View: West Brom an example for themselves as calls for Bilic to be sacked grow
Calls from West Brom fans for Slaven Bilic to be sacked have increased following Albion’s disappointing loss to Fulham on Monday.
Goals from Bobby Decordova-Reid and Ola Aina condemned the Baggies to a fourth loss of the season and some fans think that Bilic’s time at The Hawthorns is nearly up.
The Croatian now faces two vital games either side of the upcoming international break against Tottenham and Manchester United.
Further losses would increase the pressure on Bilic and based on the Baggies’ recent performance it is unlikely they will get anything from these next two matches.
But we think sacking Bilic could almost certainly condemn Albion to relegation back to the Championship after just one year in the Premier League.
Yes, the start to the season has been far from ideal and West Brom should have picked up more points than they have. The games against Burnley and Fulham stand out as real missed opportunities for Bilic’s side as they have missed multiple chances to get their first win of the season.
The main issue with sacking the Croatian is who would replace him? The Hawthorns is hardly a desirable destination for any out of work managers and there is absolutely no guarantee that whoever would replace Bilic would be any better.
Eddie Howe probably presents the best option for Albion if Bilic is relieved of his duties. He did a stellar job at Bournemouth for the most part but he spent a lot of money in his final few years at the Vitality Stadium. It’s fair to say that Howe would have very little money to spend if he joined the Baggies. This alone probably rules him out of a move to the West Midlands.
We think any other out of work manager who would be interested in taking over at The Hawthorns would be a downgrade on Bilic, we also think that a look through recent history suggests that Albion need to avoid a mistake they have made before.
The last time West Brom were relegated from the Premier League they went through two permanent managers and two different caretaker bosses. Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew were both sacked either side of Gary Megson’s spell in caretaker charge and Darren Moore saw out the season.
Results didn’t improve under Pardew and that move shows that replacing managers does not guarantee an improvement in results.
Until the Fulham game, results and performances had improved under Bilic. There have been enough positives from the early days of the season to suggest that results could come, though it is now certain that Albion will be in a relegation fight.
Bilic needs time to get the best out of this group of players, he has only had a few weeks with his new striker and a few wins in the near future could pull Albion away from the bottom three.
We believe sacking Bilic would be the wrong move, right now. However, if results don’t improve by mid-December, it could be time to give Eddie Howe a call.
In other West Brom news, here are three things we think Bilic could do to get more from his squad.
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