Danny Wright

Mon 31 January 2022 21:55, UK

West Brom are seriously considering Valerien Ismael’s future at The Hawthorns, according to Express & Star journalist Joseph Masi.

Albion are fifth in the Championship and clinging onto a spot in the play-offs after a rotten run of form.

In the last week, Ismael’s side has lost 2-0 to both Preston and Millwall with fans showing their anger in violent scenes at The Den on Saturday.

Supporters have been waiting to hear news about Ismael’s future at The Hawthorns and it’s been very quiet since the loss at Millwall.

Masi says there’s nothing certain about Ismael but the club is having to make a decision on the Frenchman’s future.

“Look, we have to talk about Ismael’s future and it’s very much up in the air. We don’t quite know what is going on. We believe his future is very much under consideration at the very least,” said Masi on The Express & Star’s YouTube channel on Monday (31 January).

He added: “What we know is there’s nothing concrete we can report.

“What we believe is Ismael’s future is under serious, serious consideration and I think that is only natural.

“I think at the vast majority of clubs, he probably would have lost his job, if we’re being honest.

“That said – and these are important points – there’s a person there, he’s a genuine person. He’s had a fallout with Sam Johnstone, from what we understand, and probably Robert Snodgrass as well but by and large, Valerien Ismael is a good man.

“He’s a likeable man and he’s respected. He’s respected amongst The Hawthorns’ hierarchy and he’s respected by the people that employ him.

“It’s going to be uncomfortable for them if they have to sit him down and have to relieve him of his duties.”

Time to go

Darren Moore and Slaven Bilic definitely didn’t do as good as they could have done at West Brom – but both of them were sacked for less than this.

Albion have gone through managers at an alarming rate over the last decade so it was a shock to see Ismael handed a four-year contract in the summer after one good year in England at Barnsley.

It was the longest contract the club has handed out to a manager in the modern era and maybe there’s a feeling among the Albion hierarchy that it would show how stupid they were if they were to sack Ismael now.

West Brom have had manager after manager so maybe there was a thought-process behind the scenes that saw them think, ‘no matter what, we’re going to stick with this manager for at least a year, possibly two’.

However, no one really envisage it to be this bad.

In our first few games of the season, we played at 100mph and it was actually really exciting to see us play.

But as soon as teams found us out, Ismael had to adjust his style slightly but he’s stayed true to his controversial 3-4-3.

It just isn’t working – plain and simple. And the Frenchman has only budged on that formation when he’s had players sent off.

On Saturday, we finished the game with a 3-4-3 with one centre-back on the pitch and four natural left-wingers.

Ismael has to go, it’s that simple.

In other West Brom news, Southampton are favourites to make a late January move for this Albion star.