The Scott Ruscoe Column: West Brom will struggle to stay up

Paul Lambert has come into Stoke and while he's a good coach and gave them a boost, they are in trouble and have been on the decline for a season or more. They held their own but Mark Hughes was going nowhere.

West Brom might have their time. Alan Pardew is ok and he might do something for them but they're in trouble. Southampton are in freefall and I don't think the manager Mauricio Pellegrino is the right fit.

But any of the others just outside the bottom three could be dragged into the relegation zone if they have a bad run of defeats.

I was listening to the radio last week and they were saying that all the promoted clubs will get sucked into it because they don't have the experience of trying to stay in the Premier League.

They could get dragged into it, for example Huddersfield have a bright young coach in David Wagner but does he have the experience to deal with that? Pardew has. I would say one of those clubs from Newcastle, Brighton and Huddersfield could get sucked into.

West Brom will have to put a run together though; I did think they might when Daniel Sturridge went there but he got injured straight away. There's 10 points between 20th and 11th but there's only five points between 19th and 11th.

West Brom being five points adrift might be too much. If you look previously at Sunderland and how Sam Allardyce turned them around – they were in a mess with up to eight points adrift – then there's enough games still for Pardew to turn them around.

He has the know-how to do it but they've got to show the fight to get out of the situation. They're certainly at the wrong end of the table and with Pardew's management style, it'll be hard.

In Tony Pulis, who has left the club, they had someone who's never been relegated. Have the Baggies made a mistake there in getting rid of him so early? They could have had guaranteed Premier League safety and then made the changes in the summer.

To me it feels like it is.