Daryl Burgess wants McInnes at West Brom but fans disagree

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Could Derek McInnes return to The Hawthorns from Aberdeen to save West Bromwich Albion’s Premier League status?

With the axe dangling ominously over the head of Alan Pardew, West Brom legend Daryl Burgess knows exactly who he would turn to in a bid to rescue the side he represented between 1989 and 2001 – his one-time Baggies skipper Derek McInnes.

The Express and Star report that Pardew, who has led West Brom to the bottom of the Premier League, has one game to save his job, against Watford, following Saturday’s dreadful 2-1 home defeat to Huddersfield Town.

And Burgess, who came through the West Brom academy and still follows the club, believes they could do well to turn to a man who knows the Baggies inside out.

“We’ve done the merry-go round trip, why not look at it another way?” Burgess told the Express & Star.

“Derek’s a leader, he’s done wonders at St Johnstone and Aberdeen. How much further can he take Aberdeen really when you’ve got Rangers and Celtic? There’s not a great deal he could do.

“The fact he turned the Sunderland job down (when David Moyes left last summer), perhaps it’s just the right time for this one.”

McInnes has led Aberdeen to three successive second-placed finishes in the Scottish top flight but, with Rangers pushing ahead and Celtic still well clear, it seems he might have peaked at Pittodrie.

And it has not escaped the attention of West Brom fans that McInnes found life tough at Bristol City, being sacked after just 63 games in January 2013 following a club-record run of seven straight defeats.