RICARDO Gardner voiced the massive disappointment of a bunch of embarrassed and discontented Wanderers when he said: "We let the manager down."

The Reebok flyer was one of the lucky seven who left for World Cup duty, relieved to be out of the firing line as an irate Sam Allardyce continued to fume over the performance that led to Saturday's 2-1 defeat at West Brom.

But the manager's words were still ringing in his ears as he boarded his transatlantic flight to join up with Jamaica who have crucial qualifiers against Panama and El Salvador.

Big Sam kept his players in the dressing room at The Hawthorns for almost an hour as he conducted his longest ever post-match inquest -- a reaction Gardner said was fully justified.

"He gave us a long speech and he really wasn't happy getting that result," he said.

"It got to him very badly for him to stay there for so long. That's not really like him.

"He's really upset."

The defeat was a serious setback to Wanderers' hopes of building on their impressive start to the season and consolidating a place in the top half of the Premiership, and Gardner said they only had themselves to blame.

"We know we really need to be winning these games against the bottom eight clubs, if we are to stay in the top half or the top six," he added.

"Losing at West Brom, where they haven't won a game from the season starting, we really let the manager down. We went there not wanting to be the first team to be beaten by West Brom, but we just didn't get the basics right.

"All the lads are disappointed."

Gardner, denied by Albion keeper Russell Hoult in the first half, and a by cruel deflection in the second when he was close to snatching an equaliser, drew no personal satisfaction from turning in a significant improvement on his second half performance against Birmingham a week earlier.

"I can't be happy with my own performance when we've lost three points," he added.

"I really had a bad game against Birmingham. It was just one of those days for me, because I thought I'd done all right in the first 45. It was just the last 45 ... I really wanted to bounce back on Saturday and give 110 per cent because I know I can do better."