No regrets for Steve Bruce as West Brom woes continue
West Brom were fortunate not to drop further in the Championship yesterday as Stoke failed to beat Luton at the Bet365 Stadium.
The Baggies themselves threw away a lead at Middlesbrough to lose 2-1 to extend their winless streak to six matches, four of which have been under new manager Steve Bruce.
The 61-year-old took over from Valerien Ismael earlier in February but had to wait until the trip to the Riverside to see his side score courtesy of Jayson Molumby.
Despite the difficult start though, Bruce insists that he has no regrets over taking on the task of turning Albion around.
“When I got the phone call off (Albion chief executive) Ron (Gourlay), the critical part was did I want to do it? Did I have the enthusiasm for it? And the answer was yes. I don’t regret it,” Bruce said, as quoted by the Express and Star.
“The club have made me very welcome, so have the supporters. I’m determined to turn it around and see if we can make a fist of it and see if we can get moving because I do believe if we can win a couple of games, I’m still convinced we can be there or thereabouts.”
Forget this season
As much as it might be hard for Albion fans to let go, you are not getting promoted this season, forget it.
West Brom now need to look at how they are going to bounce back up to the Premier League next season and start preparing for that now because this season is all but done for them already.
The first task on Bruce’s hands is getting the attack scoring some goals with just 35 netted all season in the Championship.
Fulham’s red hot Aleksandar Mitrovic has 33 on his own and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he overtook the Baggies by the end of the season.
Even if the defence is completely ignored and they concede three, four or even more every game, fans just want to see their team scoring goals now.
There is no threat of relegation, thankfully, so Bruce has the freedom to experiment to find the perfect fit for this misfit Albion side.
In other West Brom news, Hal Robson-Kanu thinks the Baggies board have a “big decision to make” over Bruce’s future already.
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