They used to be the team whose calling card was the way they kept possession.

But as Albion fans head to the Amex in hope of a third successive home win on Saturday, they might reflect that the tactical tide has turned.

The former kings of keeping the ball under previous bosses are now happy to sit back and play at pace on the counter attack.

And their potency from deep – plus organisation without the ball – has helped them put their season back on track.

The days of manager Gus Poyet and later head coach Oscar Garcia putting a heavy emphasis on keeping the ball appear to be long gone.

But Chris Hughton has got things spot-on tactically in the last two home games and the result has been six points and five goals – but not a lot of the ball.

Albion beat Brentford 3-0 last Friday with a possession share put as low as 35% by one source. The average figure for the eight teams who won matches in the Championship last weekend was 44%, including just 36% for Preston as they beat David Wagner’s German-inspired Huddersfield.

Times are changing. With Leicester in the Premier League and, more especially, in the Championship.

“I watched Charlton play Bristol City on Saturday and Charlton had 65% of possession in the first half but were 1-0 down,” said Adam Virgo, the former Albion skipper who now keeps a close eye on the Championship in his media role.

“Charlton were just going sideways and backwards a lot.

“Adam Clayton at Middlesbrough is probably the best example of someone who can play in front of the back four and is a very good passer but not so many managers in the Championship look to play out from the back now.

The Argus:

“Gus Poyet was an advocate of that – but you kind of wished sometimes we were a bit more direct.

"Managers now seem to be trying to play in the final third a little more. They are missing out midfielders, trying to get the ball out wide rather than through the middle.

“If you play two up front you tend to be just a bit more direct, going wide or looking to get the ball into the centre forward’s feet. When you only play one up front, you tend to have to pass it an extra phase.”

The European domination of Barcelona and their tiki-taka – a term their ex-boss Pep Guardiola dislikes – made possession football popular.

Under Poyet, the style delighted crowds at Withdean and later the Amex – when it had an end product. The Uruguayan educated a fanbase to a degree. But some of the crowd took time to embrace the switch of emphasis.

It has been a similar story at other clubs. When Derby made the surprising decision to sack Paul Clement, pictured above, this week, a club statement mentioned “the Derby County way” of playing.

One wondered then if that meant “the English way”, especially when thinking back to the impatience of fans at the iPro Stadium in December when their side looked to pass patiently when trailing to Albion.

The ball was moved neatly from side to side but the Rams faithful, certainly those close to the press box, wanted something a bit more dynamic. and they made that opinion heard.

There lies the problem. Many teams in the Championship are skilled enough to keep possession and look good – but not incisive enough for it to be a threat.

Virgo said: “If you did a passing drill in training, teams will keep the ball for 20 or 30 passes at a time. But the way the Championship is played off the ball is totally different to how it is in the Premier League.

“Nine times out of ten, Premier League teams will drop off and let you pass out from the back. In the Championship, teams are told to press early on because players are more vulnerable to a mistake.”

The Argus:

Huddersfield head coach David Wagner with Chris Hughton

Possession figures have become a point of interest for many fans. But maybe too much so. When Albion beat Huddersfield recently, one of their media team pointed out with incredulity: “But we had 62% possession!”

But do two figures which add up to 100 really mean much – or is that an over-simplification?

Oscar was seen as perhaps the Albion boss who looked closest at possession stats. He told The Argus: “What interests me aren’t the numbers you see in the press, I’m interested in how much possession we have in the opposition’s half.”

One of Albion’s best possession-keepers of recent times – occasionally to the exasperation of fans who wanted him to break forward more quickly - was David Lopez, who added: “Personally I think the possession stats have some value. Coaches often also tell you that keeping possession is a way of defending. But your percentage of possession is not something that would be talked about in the changing room.”

Virgo, who was with the Seagulls for the first six months of Poyet’s tenure, added: “Gus never said to us ‘If you keep the ball for 55% of the game you will win’. It was more ‘If you keep the ball, they can’t score’.

“I’ve never come into a dressing room at any club and a manager comes in and says we lost because of the possession stat.

“What he might say is that the striker didn’t keep the ball well enough in the final third. To me that is a possession stat – if you play the ball into him six times and he only keeps hold of it twice.”

Players have to adapt to new managers and their methods. So do fans.

Seeing the opposition knocking the ball about on your own patch can be un-nerving.

But, if Bolton have possession on Saturday while Albion have both a lead and all their pieces in position, home fans should be able to sit reasonably comfortably.

They will be watching a chess match Hughton will have backed his men to win.

  • TOP SIX POSSESSION STATS

Brentford 54.6%
Derby 54.0%
Fulham 52.9%
MK Dons 52.7%
Hull City 52.5%
Huddersfield 52.4%

  • BOTTOM SIX

Burnley 47.8%
Notts Forest 47.6%
Charlton 47.3%
Rotherham 46.9%
Preston 46.9%
Birmingham 44.6%

  • Albion’s possession share for the season is quite high at 52.1% but in their three recent wins they have had figures of 35% (Brentford), 38% (Huddersfield) and 44% (Blackburn). Figures above are for the season so far as a whole, according to whoscored.com.