Alan Pardew tried to take Graham Potter to The Hawthorns as West Brom talks emerge
Alan Pardew has revealed he held talks with Graham Potter about becoming his assistant manager at West Brom.
The 63-year-old spent four months in charge at The Hawthorns before mutually parting ways with the Baggies having gone ten games without a win and rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table.
John Carver was Pardew’s assistant manager at the time, but the former Newcastle boss insists that he attempted to convince former Chelsea head coach Brighton to join him at The Hawthorns.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Tuesday (1 October, 11:10) he said: “I actually tried to take him to West Brom when he had done initially well in Sweden.
“I tried to take him to West Brom as my assistant, to give him some experience of the Premier League thinking that he would be a Premier League manager.
“We had a few conversations about that, it didn’t happen for whatever reason and he’s built this great coaching career.”
What happened to Alan Pardew at West Brom and The Hawthorns?
It is safe to say that Pardew’s tenure in charge at The Hawthorns was memorable for all the wrong reasons, but who knows, it could have all been very different had Potter joined him in the Baggies’ dugout.
While Potter has been ridiculed by pundits and supporters alike for his miserable spell at Stamford Bridge, it has to be remembered that only a matter of years ago he was one of the most highly regarded English coaches around.
Most Albion fans would still take Carlos Corberan over the former Brighton boss and for good reason too given the Baggies’ excellent start to the Championship season, but it does almost feel like a sliding doors moment at The Hawthorns.
Maybe Potter wouldn’t have gone on to get the jobs he did in England if he had jumped ship at Ostersund. That spell in Sweden is what put the 49-year-old on the map after a less-than-impressive playing career.
In other West Brom news, concerns have been mooted about Corberan potentially leaving The Hawthorns for Everton this season
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