Journalist suggests Roy Keane could take over as West Brom boss if Steve Bruce is sacked
Alan Nixon has suggested that Roy Keane could replace Steve Bruce as West Brom manager after he was seen in the stadium for the draw with Preston.
The Baggies have managed just one win in 13 games so far this season and are currently sitting in the relegation zone of the Championship, leaving Bruce under serious pressure fighting for his job.
And the rumour mill went into overdrive after former Sunderland and Ipswich boss Keane was spotted in the stands, with The Sun [8 October] suggesting he could be in the running if Bruce gets the sack.
Keane turned down a return to management with Sunderland earlier this year but has admitted he wants to return to a job at some point, despite working as a pundit with Sky Sports since 2019.
The report states that Bruce’s looks like he’s staying in his role for now as he has the backing of chief executive Ron Gourlay, despite their shocking form.
Devil you know?
Some fans may not be so keen to see Bruce leave the club if the man replacing him is going to be Keane, because that would make no sense.
Keane hasn’t been a first-team manager of a club since 2011 when he left Ipswich, but he has been an assistant manager at Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and with the Republic of Ireland since then.
But he’s so out of touch with the modern game after being away so long that the chances of the team’s fortunes turning around seem completely minimal and would make a change pointless.
Bruce has to go, there is no doubt about that, and no results will change that for fans who have grown sick and tired of him being in charge.
But if the master plan at West Brom is to bring in Keane as his replacement, then we may as well write the season off now and start preparing for another year in the Football League rather than the Premier League.
In other West Brom news, Martin Keown has backed Bruce to turn things around live on talkSPORT