Neil Moxley blasts West Brom, Aston Villa, Wolves over ‘ridiculous’ turn of events
Sunday People journalist Neil Moxley has slammed West Brom, Aston Villa and Wolves for firing their managers without having a replacement lined up.
Steven Gerrard left Aston Villa this week while it has been almost two weeks since Albion sacked Steve Bruce. 20 days have passed since Wolves got rid of Bruno Lage.
West Brom do seem to be closing in on hiring Carlos Corberan as a replacement [The Athletic] but things aren’t as clear in other parts of the West Midlands at Villa Park or Molineux.
Writing in the Sunday People print edition on 23 October (page 55), Moxley said in his what’s not hot section: “The ridiculous fire ’em, hire ’em policy at football clubs.
“Wolves, West Brom – and possibly Aston Villa – all sacked their bosses without having any clue which way to turn next.”
Too long
While it does seem as though Albion are closing in on hiring Corberan, it just goes to show that Ron Gourlay had no idea which way to turn when he got rid of Bruce.
Hiring the former Newcastle manager at the start of the year was an easy decision for the Baggies chief executive.
He was on a so-called “shortlist of one”. In other words, Gourlay handed a job to his out-of-work mate.
Bruce shouldn’t have been kept on at the end of last season as results under him were worse than the results under Valerien Ismael.
And then when we were hurtling down the table before the last international break, it was also obvious that Bruce should have been axed.
But Gourlay clung onto his pal and got rid of him on the eve of a solid run of winnable fixtures.
Richard Beale won us that game away at Reading but he’s proven himself to be completely out of his depth in games against Bristol City and Millwall.
They are two games that have basically just been tossed to the side and written off.
Gourlay is right to take his time to hire Bruce. But he had time over the last international break and didn’t bother using it.
In other West Brom news, Albion have interviewed a manager who was once recommended by Pep Guardiola.