Horrific West Brom stats show Shilen Patel and Andrew Nestor need a lot more heat on them
For those who don’t know, there’s a throwback trend that’s emerged on Instagram in the last week or so, where users are re-sharing posts they first uploaded 10 years ago.
If West Brom fans were to wind the clocks back to 2016, they’d find posts about Salomon Rondon scoring a winner against Manchester United and netting a hat-trick of headers against Swansea City at The Hawthorns.
They’d see Tony Pulis in charge, setting up Albion for a 10th-placed finish in the 2016-17 Premier League, their second-best finish since the top-flight was rebranded.
But they’d also see Guochuan Lai leading a Chinese investment group in buying Jeremy Peace out of the Black Country.
Ten years ago, unbeknownst to supporters, the club entered a tailspin. A tailspin that started off slowly, but has now started to gather momentum to the point that the threat of relegation to League One is becoming a huge possibility.
Eric Ramsay’s nightmare start as West Brom manager
It’s only been 11 days since Eric Ramsay was hired as West Brom’s manager.
It’ll be really unfair to judge the former Minnesota United boss at this stage, just two games in, but the signs really aren’t looking good for the Welsh head coach.
West Brom lost 5-0 at home to Norwich City on Tuesday night. While Norwich, like Albion, have had their fair share of chances in the Premier League in the last couple of decades, they are a team in the relegation battle with us.
Defeat to them was bad enough. But losing like that is enough to get any manager who’s been in charge for a fair amount of time sacked.
Damning stats after loss vs Norwich:
- Only Sheffield Wednesday (54) have conceded more Championship goals than West Brom (43) this season
- Only Sheffield Wednesday (18) have lost more Championship games than West Brom (15) this season
- West Brom have outscored just five other teams in the league this season
- Albion are now only three points clear of the Championship relegation zone
- Four of the five teams below them have at least one game in hand
Of course, I’m not going to sit here and call for Ramsay‘s head. That’s unfair on him because the current mess at The Hawthorns ultimately lies at the feet of two men in particular – two men who aren’t getting nearly as much heat as they should be.
Shilen Patel and Andrew Nestor.
Since Carlos Corberan left West Brom for Valencia on Christmas Eve in 2014, Bilkul Football WBA have hired three permanent managers: Tony Mowbray, Ryan Mason and Ramsay.
Between them, they have won just 14 out of 46 matches, a measly 30 per cent win-rate for a club whose fanbase wants to least challenge for promotion back to the Premier League.
Yes, PSR has held Albion back massively and yes, the damage done under Lai is still being repaired. But could Bilkul have got their previous managerial appointments any more wrong?
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Where it’s going wrong for Shilen Patel and Andrew Nestor
Don’t get me wrong, Patel has done a lot of good for West Brom.
Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited were running one of English football’s most historic clubs into extinction.
Since buying the club almost two years ago, Bilkul have paid off the Wisdom Smart loan, stopped the MSD Holdings loan from going out of control, avoided a PSR breach and ultimately stopped the Albion from being in the situation Sheffield Wednesday currently find themselves in.
Off the field, it’s difficult to fault Patel.
Unfortunately, on the pitch – where it matters most – there are huge red flags with two managerial appointments going terribly wrong, with a third worryingly on the horizon.
Nestor was appointed as West Brom’s president in September after previously holding the role of sporting director.
His so-called data-led approach to hiring managers led him to what felt like a nostalgia-led appointment of Mowbray before a complete and utter shot in the dark with Mason.
Ramsay suits the bill a lot more, but is it too little too late now for the Albion? Can a sudden shift in tactical style really be implemented mid-season during a congested fixture schedule?
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