Ex-West Brom manager could wreck Baggies' play-off hopes by joining top six rivals as new boss

West Bromwich Albion’s push for a Championship play-off place could soon be under threat from one of their former managers – if reports concerning the next head coach at top six rivals Blackburn Rovers are accurate.

Rovers, who are currently level on points with West Brom and among a number of teams battling for a shot at promotion to the Premier League, could appoint former Baggies boss Valerien Ismael, according to reports from a number of outlets including TalkSport.

The 49-year-old Frenchman had an eight-month spell at the Hawthorns between June 2021 and February 2022, but was fired after winning just 12 of his 31 matches in charge. He has also managed Barnsley and Watford, and could now be coming back to the Championship with Blackburn hoping that he will perform better at Ewood Park than he did in the Midlands.

West Brom play-off rivals make surprising manager move

Blackburn Rovers have been managerless for their last three matches after John Eustace left the club to take charge at relegation battlers Derby County, with reports suggesting that a combination of personal factors and frustrations with Blackburn’s owners had encouraged him to leave East Lancashire despite a successful spell which ended with the club in the top six.

The club’s first game without a manager was at the Hawthorns, with Rovers running out 2-0 winners under caretaker manager David Lowe courtesy of a brace from Makhtar Gueye, although West Brom’s win over Oxford United at the weekend helped them to vault back ahead of Blackburn in the standings on goal difference.

With just 12 games left to go, the race for a play-off place is tight and the success or failure of Eustace’s successor, now strongly rumoured to be Ismael, could have a significant knock-on effect on the Baggies’ own chances of making it back to the Premier League for the first time in four years.

Ismael close to managerial return after bombing with Baggies

Ismael has been out of management since last March, when he was sacked by Watford following a difficult tenure as head coach which saw him win just 12 out of 41 games, with his struggles with the Hornets reminiscent of his difficult time at the Hawthorns.

Before he moved to West Brom, Ismael had impressed with Austrian outfit LASK, leading them to the Champions League, and then Barnsley, who he took into the 2021 Championship play-offs, where they narrowly lost to Swansea City in the semi-finals.

But the former Crystal Palace and Bayern Munich defender has been unable to replicate that success since, with his spells at West Brom and Watford by another short and unsuccessful stint with Turkish Super Lig side Besiktas. Should he be appointed at Ewood Park, West Brom may have to hope that he is unable to recapture the remarkable results he achieved at Oakwell.

In other news, the Baggies have received a transfer update on alleged target Lewis Koumas, son of former midfielder Jason, while injured winger Jed Wallace has spoken out about his lay-off on social media.