Manager: Alan Irvine
Last season: 17th
Major signings: Chris Baird (free, Burnley), Craig Gardner (free, Sunderland), Brown Ideye (£10m, Dynamo Kiev), Joleon Lescott (free, Manchester City), Andre Wisdom (loan, Liverpool), Jason Davidson (undisclosed, Heracles Almelo)
Players out: Liam Ridgewell (free, Portland Timbers), Steven Reid (free, Burnley), Billy Jones (free, Sunderland), Cameron Gayle (free, Shrewsbury Town), Diego Lugano (released), Scott Sinclair (loan ended).
Expectations: When you finish one spot, and three points, above the drop, expectations for the coming season for Baggies fans have to be about survival.
That is a lot of pressure on new man in the hotseat Alan Irvine, The former assistant to David Moyes at Everton has been the top man before, at Preston and Sheffield Wednesday but he has never managed in the top flight before. His summer business has been at best underwhelming, with a focus on defensive improvement highlighted by the arrival of Joleon Lescott, Andre Wisdom and Jason Davidson.
However, Lescott has already picked up an injury and the former England man turns 32 the day the season kicks off. A classy defender in his day, there are fears his best form might be behind him now.
Nigerian striker Brown Ideye is a club record signing, and Irvine will be hoping he replace the dismal goal threat posed by West Brom’s forwards last term. Stéphane Sessègnon and Saido Berahino top scored in the league with five each, which is simply not good enough at this level.
West Brom’s biggest problem last year was securing victories. Their tally of seven last year was the lowest in the Premier League, tied with Cardiff, who finished bottom. Fifteen draws was a league high by some distance and if they can’t turn a decent chunk of those into wins, the Baggies could be doomed.
Chris Brunt has been retained, and made captain, which is a boost but it looks like a long, hard season for West Brom fans based on their current squad.
Irish angle: No Republic of Ireland player is in the first-team squad now that reid has left but on the coaching staff is the one and only Dean Kiely. Goalkeeping coach at the club since 2010 he is responsible for arguably the club’s best player, Ben Foster.
If they were a fictional character… Walden Schmidt, Ashton Kutcher’s character in Two and a Half Men. Nobody we know watches this show yet it continues, almost unnoticed in the schedules. You keep expecting to hear it has been cancelled/relegated but somehow it endures. Will this be the year the axe finally falls on the Hawthorns, their fifth consecutive season in the top flight.
Where will they end up? Only the sheer uselessness of others kept them up last time. We don’t think West Brom will be so lucky this time around.
