The Steve Bruce era is well and truly over at West Bromwich Albion as new head coach Carlos Corberan has got his under the table with some solid results already.
There was a three-game period in-between that under-21's manager Richard Beale took charge of, but Bruce feels like an afterthought now following three wins in a row for the Baggies.
Albion achieved little success in Bruce's eight months in charge and he left them stranded in the relegation zone when departing in early October, but Corberan has already taken steps to rectify that.
Despite an opening loss to Sheffield United, the Spaniard has guided his side to victories against Blackpool, Queens Park Rangers and this weekend Stoke City - all without conceding a goal.
Corberan has clearly got a tune out of West Brom's previously underperforming players, and following the 2-0 win over the Potters at The Hawthorns, defender Darnell Furlong has outlined he and his team-mates' new-found confidence, whilst also taking a subtle unnamed dig at Bruce.
"We’re extremely organised now, which is nice,” Furlong said to WBA TV post-match - suggesting that they were perhaps not as well-coached under Bruce as they are Corberan.
“We’ve got a structure now which doesn’t just apply to defenders, it applies to the whole team.
"We’ve been coached the really fine details which already looks like it is paying off. Every player is ready to work hard - nobody wants to concede a goal and we’re trying our best.
“We always wanted to get the first goal of the afternoon because we have seen how other games have gone this season when we haven’t.
"Once we got it, we kicked on and went from strength to strength. We created so many chances today and I really do think we could’ve scored more goals.”
The Verdict
It was painfully obvious to all that West Brom weren't reaching their true potential under Bruce, and for that a change had to be made.
And in the space of a couple of weeks, Corberan has completely transformed their fortunes and has achieved more wins this season in four attempts that Bruce did in 13.
He is getting an extra 10 or 20 per cent out of everyone on the pitch, and that is promising for the months ahead following the break for the World Cup.
Throughout the season, the Baggies have been near the top of the table when it comes to expected goals but near the bottom in actual points - now they're putting their chances away and have fixed their defence, there's no telling where they could end up.
