As speculation about his future continues to swirl around him, one sentence from Sami Hyypia carried particular resonance.

Asked by The Argus about January plans after the toxic home defeat by Millwall, the Finn responded with the following remark.

"In the next window I am in a better position myself to indentify the possible targets and get them in."

Could this be the crux of the matter, why Tony Bloom has, at the time of writing, continued to stand by the man he appointed 196 days ago?

Could it be the chairman feels Albion have let Hyypia down?

In the final fixture of 2013, Stephen Ward, Matt Upson, Liam Bridcutt, Ashley Barnes, Will Buckley and Leonardo ulloa played together for the last time in a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Blackpool.

It was hard enough for Oscar Garcia keeping Albion in the play-off hunt after losing Bridcutt and Barnes last January.

It has been even harder for Hyypia without six players who are all now with Premier League clubs.

Harder still if you ask yourself whether any of those five permanent signings and only one borrowed have been adequately replaced.

Hyypia was not appointed until June. An overwhelming majority of the 14 new players in the squad were not identified by him.

A fully fit five of the seven permanent outfield signings were not deemed worthy of a starting place against Millwall.

The team for that last game of last year in Lancashire also contained Andrew Crofts, unfortunately for Hyypia now injured again. The bench included Lewis Dunk, Keith Andrews, David Lopez and the currently sidelined Kazenga LuaLua.

Is it really that surprising that Albion were 14 places higher then than they are now?

By all means blame Hyypia for his team selections, his tactics, his substitutions, his motivational powers, but also be realistic about where the club ought to be with the resources at his disposal.