Former West Brom boss Alan Pardew claims messaging apps cause dressing room issues

Messaging services such as WhatsApp have become an increasingly common way for players to communicate, with the vast majority of playing squads having their own group.

But Pardew, who endured a disastrous four-month spell in charge at The Hawthorns during the 2017-18 season, believes that can pose a major headache for the modern manager.

Speaking on Eamonn Holmes’ podcast A Pint with Eamonn and the Gaffers, he said: “Now, when players are leaving the training ground, they’re not leaving the training ground, they’re WhatsApping each other and it’s now toxic and spreading throughout the whole group, bringing people in.

“Suddenly, you arrive at the training ground and there’s a strange atmosphere and maybe they’ve all made a different outcome to what you as a manager perceived the outcome.

“And it’s completely out of your control, of course. You can’t infiltrate it; you don’t want to really because then you’re asking for even more problems I would guess.

“The senior players and toxic players now have a bigger control over the dressing room.”