West Brom must sack Steve Bruce now, Guochuan Lai needs to intervene if Ron Gourlay doesn’t do it
If it wasn’t time to get rid of him at the end of last season or before the international break, surely it’s now the time for West Brom to sack Steve Bruce.
Albion are in the Championship’s relegation zone thanks to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of goal-shy Preston at Deepdale on Wednesday night (5 October).
Emil Riis’ early goal after yet more horrific defending by the Baggies was enough to see the Black Country club join Huddersfield and Coventry in the Championship’s bottom three.
Even though expectations weren’t high this season, it was unthinkable before a ball was kicked that after 12 matches, West Brom would have just one win to their name and would be occupying the relegation zone.
Bruce, a man who’s spent most of his managerial career either in the Premier League or winning promotion to the top-flight, now finds himself in a position where his job is simply untenable.
Ron Gourlay rushed to hire Bruce earlier this year after Valerien Ismael was sacked.
It always felt as though the Albion CEO was doing his mate a favour and that, perhaps, is why the former Newcastle and Aston Villa boss still hasn’t been relieved of his duties yet.
Don’t get us wrong, West Brom’s issues go way further than the manager.
Senior players have been atrocious while the behind-the-scenes skullduggery by chairman Guochuan Lai cannot be ignored.
But in early October, changing the playing squad is impossible and a change of owner obviously cannot happen overnight. But sacking the manager can.
There are some good managers who are without jobs right now but whether Albion hire the right man remains to be seen because almost every single appointment in recent years has been poor.
But persisting with Bruce would be just about the worst thing Lai and Gourlay could do right now.
And if Gourlay isn’t going to dispose of his pal, Lai needs to intervene and possible get rid of both.
In other West Brom news, a finance expert says Albion have cleared debts with new documents emerging on Companies House.