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Comment: West Brom players deserve to feel the heat as well

The events in Spain have understandably cast a harsh spotlight on Alan Pardew.

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The antics of the Cab Four have piled pressure on Alan Pardew – now they must help him out of a hole.

It was his decision to take the squad on an ill-fated trip to Barcelona, and even though his intention to build team spirit was commendable, there is an argument he created an environment where something could go wrong.

But the players – and not just the four senior professionals who have been fined two weeks wages – also deserve to be scrutinised for this shambolic season.

The simple fact is that the majority of them have not performed well enough under two different managers with two completely contrasting styles.

After Sgt Major Tony Pulis left the building, a new head coach was supposed to throw the shackles off this talented bunch and let them play.

Pardew did that with his selection and his tactics, but it feels like some were so busy breathing a sigh of relief that Pulis was gone, they forgot they were in a relegation battle.

This season has caught up with Albion in the past month. Promising performances under Pardew at the start of his reign gave an impression that points would come. They haven’t so far.

It smacks of complacency among a group who have consistently managed to stay up, finished in the top half last year, and then strengthened in the summer.

Did they believe their own hype? Or has confidence just taken a battering from a series of off-field controversies and tight defeats that were often lost in the last 15 minutes?

There has always been a perception that Pulis stocked the group with hard-working professionals who have been unfortunate at times and lacking in quality at others.

That is certainly true for a most of them, most of the time.

But they stopped playing for Pulis towards the end of his tenure, and have yet to perform consistently enough for Pardew. In Spain, four of them disrespected him.

Do all the players have the grit in their bellies required to pull off another Great Escape?

A few players proved last weekend they do, but there were others who were simply going through the motions.

It’s fair to say Pardew has not handled the off-field shenanigans well, and that is why he is under pressure.

But he does deserve a degree of sympathy. Not only did his senior players let him down in Spain, they put him in a tricky situation.

Leaving the likes of Gareth Barry and Jonny Evans in the team looks weak, and is in danger of sending the wrong message to others, but Pardew needs his best players in the run-in if Albion have any hope of staying up.

Not only that, but removing them from the line-up and publicly throwing the book at them could disharmonise the squad.

If the manager turns his back on four of his most senior professionals, it wouldn’t take much to split the camp completely and Albion need to be pulling as one right now.

His appointment has been a failure so far, but it was one made with the right intentions.

Once the players had stopped performing for Pulis the disciplinarian, Pardew’s positive ‘matey’ approach was supposed to be the perfect tonic.

Perhaps being managed by two personalities so polar opposite brought about that situation in Spain.

The shackles have been thrown off alright, but the only way this group has capitalised on that is by turning the club into a laughing stock.

On the pitch, the players have struggled to turn Pardew’s methods into points, and while he deserves to be criticised for that, they do too.