West Brom Boss Alan Pardew Outlines Positive Approach Following Opening Game

New West Brom boss Alan Pardew hopes his arrival has signalled a message of intent to both players and supporters of the club following his first game at the helm.

Their goalless draw with Crystal Palace showed promise, with Pardew’s side having the better share of play against his former club.

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Whilst his team selection was heavily restricted through injury, with the likes of Nacer Chadli, James Morrison, Chris Brunt and Matt Phillips all unavailable, Pardew opted for a three-striker attack, with Salomon Rondon, Jay Rodriguez and Hal Robson-Kanu.

It’s the first time all three have started a game together and Pardew hinted that there is more to come.

Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “I wanted to send a message not just to the fans here but to the players: ‘Okay, we can play with three strikers and we can be positive and go for teams.

"Sometimes when you play with three strikers it doesn’t always work, but if we’d got a goal in the first 20 minutes, we might’ve kicked on from there.

"But we didn’t. So we’ll reflect on that.

“We showed signs with a lot of big players missing that were really encouraging.”

Pardew’s injury woes grew with Gareth Barry leaving the field in the first half with a thigh injury, although it’s thought to not be too serious.

But with Barry’s substitution, Claudio Yacob’s introduction to the game immediately impressed the new boss in a midfield, alongside 18-year-old Sam Field, who played his third game in a week.

He said: “I thought Claudio was terrific when he came on and second half I was really impressed by his performance.

“And Sam has ticked some boxes in those three games. One is his quality, two is his endeavour and work-rate - it’s just what position is best suited to him.

“At times he had his back to goal and it didn’t look comfortable for him. It looks like he needs to come from deep and that’s why we changed his position…all those things we need to find out.

“I spoke to Gary [Megson] who brought him in for two games and he was terrific - fair play to Gary for picking him. Hopefully I will get the benefit of it because it’s three good performances.”