Albion 0 - Orient 0

He billed Saturday's 0-0 draw with Leyton Orient to his players as a must-win, a cup final, so what now for Gus Poyet's Albion? The January sales, that's what.

Tony Bloom may not be a fan of the mid-term transfer window but you can bet your last poker chip the chairman will provide his manager with the funds he feels he needs to ensure League One survival, which is all that matters now this season.

It will be a two-stage process, investing next month to stay up, investing next summer to go up, and I cannot see Poyet pussy-footing around. The overhaul will be ruthless.

The squad of players he inherited have been given a fair crack of the whip and they have not been up to the job. Talk of them being much better than their position indicates has worn painfully thin.

The table does not tell a whopping lie this deep into the season. We can now package away that opening victory at Southampton as a one-off on a big stage, in front of a new manager and the TV cameras.

The first draw under Poyet was both the most depressing result and performance of his ten-match tenure.

Albion were not playing Leeds, Charlton, Norwich or the rapidly-rising Saints, they were playing a team just above them, and they were second-best.

At least when they have confronted moderate opposition previously under the Uruguayan – Wycombe and Rushden and Diamonds in the FA Cup, Exeter in the league - they have fashioned a victory.

This time they needed the bravery of Peter Brezovan and the width of a post to avoid a damaging defeat.

FOR FULL ANALYSIS SEE TODAY'S ARGUS