It’s another defeat for the Baggies, so here are the favourites to become next West Brom manager should they sack their current boss.
Slaven Bilic is at risk of leaving The Hawthorns following their 2-1 loss to Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
Reports emerged this week that should they lose to the Magpies, then the board will consider whether he should remain at the club or not.
They have only taken six points from 12 games played this season, leaving them second from bottom in the Premier League table.
The Baggies fell to an embarrassing 5-1 home defeat against Roy Hodgson’s side last weekend, falling apart after the controversial sending off of Matheus Pereira at 1-1, and it has raised fresh questions over the Croatian boss’ future.
“The result is not there.”
Slaven Bilic admitted it was a tough defeat to accept and felt his side must do better in defensive situations if they’re to turn around their fortunes. pic.twitter.com/G5Ipq7egZY
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 12, 2020
The boss said after the 2-1 defeat at Newcastle: “I think we deserved something from the game.
“We had a really bad start. We gave a cheap goal away in the first minute.
“In the first half they were stronger than us. They were first to the second balls. They were better in 50-50s.
“We had a much better mentality in the second half. We were brighter, stronger, better.
“We equalised, and then the game became stretched after that. We had waves. They had waves.
“We were trying to get into the pockets with Filip and Conor.
“We kept getting into good situations, but we didn’t turn those situations into chances.
“They put one cross in and they scored the winner.
“We should’ve had enough bodies to stop it.
“We are all very disappointed. It was a game of very fine margins.
“We’re going home empty-handed and that hurts.”
So, who are the favourites to become the next West Brom manager should they sack their current boss…
6) Darren Fletcher
Darren Fletcher is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He has also played as a right-winger and on occasion in defence.
He racked up almost 350 appearances for United and played alongside Rooney for nearly 15 years in a successful stint together at Old Trafford, which plays a part in Fletch being recently linked with Derby.
The 36-year-old has also played 91 times in a West Brom shirt, scoring four goals between 2015 and 2017, before joining and finishing his career at Stoke, playing 38 times between 2017 and 2019.
He said back in November 2019 that he had not officially retired from playing, and did not yet feel ready to begin a career in management.
In May 2020 he acknowledged that he “probably” wouldn’t play again, and said that his medical condition (ulcerative colitis) meant that he would be at higher risk from COVID-19.
Paddy Power odds: 16/1
5) John Terry
John Terry has been the number two to Dean Smith at Aston Villa since retiring from his playing career in 2018. Reports previously linked him with the Watford, Bournemouth and Bristol City job.
Terry has more recently been linked to the Derby job before Cocu even departed, with the Daily Mail reporting that he could be an option for the Pride Park club.
John’s brother turns out to be West Brom’s loan manager Paul Terry, who has just been fined £1,000 by the FA for breaking gambling rules after losing almost £47,000 across 209 football bets.
Back to John Terry now and Alex McLeish, the former Villa manager, has been speaking to Football Insider about the possibility of Dean Smith’s assistant replacing Slaven Bilic at the Hawthorns.
McLeish told Football Insider: “West Brom would be a tough one for John, they are in the Premier League but let’s be honest, they are among the favourites to go down and for good reason.
“They don’t have the spending power of other teams or they can’t quite match the quality of what the other teams have.
“Their biggest hope would be to finish, I think, 17th and they would say: ‘Well, at least we were better than three of the teams.’ That would probably be their target this season.
“The Premier League would obviously be a lure to anybody but it’s a shame to talk about it when the manager’s not been sacked and he should be given every bit of support now.
“That’s sometimes the sort of thing that happens when you’re at that kind of level, you feel you don’t get the support that you deserve at times, and sometimes not the credit, either.”
Paddy Power odds: 10/1
4) Steven Gerrard
Former Liverpool and England player Steven Gerrard has spent three seasons at Ibrox in what is his first major coaching position.
He failed to prevent Celtic winning the Scottish Premiership in the last two campaigns, but now looks on course to do it at the third attempt.
Now Gerrard has caught the eye of plenty from clubs in the second tier of English football.
Bristol City had been interested in him when they said goodbye to Lee Johnson, before Dean Holden took over instead.
Gerrard declined the opportunity, instead choosing to remain at the Scottish giants and endure another campaign at Rangers.
After retiring in 2016 he then went into coaching with the Liverpool academy before getting the chance to prove himself in May 2018.
He is yet to win a trophy for Rangers, however his achievement will be narrowing the gap on Old Firm rivals Celtic, as they hope they can stopped Neil Lennon’s side from winning an historic tenth title in a row.
He signed a new contract last December to remain with them until at least the summer of 2024.
There were rumours in May 2020, that Gerrard was considering his future at the club.
However the ex-England international came out and revealed has no intention of leaving Rangers in the “near future” unless the Ibrox club sacks him.
Gerrard, who has ambitions to become Liverpool boss one day, told The Times: “If people think I am going to leave Rangers in the near future because it is my decision, and I don’t want to be there, then that opinion is wrong.
“In terms of me being proud and happy to be the manager, and wanting to move the club forward and improve it, then I am all in. It was always going to be a job where I had to learn on the go.
“Now, I never for one moment thought I was going to get everything right and everything was going to be positive.”
Derby County have most recently been linked with him following Phillip Cocu’s departure in November 2020.
Paddy Power odds: 8/1
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We continue looking at who are the favourites for next West Brom manager…
3) Patrick Vieira
Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira could be set for a quick return to management, with MLS side Toronto FC said to be interested in his services, but now he’s rumoured to be on the radar at West Brom.
The Frenchman was sacked by Nice earlier this month, following an awful run of five defeats in a row.
The 44-year-old started his managerial career out in America with New York City FC back in 2016.
Vieira earned himself a 44 per cent win ratio during his two years with the club, making it to the playoff semi-finals in his first campaign before losing out to Toronto.
He left the USA to take over at Nice in June 2018, guiding them to seventh and fifth in his two full seasons in charge of the Ligue 1 outfit.
Vieira has also been linked with the vacant Nantes job, with Christian Gourcuff being sacked.
Paddy Power odds: 6/1
2) Marco Silva
Everton sack Marco Silva – was the music the ears of many Toffees fans in 2019, leaving Goodison Park 19 months after his arrival, having won just four of his 15 league games in charge in 2019/20 following the 2018/19 season’s eighth-place finish.
He is still out of work since departing on the 5th of December 2019, after a 5–2 defeat to city rivals Liverpool which left the team in 18th place at the time.
When managing at Everton, Marco Silva was trolled during a game as fans of his former club Watford brought along and held up inflatable snakes.
Travelling Watford, who were given a £10 food/drinks voucher by their club for making the 400 mile round trip to Goodison Park, cheekily sneaked in the inflatables in protest at Silva who was sacked by the Hornets.
The Toffees manager was in charge of Watford between May 2017 and January 2018, however, Everton approached him after they had sacked Ronald Koeman (now somehow manager of Barcelona) and that is when the Hornet’s form started to drop.
Despite Watford rejecting the approach, they ended up sacking him due to an ‘unwarranted approach by a Premier League rival’ that caused “significant deterioration in both focus and results’.
Four months after getting the axe, he was brought in by the Merseyside club, leading Watford fans to turn on him and taunt him with the inflatables and calling him a snake.
Silva also managed Hull City, appointed in January 2017 until the end of the season, replacing Mike Phelan who was dismissed with the club bottom of the Premier League table.
He came in, got four wins from his first four home matches as manager and reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.
He couldn’t keep the form up however and in May 2017, the club’s relegation from top-flight football was confirmed.
Paddy Power odds: 4/1
1) Eddie Howe
Eddie Howe has been linked with many clubs for the manager’s position for however long he stays unemployed.
The 42-year-old guided the Cherries to more than 450 games across two spells spanning more than a decade but stepped down this summer following the club’s relegation to the Championship.
Their five-year stay in the top flight ended despite a 3-1 win at Everton on the final day of the season.
Howe also made more than 300 appearances as a player in the famous red and black stripes.
Howe was initially appointed AFC Bournemouth caretaker manager in December 2008, with the club sitting on -17 points at the bottom of the Football League.
Against all the odds he secured their safety and followed it with promotion from League Two the following season.
After a brief spell in charge of Burnley, a masterstroke from owner Maxim Demin bought Howe back to Dorset, and he then proceeded to achieve two further promotions in three seasons, leading the Cherries to the Premier League, where they remained for five years.
Paddy Power odds: 2/1
Now you have seen the favourites to become next West Brom manager, who do you think they should go with if they sack the current boss? Let us know your thoughts!
This is what the club’s supporters had to say after the whistle went to West Brom’s defeat to Newcastle…
(CTRL + C, CTRL + V)
— Callum (@CallumWBA_) December 12, 2020
Justified?? Do you not think the owner and board have fucked him over? He’s been the best thing to happen to our club in years!!
— Andy Stallard (@andystallard89) December 12, 2020
Just give us the cornerflag
— Rob 🎄 (@RobWBA_) December 12, 2020
Fans calling for Bilic to be sacked only to find Big Sam is the only available person to come in… 🙄 pic.twitter.com/bwJNYsRopz
— Taylor’s Tap In (@TaylorsTapIn) December 12, 2020
Sack the board not Bilic !
— Dan Bosley (@danbosleywba) December 12, 2020
Ask him if he knows his best team? Phillips on the left with Gibbs on the bench, taking grant & Robinson off & having Austin up front on his own? Ivanovic starting & even being captain? Jesus Christ, I like Slav but his selections baffle me! #wba
— Dave price (@Davepricescaff) December 12, 2020
Well said!
— Stewie (@Dudley1976) December 12, 2020
Relegation signed sealed and delivered already. Not enough investment in the summer. There is some decent young exciting players but they needed more adding around them. Not enough for this level. Forget everything else we need new owners.
— Andy Leeman (@AndyLeeman91) December 12, 2020
Feel free to turn up with some pride and effort any time boys. Humiliating performance once again. Newcastle unable to train for 12 days or prepare. We deserve more than that as fans
— Luke Stokes (@lukestokes84) December 12, 2020
The board have never backed him he had hardly any money to play with compared to other clubs,we show we have some quality out their but just not enough . Board out ! Slav to stay!
— Joel Perry (@JoelPerry1) December 12, 2020
New manager needed
— Nigel Stevens-Parkes (@swigella) December 12, 2020
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