Premier League 2016-17 previews No19 West Bromwich Albion

Guardian writers’ predicted position 14th (NB: this is not necessarily Alan Smith’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position 14th

Odds to win the league (via Oddschecker) 1,000-1

Until last week it looked like a case of new season, same old West Bromwich Albion: 2016-17 would be another campaign of comfort – or stagnation depending on how empty the glass is – under the ever-pragmatic Tony Pulis. But then Jeremy Peace sold his 88% stake in the club to Guochuan Lai and Pulis, the archetypal safe pair of hands, was immediately made the bookmakers’ favourite in the ever unpleasant market of first manager to be fired.

The landscape has undeniably altered in the Black Country – and not just at The Hawthorns, but a few miles north-west in Wolverhampton, too, where new Chinese owners wasted no time in relieving Kenny Jackett of his services.

Pulis, however, has been given reassurances by Lai that his job is not in immediate threat, and the entrepreneur has also stated his desire not to alter the club culture. “I have no wish to change the club’s ethos or embark on an unsustainable spending spree,” he said upon taking over. “I want to be a good owner and to invest in this club for the long term. First and foremost, our goal is to ensure that we remain in the Premier League and then beyond that, I would like to see the club establish itself in the top half of the division. I believe it is the best league in the world and I want to take this club as far as possible.”

Such is Pulis’s record, the first aspect should not be too problematic. The next aim is to break into the top half of the table, but it will be important for the new owner and an increasingly divided fanbase hoping for a quick shoot up the table to realise that is an increasingly onerous task because of the recent ground made up by other mid-table sides.

To progress from last season’s 14th-place finish will certainly require more of an edge up front. Only Aston Villa, tailed off at the bottom, scored fewer goals and it is worth recalling that at Christmas Albion were averaging fewer than a shot on target per 90 minutes, by some stretch the division’s worst.

They failed to score in 13 of their 38 games and found the net more than once on only nine occasions. Of their 10 victories, not one was by more than single goal and seven finished 1-0. Predictably, a dozen of their sparse total of 34 came from set pieces. Little wonder disgruntled reactions were common at The Hawthorns, perhaps most notably after a diabolical 0-0 draw with Villa in late January, when the visitors looked the more likely.

On the flip side, only the top six had better defensive records – though no other club could claim to regularly line up with four centre-halves. Those defenders are often underappreciated, not least Jonny Evans, who is said to have Arsenal chasing him following their latest injury crisis. The Northern Ireland international enjoyed a fine European Championship and it would take a hefty fee for Albion to sell.

Ben Foster is dependable in goal and they are well stocked in midfield. Darren Fletcher, much like Evans, displayed plenty of evidence that he would still be capable of performing at a higher level at 32, and Claudio Yacob is underrated.

Irritatingly for all parties the long and winding tale of Saido Berahino’s future remains unresolved. Bids from Stoke and Crystal Palace were rejected under Peace’s ownership but the former remain keen and Mark Hughes is happy to be patient. After last season was close to a write-off, it makes sense for all concerned for a move to go through. The striker is undoubtedly talented but with, as Pulis mentioned more than once, people dragging him one way and pulling him the other it has long been evident the relationship is unworkable.

Albion are insistent upon signing a replacement before letting the former England Under-21 international go but their £15m move for Diafra Sakho broke down days before the takeover, with the club stating he had passed his medical and everything was agreed but he had a back injury that would have meant missing the start of the season.

It places a lot of pressure on the Venezuelan Salomón Rondón, who showed brief flashes of promise last season but needs to improve on his return of nine goals, especially if Rickie Lambert continues to be as ineffective. The decision to release Victor Anichebe and Stéphane Sessègnon also looks odd in retrospect.

Pulis has been notoriously slow to promote young players throughout his career and the sight of three teenagers – Jonathan Leko, Sam Field and Tyler Roberts – in the final game of last season, a 1-1 draw with Liverpool, is unlikely to become the norm. He will return to the tried and tested but Leko is worth keeping an eye on. The 17-year-old attacking midfielder made five appearances in total last season, becoming the first player born in 1999 to appear in the Premier League, and is also highly rated in the England underage system.

Matt Phillips, a £5.5m signing from Queens Park Rangers, will provide pace but he is the sole new player entering the opening weekend of the campaign. It is not wild to suggest the end of the window could be a hectic one. “All over,” Pulis told the Express and Star last month about where needs to be strengthened. “Every position that you look at. The back players, midfield players and front players, we have to strengthen. The targets have been there, we know what we want.” Getting them is proving more difficult than envisaged, mostly due to uncertainty during the takeover process.

The season could be defined by how they start, with seven eminently winnable games before a daunting run of Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City and Leicester from mid-October. By that point the pressure on Pulis will have eased or become insurmountable. And, who knows, maybe even Berahino will have found a new club.