Comment - Dean Smith ticks all the boxes for West Brom

With Darren Moore set to remain in charge until the end of the season, and Albion’s relegation now a formality, the next five weeks are destined to be overshadowed by the search.

A long, drawn-out process is no bad thing. Although the club interviewed Michael O’Neill and Aitor Karanka in November, the board’s insistence on Premier League experience and his cosy relationship with technical director Nick Hammond meant Pardew was always heavy-favourite.

Following that disastrous appointment, Albion are expected to take his time over this one, and cast the net as wide as possible before narrowing down on the right man.

What’s more, several candidates who have already emerged as possible contenders are currently employed, and therefore embroiled in the business end of the season at their respective clubs.

This appointment is crucial for a number of reasons. Years of hard work establishing the club in the Premier League have been undone this season, and the fanbase has rarely been so apathetic.

Albion’s new head coach will need to be strong enough to navigate a tricky summer, when tough decisions over who stays and who goes will need be made.

They will also need to be able to rejuvenate the fanbase, capable of stopping the rot, and, if possible, mount a promotion charge.

Considering the new man will be asked to spearhead the summer reboot returning chief executive Mark Jenkins has planned, there is an argument that a previous affiliation with the club would be preferable.

Former players like Derek McInnes, Michael Appleton, Craig Shakespeare, and Graham Potter have already emerged as early contenders. Appleton and Shakespeare have also coached for the club.

The danger, of course, is that sentimentality clouds judgment. Even if previous ties would grant familiar faces a period of grace with the fans, actually, it’s always results that matter.

McInnes’s time in the Championship with Bristol City started off well before tailing off, but he has done wonders north of the border with St Johnstone and Aberdeen.

Appleton hasn’t tasted success in the Championship either, taking Portsmouth down before struggling at both Blackpool and Blackburn.

Shakespeare has limited experience of being a number one, just 26 games in fact, and would be more welcome as part of a team than the main man himself.

Potter is one of the more intriguing options, but he has only managed in Sweden, and would represent something of a risk.

At the end of the day, any managerial appointment is a risk, and the key this time will be finding a candidate on an upward trajectory. Choosing a well-known name didn’t help last time.

However, there is someone who knows the area, knows what the club means to the fans, is on that upward trajectory, and has relative success in the Championship.

Former Walsall boss Dean Smith has overachieved in the second tier with Brentford. He’s guided them to two top-half finishes and is on course for a third this season.

That campaign has come despite losing three influential players – Jota, Maxime Colin and Harlee Dean – to Birmingham City in the final 24 hours of the summer window.

Born in West Bromwich, Smith still has family in Streetly, and his assistant Richard O’Kelly is a huge Albion fan who spent seven years as a Baggies youth coach.

Nigel Pearson, who is the pick of many former players, has a stronger CV than Smith because he won promotion out of the Championship with Leicester City.

In fact, Smith does not have a promotion to his name yet, although he came close with Walsall.

However, Pearson is currently managing in the Belgian second tier and hasn’t been at the coalface of English football for nearly two years, while his exits from Leicester and Derby County were both clouded in controversy.

There is no need for a manager to have any local connection, of course. Depending on what happens in the play-offs this season, Fulham’s Slaviša Jokanović and Derby’s Gary Rowett should also be under consideration.

But if Jenkins wants a local boy to help him spearhead the summer reboot and restore some pride in the club, then Smith is arguably the best candidate.