Richard Sneekes reacts as West Brom new manager ‘statement’ mooted on BBC WM

West Brom continue to search for a new manager as the Baggies hunt for Tony Mowbray’s successor.

The 2024/25 campaign was uninspiring for many of The Hawthorns faithful.

West Brom once failed to reach the play-offs despite sitting in the top six for the majority of the campaign.

Now, time is running out for the Black Country club to be promoted to the Premier League, with the quality gap between the two divisions getting wider and wider.

Whoever West Brom appoint as their next manager will have a big task on their hands. However, despite the search going on for weeks, no deal looks close.

Credit: Imago

Sneekes tells West Brom to ‘speed up’ managerial appointment as update statement touted

It has now been over a month since West Brom sacked Tony Mowbray.

Despite searching for a successor for weeks, and their Championship campaign being over, the Baggies are no closer to an appointment.

This is obviously causing irritation among The Hawthorns faithful, as concerns grow with each passing day.

Now, former player Richard Sneekes has expressed his frustration with how long the process has taken, with Daz Hale insisting that the Black Country club need to release a statement regarding the search.

Hale told BBC WM (21 May): “Well done to the club for doing their due diligence and doing it in-house.

“But, it wouldn’t hurt if the club put a statement out just to say ‘our search is ongoing, we are now getting to the point where we are speaking to a shortlist’, just to let fans know where they are in the process.”

Sneekes then replied: “If there are managers out of work, what’s the problem? It is just sorting out the contract if they want to come, and I’m sure they want to come. 

“It’s a very attractive club to a lot of managers, it’s on the up, hopefully there will be a lot of money to invest, but in my opinion, they have got to do it soon.

“Pre-season will be there before you know it, and they need somebody who is going to put the framework down as to how they want things done, who they want to keep and who they want to bring in.

“Every manager might look at something different, the recruitment team need to know what he’s after, that takes a couple of weeks to implement, and you don’t want to leave it until the last moment when the season has started.”

West Brom chairman Shilen Patel smiles while in the stands.
West Brom chairman Shilen Patel took over the Baggies last year

West Brom must make a manager appointment in next two weeks

West Brom’s prolonged hunt for a new manager is now putting the Black Country club at a disadvantage.

The Baggies already look set to miss out on Gary O’Neil due to their slow process of hiring a new head coach.

However, this cannot go on for much longer. The transfer window is just weeks away, and a new manager needs to be in place for when it opens.

If this doesn’t happen, the Baggies will be at a huge disadvantage going into pre-season, which will no doubt affect their potential promotion push.

Hopefully, West Brom will make a move for a manager over the next week and finalise the deal as soon as possible.