West Brom act after four defeats in a row pushes them closer to relegation zone

West Brom act after four defeats in a row pushes them closer to relegation zone

Steve Clarke is in shock after being sacked by West Brom four weeks after they said they would open contract talks with him in the new year.
Just hours after the club’s defeat by Cardiff, Clarke was gone and his rival Malky Mackay was among the favourites to take over.
The fourth straight League defeat left West Brom 16th in the table, two points above the relegation zone. They have won only nine of their last 41 League games.

Bad run: Steve Clarke has been sacked by West Brom after winning just seven games this year

Clarke’s players appeared to be shocked by the news, striker Saido Berahino, tweeting, ‘wow I can’t believe it, that’s f****** s***!!!!’ before later deleting the posting.
Former West Brom boss Roberto di Matteo is another name in the frame, while former Manchester United star Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, title-winning manager of Norwegian side Molde, is highly rated in England. Steve McClaren, who took over at Derby in September, is also a candidate.
West Brom sporting and technical director Richard Garlick said: ‘We have reluctantly come to the decision to relieve Steve of his duties. It has been well documented that we have not had the rub of the green this season, but that does not cloud the generally disappointing points return during this calendar year.
‘This club’s track record proves we do not take such decisions lightly, having only enforced a change in this position three times in about 14 years. But with key games coming up, we felt it was important we acted now to give the club the best possible chance this season.’

Mixed emotions: Frazier Campbell celebrates Cardiff's winner as Liam Ridgewell and Claudio Yacob look on

Clarke, former assistant to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, guided West Brom to eighth place last season, their highest ever Premier League position. This season started brightly with just two defeats in their opening 10 games, with the highlight a 2-1 win at United.
The wheels have since come off with only one win in their last 10 matches, although they haven’t always enjoyed the best of luck, memorably when denied a famous win at Chelsea by a controversial late penalty which prompted referees chief Mike Riley to apologise to Clarke.
Yesterday, Clarke sounded aware that he was running out of excuses. He said: ‘The performances are OK, but you have to separate yourself from that and look at the results. We are looking over our shoulders and that’s never comfortable. We have to work harder and hope to get a break or that somebody does something fantastic.’

Beaten man: Clarke looks dejected on the touchline just hours before losing his job

He was on a two-year contract due to end in the summer and Garlick said on November 21: ‘Steve’s contract was discussed at last month’s board meeting. We decided that we would open talks with Steve in the new year which, historically, we feel is the time to address such matters.’
But last night Clarke was summoned to a meeting where he was told the news by chairman Jeremy Peace and the rest of the board at the club’s training ground.
There was some disquiet at the club at video footage of West Brom players enjoying a Christmas party in Dublin just a few days before the crucial trip to Cardiff.
Yesterday’s performance did Clarke few favours with West Brom failing to get a single effort on goal throughout the first half.
It was Peter Whittingham who scored the only goal of the game, rising to meet Craig Noone’s 65th-minute cross and beat Boaz Myhill with a header for Cardiff’s first win in six League games.
At the final whistle you could sense the relief around the stadium for Mackay and his players. But it could have been very different had Cardiff’s Gary Medel not cleared off the line following Gareth McAuley’s close-range effort, or David Marshall had not superbly denied Shane Long late on.