Steve Bruce must start Erik Pieters and Brandon Thomas Asante to relieve West Brom pressure
Under-fire West Brom boss Steve Bruce must start Brandon Thomas Asante and Erik Pieters against Norwich if he wants to avoid losing his job at The Hawthorns.
The Athletic’s Elias Burke revealed (via his personal Twitter account, 15 September) that the Baggies boss is now under “genuine pressure” after the 3-2 home loss to Birmingham City.
This weekend’s trip to Norwich does have a last-chance saloon feel to it for the West Brom boss, with the Baggies currently 20th in the Championship with just one win from nine games.
At present, it would be hard to find a West Brom fan who wants the 61-year-old at the club for the foreseeable future and facing a rampant Norwich side could well be the fatal blow for Bruce.
However, if Bruce really wants to stand a chance of winning over some of the fans at The Hawthorns, then he must ensure that he freshens up his side for their trip to Carrow Road.
Thomas-Asante deserves a shot after hitting the ground running since his summer transfer from League Two side Salford City and has shown more hunger and desire than the majority of the Baggies forward players thus far.
For any striker, getting in and around the box and looking to poach is an absolute requisition and Thomas-Asante has shown from his performances that he is hungry to make an impact and give everything for the team.
He should be allowed a shot to impress on Saturday in Norfolk, along with veteran defender Pieters, who impressed during his 15-minute cameo against Birmingham on Wednesday evening.
The defending against John Eustace’s side in the week was schoolboy and that’s probably an insult to most kids around the country.
You don’t get a lot with Bruce, but usually, his teams are fairly rigid and competent defensively, but that hasn’t been the case this season with 13 goals conceded.
Bringing Pieters into the equation could sure up his back line and add a little bit more leadership to a defensive unit that looked completely lost against Birmingham.
The West Brom boss surely doesn’t have man chances left so he may as well roll the dice and hope his summer arrivals get him out of jail at Carrow Road.
In other West Brom news, Tony Brown says Bruce was forced into a decision on this Albion player due to angry fans at The Hawthorns.