Credit:Imago

Carla Devine

Tue 22 April 2025 13:39, UK

West Brom’s 3-1 loss against Derby County proved to be the final straw for Tony Mowbray.

Shilen Patel appointed Mowbray at the end of January to take the place of Carlos Corberan, with the Baggies looking at a top-six finish in the Championship.

However, the last three months have not gone to plan, and Albion now sit tenth in the table, six points away from a play-off finish.

While still mathematically in the race, the Baggies are incredibly unlikely to get to where they want to be, with Mowbray paying the price for that.

Simon Jordan blasts West Brom appointment

Corberan’s exit was somewhat unexpected at The Hawthorns, and the Baggies will certainly feel they were left in the lurch somewhat.

Although Patel took the time when it came to appointing a replacement, it has not gone the way it was expected to, with a sacking three months down the line.

The West Brom chief can be credited for his quick decision, giving him the opportunity to appoint again before the summer transfer window gets underway.

However, given Mowbray never really found his feet with the Baggies on his second stint in charge, there have been questions asked over whether it was ever the right appointment.

Speaking live on talkSPORT (22 April, 11:06 am), Simon Jordan bluntly observed: “At the business end of the season, when you need a manager to achieve an outcome, he goes and gets a 25 per cent win record.”

When asked by Jim White if he would’ve said goodbye to Mowbray, Jordan admitted: “I might not have said hello to him in the first place.

“I respect Tony Mowbray, I don’t think he’s my kind of manager in terms of the way that he approaches the set-up and team of his football full stop and I’ve watched him over the years, I think he’s very solid, but I don’t think he’s particularly inspirational and yeah, you can pick up my manager list and say, well some of your managers weren’t very inspirational either.

“But you’re asking me now, with the knowledge I have now. So it’s difficult for me to say would I have fired him because I possibly wouldn’t have hired him.”

West Brom have to identify direction of the club

As Jordan points out, Mowbray is a solid manager in the Championship who has done a decent job with a number of different sides.

That being said, he does not hold many similarities with Corberan, which is perhaps what the Baggies should have been looking at, in the hope of carrying on with some momentum and a similar project.

Instead, the new manager came in and seemingly changed things in a way that did not translate to the players on the pitch and consequently, proved to be costly for the Black Country outfit.

Although he was someone who knew the club well, the 61-year-old probably wasn’t the progressive type of addition that supporters would have been hoping for.

The Baggies now need to choose which direction they plan to go in and ensure the manager they appoint is going to be able to succeed in a role at West Brom, rather than going for someone who may be seen as an easier option.