Gary Megson feels experience should be key factor in West Brom boss hunt

The Baggies are currently on the hunt for a new head coach after Sam Allardyce opted to step away from the club at the end of last season.

Former Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder is currently the odds-on favourite with the bookmakers to land the job.

But Frank Lampard, Michael Appleton and Roy Hodgson are other names that have been linked.

Megson famously guided Albion into the Premier League in both 2002 and 2004.

That second promotion was achieved exactly 12 months after the club had been relegated from the top flight.

Now the Baggies are in the same boat again and looking to make an immediate Premier League return.

And to do it, Megson believes they need a manager who understands the demands of the division.

“I think they need to appoint a pragmatic manager who knows the division,” the 62-year-old said.

“They need to know the players and they need to have an understanding of the challenges they are going face each and every week.

“If you don’t have that experience it can be very difficult to hit the ground running.

“But it’s not just down to the manager, the club have to give him the framework so he can succeed.

“It’s all well and good saying we want to win promotion. That’s easy.

“But how are you going to do it? How are you going to overcome problems? What do you do when things go against you?

“You need that structure and you need that support.

“First and foremost they need a manager who is strong enough to run the club.

“And then the structure needs to be in place so if the manager wants to buy or sell players, they can do it quickly.”

The promotion Megson won in 2002 transformed Albion’s long-term future as a club.

But while that is his favourite achievement, he says his second promotion at The Hawthorns was more fulfilling because the Baggies had the title of favourites before the season started.

And he says the new boss will also have the pressure of dealing with that tag.

“The first promotion was incredible because we were 10 points behind Wolves at one stage,” he said.

“To catch our local rivals was amazing.

“But as a manager, the second promotion was more fulfilling because we had to live up to everyone’s expectations.

“We were no longer just a Championship side.

“We were a big fish and we had no surprise factor.

“That’s why you have got to have honest, hard-working players.

“That’s what Albion need if they are going to bounce straight back up.”