Top six favourites to become new West Brom boss as club sacks manager

The top six favourites to become new West Brom boss has been revealed as the club sacks their manager Valerien Ismael on Wednesday afternoon.

His last game in charge saw West Brom fall to a 2-0 defeat at Millwall, ending their four-game loss streak in all competitions.

The club currently sit 5th in the Championship table, picking up 45 points from 29 games played and are seven points behind 2nd place Blackburn Rovers.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club can confirm Valérien Ismaël has today left his position as head coach.

— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) February 2, 2022

CLUB STATEMENT:

West Bromwich Albion Football Club can confirm Valérien Ismaël has today left his position as head coach.

Assistant head coach Adam Murray has also departed The Hawthorns.

The club would like to place on record its thanks to Valérien and Adam for their efforts and wishes them well in the future.

The process of recruiting a new head coach is now under way and an appointment will be announced in due course.

– STATEMENT ENDS –

“If you can’t tolerate your side losing, you’re not a football fan – don’t go to games, just stop it!!” 😤

Jeff Stelling reacts after Millwall vs West Brom was stopped for a second time… pic.twitter.com/0edMuUwfOi

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 29, 2022

TOP SIX FAVOURITES TO BECOME WEST BROM BOSS

SKY BET – 2:40pm
Steve Bruce – 10/11
Tony Mowbray – 6/1
Michael Appleton – 10/1
John Terry – 12/1
Lee Bowyer – 14/1
Mick McCarthy – 14/1

Just last weekend we saw how angry West Brom fans were under the management of Ismael, most recently in the defeat at Millwall while fans were even heard chanting “sacked in the morning” after the win over Peterborough last week.

Tensions have been rising in the dressing room too and The Athletic state that there was an angry exchange between the head coach and goalkeeper Sam Johnstone over being left out of the starting XI to face his hometown club Preston North End.

The West Midlands outfit have picked up just one win from their six January fixtures — the 3-0 win over the Posh.

West Brom had been top of the Championship at the end of September with a 10-game unbeaten streak but now they are fearing of dropping outside the playoffs.

Meanwhile, EFL pundit and presenter David Prutton has said that it shouldn’t just be on the manager to turn things rounds, insisting the Baggies players aren’t doing enough.

“It’s even more startling when you look at the personnel involved, names that have played at higher levels, names that have been very effective at this level of football,” said the former Nottingham Forest midfielder in Sky Sports’ latest EFL podcast.

“Something is not right. Goalscoring has clearly been a problem. It is a tough job he’s [Ismael] got on his hands.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a case of Valerien being found out because what he managed to do with Barnsley shows someone who is very capable of getting something better out of a group of players.

“There is a very unique skill to that. To say it is because he’s got a bunch of players who don’t want to play his football is too easy. It’s more nuanced than that.

“He’s not wet behind ears, he knows what he’s doing, he’s got enough experience as a manager to know if it isn’t working, something needs to give.

“On top of that, that squad of players – talent-wise, experience-wise – is doing nowhere near what it should be doing, and they need to take responsibility, as well as the manager.”

A day ago, talkSPORT pundits Simon Jordan and Danny Murphy had been dissecting the current situation at West Brom and the future of Valerien Ismael.

“The job he did at Barnsley last year was incredible. We are in a situation where people genuinely believe that you run a football club, a business, and the individuals, by a democracy and it’s absolutely absurd,” Jordan argued on talkSPORT.

“You don’t prostitute yourself. You don’t have to have only one component of ability. If your only method is to have a go at players, then you’re a limited manager – but you have to have that innate ability to concentrate a player’s mind.

“It can’t be because you put your bleeding arm around their shoulder and cajole and persuade them because ‘that’s what the players want’. What a load of nonsense.

“The players have to learn to do as they’re told, and once they do as they’re told they can do as they want. That’s a normal lesson in life, so I find it irritating when we’re told we should be understanding these dynamics.

“By the way, the worst football I ever saw was under Tony Pulis. I watched them under Gary Megson, and they were pretty crap then as well.

“[The owners] can’t ignore this. The team’s performance is taking away any of the control the manager may have over his own direction. The fans can shout and scream, but when a conversation starts to turn away from the manager and away from the board, then you see how much pressure they want to be under.

“Valerien Ismael has got them in a situation where they’re fifth in the league. They’ve got no God given right to go up because they got relegated.”

“The point is, if you have got a group of reasonably talented players in football, which West Brom have, they’ve got some good footballers – if you’re being asked to play the opposite way to the way you enjoy playing, you get on board with it,” Danny Murphy reasoned. “It’s your job to, and you do as you’re told.

“You can’t get the best out of players, though, if you’re playing the opposite way – and I don’t think he’s got it in him, I don’t think that’s the way he manages. He’s one dimensional in the way they play. There’s no deviating.”

“I’m not making a case for him, I’m playing devil’s advocate, but over the last few years, which part of West Brom’s DNA has been anything other than one dimensional? A couple of times last year they looked half decent under Sam Allardyce,” Jordan replied.

“Let’s take this away from West Brom,” Murphy responded. “Isn’t it a case now in football generally…if you’re a fan, especially of a club in the Championship or Premier League, you want to go and watch some sort of attractive football.

“I think we are losing the ‘play the long ball, lose the percentages, get away with it’ now. I don’t think you get away with it anymore.”

“Here’s the other part of the equation. Assuming these players are all getting £10, 15, 20 grand a week, can they actually do it? We seem to reward people enormous amounts of money, under the auspice that football can just hand money out to players who can’t even trap a bag of cement,” Jordan argued.

“You’re asking them to play attractive, attacking football? Half of them can’t even play football in the Championship. I look at some of these players and think ‘you’re on how much?’”

“I think that’s a coach’s excuse a lot of the time,” Murphy concluded. “‘They’re not capable, they’re not capable.’ You watched Swansea come through three divisions playing great football.”

Twitter users reacted as the top six favourites to become new West Brom boss gets revealed while the club sacks their manager…

@TheRainbowStand: Party at my gaff. Bring drink.

@WanchopePaulo: Didn’t work for either side. Wish him well in the future.

@mattsport_: Amongst the relief and satisfaction important to ensure that this group of players do not get away with throwing ANOTHER boss under the bus. Rotten mentality integrated within the club. Wish him all the best, good man and might succeed elsewhere. Just not a #WBA manager…

@ehayward93: Wish him well for the future. There was obviously a lot of drama behind the scenes that we’ll never truly know about, but it just didn’t work out.

@thejonreeve: Agreed. He’ll find a set of players one day that totally buy into what he wants to do. Our players are not without blame here. Hopefully their cards are marked & the new boss will move them along in the summer.

@Baggieboy75Mike: If we appoint anyone that doesn’t have vast experience of this league or the PL then nothing will change. Don’t appoint from league one!!!!!! Normally clubs say so and so will take charge of team affairs. Who is now taking training and tactics for a very tough game??

@conradchircop: As a human being, I believe Ismael is decent. He’s tried his best to push forward his footballing concepts. However, for different reasons, some of which relate to the club’s strategic direction on the footballing side, he fell short. We just hope the right appointment is made.

@ItsSamson2: A start, half the squad should follow him though.

@ChoppinWood: Wish him well for the future! What’s going on at the club runs deeper than just Val but one thing he could control he refused to change. Hopefully onwards and upwards

@PaulHan12455719: Let’s watch how we fuck this appointment up 💙

@ChairmanPeace: Really wanted this appointment to do well. First few games of this season I was sold – it worked, we looked energetic and physical and results reflected that. In a way I’m sad to see him go and wish him well, but performances not good enough. DON’T fuck this up @WBA #WBA

@Heathen1David: One step at a time. What we be need now is another Darren Moore moment bringing fans and club together and restoring WBA tradition character and pride on and off the pitch.

@WillS20041 :@ReadingFC I’m begging you

@TotallyWBA: Generally quite disappointed about the whole situation. I love how we tried to implement a strategy, but I’m also glad we made a change when things weren’t going to plan, that does take balls. He’s clearly a good bloke and will be successful at a club, but it just wasn’t #WBA

@_salwba94: gutted it didn’t work out for him but it’s the right outcome though. shite football with shite results, no plan B and subs like for like. I’m just hoping now we can get a good replacement in but it’s Albion so I won’t be shocked in the slightest if it’s a shit one

@LeMod18751: Wor Steve Bruce is licking his lips at the prospect of 3 months work, orange chips and Indian Grills