Fan poll sees 90% in agreement over Ismael’s West Brom future
The future of West Brom manager Valerien Ismael has been questioned recently and a fan poll by the Express and Star has revealed the supporters’ stance.
The patience of Baggies fans has been wearing thin and the abject performance at home to Preston on Wednesday (26 January) did little to help ease tensions.
Fans didn’t hold back in making their feelings known as a staggering 90% of them were in agreement that Ismael’s time at the Hawthorns should be over.
The four-year deal he signed in the summer when he arrived from Barnsley is nowhere near ending so dismissing Ismael now would cost the club quite the fortune.
Pick the right time
The reaction of the crowd to Cameron Archer’s goal on Wednesday – to double Preston’s lead – said everything about the fans’ thoughts to how the team has been performing.
A severe lack of goals has been the long-standing problem with West Brom this season and the disgruntlement among supporters has been bubbling under the surface for some time.
The Preston defeat, the Baggies’ first at home this season, felt like a watershed moment and now many have been turned to the side wanting Ismael out.
It’s all well and good sacking a manager who isn’t performing but they have to have the right man for the job lined up already, and that is harder than it seems.
Everton are finding that out in the Premier League right now but even if the Baggies board has made up their mind on Ismael, they need to keep him at the club until they have organised his successor.
West Brom are still in the playoff places and in no danger of dropping dramatically down the league so there is no rush to pull the trigger on Ismael, regardless of how poor the performances have been.
The Frenchman also has the chance to turn things around himself if he is willing to go away from his current system and attack that little bit more.
In other West Brom news, this senior professional may be on his way out of the Hawthorns.