Steve Bruce: West Brom squad needs a major overhaul

The Baggies' performances have fluctuated widely throughout the 2021/22 campaign.

But their inconsistency has been particularly prevalent in the last few weeks.

Albion put in impressive displays to beat promotion-chasing Fulham and Bournemouth.

But they were poor at Bristol City before putting in a dreadful display at Birmingham.

And they were almost as bad against Stoke - with Michael O'Neill's side fully deserving of their 3-1 win.

That inconsistency has enraged fans.

And peaking post-match, Bruce admitted Albion's squad is in need of a major skake-up in the summer if the club is to get back on track.

“I’ve only been here for eight weeks and, of course, you learn," Bruce said.

“We’re verging on a major overhaul.

“That’s required because the club is never going to accept being

halfway in the Championship and rightly so.

“I’ve been in it a long time but the level to which we go up and down so quickly is the really frustrating part for me.

"We have to bring a fresher, younger look to everything."

Albion have a host of players on long-term deals with Andy Carroll, Sam Johnstone and David Button the only current members of the squad out of contract at the end of the season.

Bruce, though, insists change can still be made.

"There’s always ways," he continued.

"We’ve spent a lot of money in the past but in this division you can do a bit of wheeling and dealing, borrowing one and nicking one and lending one.

“I’m not saying there is going to be bundles of cash but you can always change the squad around."