Steve Bruce has learned one enormous lesson about his inherited West Brom squad

As a player, Steve Bruce played for the very best in Sir Alex Ferguson, who himself was infamously on the brink of losing his job as Manchester United boss years before the glory days which followed. Time was afforded and the results eventually began to bear fruit.

Sir Alex, it’s fair to say, didn’t accept any ‘b******t’, which was a word Bruce used following this West Brom defeat at Luton Town. There was of course quality, but everyone pulled their weight.

Bruce as a manager himself has suffered relegations, struggles in the Championship but on the whole his CV can’t be ignored. He perhaps wasn’t well liked at Newcastle, but he maintained their mid-table Premier League status for a couple of years. He came within a whisker of getting Aston Villa up.

He did so with Blues, twice. Hull City, too. He enjoyed positive spells at Wigan and Sunderland, before things soured at the latter. Wherever he’s been, he’s - at least immediately - had the desired impact.

There are certain standards that he demands, but with this Albion group he has as difficult a task on his hands as he’s perhaps ever had. Sam Allardyce had his own struggles. Valerien Ismael, too, though the latter didn’t exactly help his own cause.

After what was a promising first half hour at Sheffield United before this side’s ill-discipline reared its ugly head again, and at times in a generally dull Blackburn encounter, this must be considered the real eye opener for Bruce.

He was bubbly, charismatic and generous with his time on Friday morning when we spoke to him at his press conference. There was an air of optimism, that what he and his players had been working on could prove successful at Kenilworth Road.

What he saw unfold before his eyes here, then,