Exclusive: Phillips shares what he believes went on behind the scenes before WBA sacked Bilic
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips admits while it was a “harsh” decision to sack Slaven Bilic, he can see why West Brom did it.
Even though the Baggies earned a brilliant 1-1 draw at Manchester City on Tuesday, the club pressed on with sacking Bilic and replacing him with Sam Allardyce less than 24 hours after the result at the Etihad.
Bilic’s dismissal has been met with a lot of anger from West Brom supporters.
Phillips believes that things could have gone differently if they hadn’t lost at Newcastle at the weekend when ex-Albion striker Dwight Gayle scored a later winner for the Magpies.
“It’s harsh – but does it surprise me? No,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“I covered the game up at Newcastle at the weekend and I thought West Brom were unlucky. It took a magnificent header from Dwight Gayle to get the win but if they came away from there with a point and then come away from Man City with a point, it could have been different. But you kind of get the impression that the decision was already made before the Newcastle game.
“They battled extremely well but on another night. If it wasn’t for Sam Johnstone, the scoreline could have been a lot heavier.
“But nevertheless, the big thing for me was that you could tell the players were still playing for Slaven. They hadn’t downed tools and they were working their socks off.
“Yes, it was a little bit harsh but now it’s over to Big Sam to see what he can do.”
Allardyce is now in charge of the Albion but the fall-out from Bilic’s exit is unlikely to fade away any time soon.
Even though West Brom have won just once in the Premier League this season and won just four of their last 24 league matches, the majority of fans seem as though they wanted the Croatian to stay.
Bilic did brilliantly to win promotion last season, doing so ahead of schedule as he’d been given two years to do that by the Albion board.
However, he has been hamstrung by the ownership since with a paltry summer transfer budget that means the squad is still barely up to scratch for the Premier League.
Allardyce’s arrival didn’t help the feeling of supporters.
But with his record, you have to understand why the change was made.
In other West Brom news, Jonathan Greening has blasted the club for sacking Bilic and has made a claim about Tony Pulis.
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