'Deluded if you turn him down', 'Do it now': Many WBA fans want available 42y/o to replace Bilic

Head of Editorial AUTHORITY enior editorial lead managing the daily newsroom output across 11 sites. Daniel oversees the correspondents and the specialist pundit output. FOCUS Newsroom management, breaking news, and high-level editorial quality control. THE BRIEF Former correspondent Daniel has risen through the editorial ranks at Breaking Media to run the daily newsroom, coordinating stories from live reporting to final publication. He ensures that every expert-led report is executed with total accuracy and speed.

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03 Nov 2020, 10:05 am

A section of West Brom fans have called on the club to replace Slaven Bilic with Eddie Howe after Monday night's 2-0 defeat at the hands of Fulham.

Calls for Bilic to be sacked moved from a joke to a serious discussion point after the loss at Craven Cottage in which Albion turned in one of their most turgid performances under the Croatian manager's leadership.

And some fans are hoping that if Bilic goes, ex-Bournemouth boss Howe is eyed up as his successor at The Hawthorns.

Howe has been out of a job since he was relieved of his duties at Bournemouth in August after overseeing the Cherries' relegation to the Championship.

The 42-year-old is widely viewed as doing a good job with Bournemouth, keeping a relatively small club in the Premier League for five years after initially taking charge of them in League One.

And these Albion fans would like to see the Buckinghamshire-born manager installed as Bilic's replacement if he ends up exiting the club.

Here is a selection of their tweets:

Only man ill replace him with if not then might as well keep bilic
— HX74 (@_H74_9) November 2, 2020

If there is even the slightest chance we can sign Eddie Howe we need to do it now #WBA #FULWBA
— Mark Davies (@MarkDav122926) November 2, 2020

What’s Eddie Howe up to these days 👀#wba
— Nath (@nathaldridge) November 2, 2020

IMO Slavs gone if not physically then mentally. Eddie Howe anyone? #wba
— DN (@baggiepoint) November 2, 2020

West Brom are in a bad way at the moment.

Not only did the club just about scrape promotion last season, but the lack of money Bilic had to spend in the summer and the dire form in the Premier League suggests there's only one way the Baggies are going at the moment - down.

Howe managed a team to relegation last season.

While he did well to keep the Cherries in the top-flight for as long as he did by playing good football, he was also backed by a wealthy owner.

Bournemouth spent a lot of money on players while Howe was in charge.

Jefferson Lerma, Nathan Ake, Dominic Solanke, Arnaut Danjuma and Jordon Ibe are among some of the most expensive signings in Bournemouth's history and combined have cost way over £100million.

Howe wouldn't be financially backed by West Brom's owner in January. No one would.

And that's why we don't think he'd be a good fit and he might not even want the job if the club is unable to spend decent money on new arrivals.

In other West Brom news, Guochuan Lai may have handed the ownership of Albion to someone else.

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West Bromwich Albion

Eddie Howe