Jeff Stelling delivers instant verdict as West Brom sack Slaven Bilic
Jeff Stelling has blasted West Brom for sacking manager Slaven Bilic, claiming that he needed “needed backing, not sacking”.
West Brom News exclusively revealed earlier on Wednesday that Bilic and his two assistants Danilo Butorovic and Dean Racunica have been dismissed by the club.
Sam Allardyce is strongly linked with succeeding Bilic in the Baggies’ hot seat with the Daily Mail reporting that the ex-England manager is set to earn a deal at The Hawthorns that lasts until the end of the season.
Soccer Saturday host Stelling has pointed to West Brom’s recruitment as the reason why they are in the mess they’re in, suggesting that Bilic wasn’t handed the funds to build a side capable of surviving in the Premier League.
“Furlong ex QPR, Ajayi ex Rotherham, Sawyers ex Brentford, Grant ex Huddersfield, Gallagher playing at Swansea last season,” wrote Stelling via his personal Twitter account.
“Spot the common thread?
“They were all playing their socks off for Bilic, who needed backing not sacking.”
It’s more than just recruitment
We totally agree that owner Guochuan Lai should have freed up more funds for Bilic to strengthen his squad after winning promotion but there’s more to his sacking than this.
Albion barely won promotion from the Championship. Bilic oversaw just three wins in the final 11 matches of last season.
After the lockdown period, West Brom’s players looked unfit and unmotivated. Bilic, widely viewed as a motivator, had lost his mojo.
He has a fairly similar squad this season to what he did last season and we can point to teams like Sheffield United and say that survival can be achieved without overhauling the squad after promotion.
But West Brom’s players still seem to lack fitness. They still seem rudderless in most matches.
Bilic pulled a rabbit out of the hat on Tuesday night so sacking him just hours after a 1-1 draw away at Manchester City is very, very harsh.
But this was coming, whether you like it or not.
Four wins in 24 league matches is a rotten record and unless a change was made, Bilic was going to get sacked.
Lai’s lack of investment is a thing of the past. Luke Dowling’s recruitment too with it unlikely there’ll be funds to improve the squad in January.
They cannot be changed in the middle of the season but the manager can.
In other West Brom news, Richard Keys has hit out at the Baggies ownership.
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