Danny Wright

Tue 16 March 2021 14:42, UK

Every week we’ll be asking West Brom fans on our Facebook account for questions that will be answered by editor Danny Wright. You can join in by following the West Brom News Facebook account and watching out for weekly mailbag posts.

Sam Allardyce looks set to leave West Brom at the end of the season with relegation becoming more inevitable with each passing week.

Football Insider has reported that it’s expected Big Sam will move on if the Baggies suffer the drop due to a break clause in his contract at The Hawthorns.

Since being appointed to succeed Slaven Bilic in December, Allardyce has proven to be a divisive figure among Albion supporters.

In his first few weeks in charge, results were rotten to the point that The Hawthorns had become a place away teams turned up to and expected three points as well as a healthy boost to their goal difference.

After the January transfer window closed and Allardyce had made a few of his own signings, results and performances had improved.

However, two 1-0 defeats and a 0-0 draw with Newcastle in West Brom’s last three outings have led to the Big Sam critics coming out in force.

Albion were beaten by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park at the weekend and with Sky Sports’ cameras catching the Baggies boss sitting down or doing anything other than looking distraught, fans took to social media to bemoan his lack of misery.

We asked West Brom fans for their burning questions about the club this week and one of them wanted to know why Allardyce didn’t seem so upset with the poor result at Selhurst Park.

West Brom News editor Danny Wright responds below:

This is something fans like to moan about which I’ll never understand. Why does a manager have to be flinging his arms about, arguing with officials, shouting at players and patrolling the touchline to show he cares? Bilic did this, he was as animated as they get, but his signings were horrendous last summer and we would be no better off this season had he stayed. Also, look at Marcelo Bielsa and the job he’s done at Leeds – all he does is sit on a bucket during a game. Jurgen Klopp, too. The Liverpool manager is as animated as they get and he’s often accused of putting it on. There’s no winning for managers on this.

We cannot judge what Allardyce is doing every minute of every game, especially at The Hawthorns because the main television cameras are above the dugouts in the Halfords Lane stand. We can barely ever see him. Just because Sky Sports’ director shows Allardyce sitting in his chair for 30 seconds every match doesn’t mean he’s sat still the time. We see what Sky Sports and BT Sport want us to see.

Basically, I think people who are picking at Allardyce for sitting still are people who never wanted him in charge to start with and are finding whatever stick they can to beat him with. I don’t want us to have a manager who feigns passion and excitement on the touchline. I want us to have a manager who has a clear plan, is able to assemble a squad of players who suit that plan and gets results.

In other West Brom news, an agent has confirmed the Albion have made a new free signing after a transfer fee was waived.

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