Ex-West Brom defender set to become new AS Monaco manager, he was once named in Tony Pulis rant
Tony Pulis definitely divided the West Brom fanbase during his time at The Hawthorns.
He managed to secure the Black Country club’s joint-second-highest ever Premier League finish and was able to keep afloat a sinking ship that Alan Irvine rammed into an iceberg.
Pulis was also happy to call out former West Brom owner Guochuan Lai for his awful handling of the club.
However, Pulis’ time at The Hawthorns was fraught with hostility from fans who never fully got on board with his style of play, and his reign at the Baggies ended in 2017 in less than ideal circumstances.
Days before he was sacked, Pulis warned West Brom fans that they won’t be able to hire a better manager than him – he was right, thanks to Alan Pardew – and called out some of the awful signings who were brought in before his reign started in 2015.
Sebastien Pocognoli in line for AS Monaco job after Union Saint-Gilloise success
One of the bad pieces of business that Pulis called out was the purchase of Sebastien Pocognoli from Hannover 96.
“If I left tomorrow I’d put my record on the table and put it in front of anybody and see what they think of what I’ve done here in three years,” said the 59-year-old when asked to compare his credentials with possible replacements,” said Pulis in November 2017.
“We’re on a bad run and everything is determined by the next game.
“No one ever looks back and sees (when I arrived) there was Georgios Samaras, Silvestre Varela, Sebastien Pocognoli, Cristian Gamboa – 11 players were bought that summer and not one made a profit. I inherited those players and we finished 13th that year.”
Former Belgium left-back Pocognoli had a rather poor spell at The Hawthorns – but his managerial career is absolutely taking off right now.
According to Belgian journalist Pieter-Jan Calcoen, the 38-year-old is on the verge of leaving Union SG to become the new manager of Ligue 1 club AS Monaco.
Rik De Mil is in contention to replace the former West Brom defender at Union SG, where Pocognoli won the Belgian league title last season.
Pocognoli looks set to replace Adi Hutter as Monaco’s manager, with the principality club considering sacking the Austrian despite being fifth in Ligue 1 and drawing 2-2 with Manchester City in the Champions League last week.
While Pulis was probably right about Pocognoli as a player, few would have expected him to be managing a top Ligue 1 and Champions League club less than 10 years after leaving The Hawthorns.
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What was Sebastien Pocognoli’s record at West Brom?
West Brom paid £1.5million when they signed Pocognoli from German side Hannover in July 2014.
He struggled for first-team opportunities, and Pulis even admitted that if the offer came in for the left-back, he would have let him leave.
- Pocognoli played for Genk, AZ Alkmaar, Standard Liege, Hannover, West Brom, Brighton and Union SG in his playing career
- He won 13 caps for the Belgium national team
- After managing the youth teams of USG, Genk and Belgium, he became USG’s first-team manager in July 2024
- He won the Belgian league title in his first season in charge
In June 2017, Pocognoli left the Baggies to return to his former club Standard Liege.
He made 21 appearances in all competitions for Albion, supplying one assist in the process, which was a famous one as it set up Salomon Rondon‘s winner in a 1-0 victory over Manchester United at The Hawthorns in March 2016.
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