out of limited resources. That was certainly the case when he first arrived at the club and for the most part of his tenure Albion were a team who, arguably, punched above their weight in the Premier League.

Yet during the past summer he was able to bring in players of serious quality, the likes of Keiran Gibbs and Grezgorz Krychowiak, and has struggled to get anywhere near the best from them.

Greater options only seemed to result in confusion. Right to the very end, Pulis seemed unsure as to his best starting XI.

The focus now turns to who will replace him. The names being linked are unsurprising, the importance of choosing right lost on no-one.

Many will no doubt look to Sam Allardyce, who worked with chairman John Williams before and of course spent time at The Hawthorns during the closing stages of his playing career.

The main challenge for whoever replaces Pulis will be finding a winning formula from this group of players.

In my view, Albion have a squad which should be more than capable of staying in the Premier League.

At the moment, it might not feel like it. But these players, if used correctly, can do much, much better than they have shown over the past three months.

This is a huge decision for the Baggies board, the first managerial appointment of Guochuan Lai’s reign and the first which will be sourced by Williams.

It goes without saying this is a decision they simply must get right. The consequences of a wrong move now could be dire.

Any appointment must be made with the primary aim of keeping Albion in the Premier League.

At this moment, nothing else matters so much as that.