Amid what looks like a lost cause, West Brom found three points on Sunday afternoon as they defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Jay Rodriguez's second half goal gave West Brom their first win since January 13th against Brighton. The result also confirmed Manchester City as Premier League champions.
West Brom still lie nine points from safety with just four games to go. Three teams above them in the relegation fight - Stoke, Southampton and Swansea - also all have a game in hand.
Since Alan Pardew was sacked earlier this month - after a miserable run of one win in 18 games - performances have picked up. Along with yesterday's win, there was a draw against Swansea. That game arrested a run of eight consecutive defeats for the club.
Pardew was far from the most liked man at the club during his time in charge. That was not due to solely to the lack of points being accumulated - it was also down to his attitude and methods.
Senior players were reportedly unappreciative of Pardew's treatment of younger members of the squad. He also phoned Gary Megson to admonish him for denying him his 'new manager bounce' by having the temerity to pick up points during his brief time as caretaker manager.
That view of Pardew appears to be reflected in some comments from James McClean regarding new caretaker boss, Darren Moore.
Moore has a long association with West Brom. The 43-year-old spent five years there as a player in the early to mid-2000s. He took over as first-team coach in December after having previously worked with the club's under-18 and under-23 teams. His attitude towards young players at the club would presumably greatly contrast to Pardew.
"He's got that likeable factor, so everyone's pulling in the same direction for him," said McClean told BBC Radio 5 Live regarding Moore.
"In the past two games we've put on two good performances for him."
McClean also appeared to have a little dig at the team preparation of the previous regime.
"It obviously helps when you go out on the pitch knowing what you're doing - as individuals and as a team," said the Ireland international.
"Since the big man's come in, we've worked in training on what we're doing defensively and what we're doing attackingly.
"In the past two games, we've shown we actually know what we're doing when we go out on the pitch, which obviously always helps."
Picture: Sportsfile
