Next West Brom manager: ex-Wolves and Leicester City bosses emerge as front-runners
West Brom are aiming to hire a new manager after sacking Tony Mowbray
West Brom are searching for a new manager after parting ways with Tony Mowbray after less than 100 days. Monday’s 3-1 home defeat against relegation-threatened Derby County marked the final chapter in what has ultimately been a subdued return to the Hawthorns for Mowbray.
The 61-year-old has been dismissed with the club in 10th position and practically out of contention for the play-offs, with a six point gap separating the Baggies and the top six with just two games to spare.
West Brom’s record of five wins in 18 matches during Mowbray’s tenure was a far cry from his first spell at the club when he achieved promotion in 2008. His return to football management in January was a feel-good story but unfortunately it won't have the fairy tale ending of another promotion to the Premier League with the Baggies, who are expected to soon be preparing for a fifth season without top-flight football.
West Brom next manager candidates
West Brom fans have experienced a season to forget despite starting the campaign with promise under Carlos Corberan. The Baggies were firmly in the play-off race for most of the first half of the season before Corberan stunned fans on Christmas Eve with his bombshell exit to Spanish side Valencia. Results have since unravelled under Mowbray and the club are now searching for a new leader to try and return the team to the promised land of the Premier League.
A number of names with Premier League experience have been touted as potential options as they look to rebuild their managerial CVs. One of those is Gary O’Neil, who has 100 games of top-flight experience, but whose appointment would divide opinion due to his stint at Wolves.
O’Neil inherited a Bournemouth team that seemed destined for relegation after a 9-0 defeat to Liverpool under Scott Parker and was praised for steadying the ship and securing a 15th place finish before being sacked by the Cherries board.
He joined Wolves in similar fashion before a ball was kicked and was tasked with keeping the club afloat after Julen Lopetegui’s bombshell exit where he bemoaned the club’s lack of transfer action. He secured a respectable 14th place finish and was rewarded with a four-year-contract before results plummeted the following season and he was sacked in December with the team in the bottom three.
Another name under consideration is thought to be Steve Cooper. He of course has experience at this level with Swansea, who he led to the play-off semi-final and more notably Nottingham Forest where he won promotion before stabilising the team in the top-flight. His last spell at Leicester didn’t go to plan as he won just three of his 15 games at the King Power but his overall record was enough for the team to be 16th at the time of his departure, with the club being relegated under his successor Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Sean Dyche, a two-time promotion winner with Burnley and an experienced head at the top level with the Clarets and Everton, has also been linked with the post along with former Hull City boss Liam Rosenior and ex-Rangers manager Steven Gerrard.
What went wrong for Tony Mowbray?
Tony Mowbray took charge of West Brom when they were in sixth position but was never able to implement his own brand of football with any success after inheriting a squad that had been drilled by the meticulous Spaniard Corberan.
Mowbray's chopping and changing of line-ups suggested he couldn’t figure out his best team nor find the antidote to a difficult set of results which saw Bristol City, Coventry and Middlesbrough among others leapfrog them in the league table.
Mowbray enjoyed some highs at the Hawthorns including a 5-1 win over Portsmouth in his first home game back, a 2-0 win over Oxford, a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday and a 2-1 victory over Watford, but experienced very different fortunes away from home - failing to win any of his eight matches on the road.