West Brom ‘toxic’ atmosphere all down to club’s owners – Dean Ashton
West Brom played out a goalless draw at home to Luton Town on Saturday as pressure mounted even further on manager Steve Bruce.
The Hawthorns was a very unhappy place to be for the majority of home fans who did not keep their feelings to themselves with a series of chants against the manager and owners.
But on ITVs Football Highlights Show, Dean Ashton suggested that it wasn’t all down to the manager which has seen this poor form drop them into the relegation zone.
“I think you could hear by what the supporters made at the end of the game and how they feel,” Ashton said. “It feels like it’s not just the manager, not just the players but the ownership.
“It’s fed into the whole club, the fanbase and there is this toxic feel about everything. If you look at Steve Bruce’s football and say he plays negatively, the stats suggest he doesn’t.
“They’ve got the highest xG (expected goals) in the league, third for big chances created, third for shots on target per match so the attacking intent is there, it just hasn’t happened.”
Too long
For many West Brom fans, Bruce has stayed in the job much longer than they wanted him to and now Ron Gourlay has an awful lot of pressure to get rid of his mate.
Saturday’s bore draw against the Hatters should be the final straw for him if he has any backbone whatsoever but it would not be a surprise if there has been no managerial change by the time the next fixture comes around.
Exactly what has gone wrong at The Hawthorns is anybody’s guess and much of it will be very small things that have added up extremely quickly.
A lot of Championship teams have made very quick moves to sack their manager this season and many have seen results and performances drastically improve.
To get the full effect of the new manager bounce, Albion have to sack Bruce relatively soon before the World Cup break kicks in during November.
In other West Brom news, Peter Odemwingie is trying to keep the morale high at The Hawthorns by taking to Twitter to reminisce about the good old days.