Di Matteo sacked by West Brom

I'm quite suprised, know they've been on the slide recently but thought he was doing a decent job.

West Bromwich Albion have relieved manager Roberto Di Matteo of his duties following the team's worrying slump in form.

The Baggies were beaten 3-0 at title contenders Manchester City on Saturday and the defeat was a 13th in 18 matches in all competitions.

Di Matteo has now paid the price for the poor run of results which have seen West Brom slide to 16th in the Premier League table, just two points outside the relegation zone.

The Italian has been placed on gardening leave and first-team coach Michael Appleton has taken temporary charge after Eddie Newton and Ade Mafe also left The Hawthorns.

Tough decision
Chairman Jeremy Peace told the club's official website: "This has been a tough decision but we, as a board, believe it is the right one to give the club the best possible chance of remaining in the Barclays Premier League.

"Our poor sequence of results stretches back more than three months and there has been little sign of it coming to an end.

"If this run continues much longer, achieving our goal of retaining our Premier League status will become increasingly difficult. That is why we felt compelled to act now.

"This club's track record proves we do not take such decisions lightly, with Roberto being only our fourth manager or head coach in almost 11 years.

"On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Roberto for his efforts over the past 19 months, particularly for his contribution towards last season's promotion success and our very promising start to the current campaign. We wish him and his family well for the future.

"Roberto embraced the structure in which we wanted him to work and he has been a good colleague.

"However, we are in a results-driven industry and felt we had no choice but to act now."

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Smaller Clubs like Newcastle, West Brom as prime examples have been to quick to sack their managers. The expectation of West Brom should be too stay up and they are on course for that just now, same with Newcastle as newly promoted teams.

Cheers thereds Didn't see it there.

Very surprised.

Me too, I quite like West Brom, they play decent football and have some talented players.

Smaller Clubs like Newcastle, West Brom as prime examples have been to quick to sack their managers. The expectation of West Brom should be too stay up and they are on course for that just now, same with Newcastle as newly promoted teams.

they've lost 7 out of 9 league games, only 1 win....looks like a terminal slide to me.

you can argue that wba don't have the overall quality to do much better and it is not the manager's fault but, as they said, it is a results driven decision.

Wasn't expecting this. He's been doing a good job, trying to get his players to play the proper way.

Now they've sacked him they'll deffo be going down now. Nothing worse for a club in a relegation battle than to change its manager...unless he's being a complete c*nt (see Owl).

Surprised to say the least. I'm sure he will walk into another Job soon enough.

WBA to go down then. I mean changing the manager mid season is just asking for trouble....

Surprised to say the least. I'm sure he will walk into another Job soon enough.

WBA to go down then. I mean changing the manager mid season is just asking for trouble....

Great, well done, now they're gonna finish 4th

Surprised to say the least. I'm sure he will walk into another Job soon enough.

WBA to go down then. I mean changing the manager mid season is just asking for trouble....

....yeah, as if we'd do something that stupid  

 

I like him to be honest, my Badminton mate will be livid, he's a WBA supporter 

Surprised to say the least. I'm sure he will walk into another Job soon enough.

WBA to go down then. I mean changing the manager mid season is just asking for trouble....

Especially if Roy's his replacement.

Looks like Hodgson's a shoe in for the job.

Could turn out to be an annus horribilis for him.  I'm sure he'll blame Di Matteo if it all goes tits up.

Looks like Hodgson's a shoe in for the job.

Could turn out to be an annus horribilis for him.  I'm sure he'll blame Di Matteo if it all goes tits up.

Not before proclaiming that his big squad is too small.

Roy actually could do a job there, I mean like the job would suit him as he can draw as many games as he wants and get away with it. He already  has a ready made excuse. Didnt he save Fulham from a very similar position a few years ago?

If he does get it, I feel sorry for WBA fans, they play good football there, on the ground and they will have to endure Roy's tactics and press conferences. Jesus the thought of it is awful.

F**k me Roy! the poor bas**rds

Di Matteo is a quality coach, much like Roberto Martinez. Think if they both had good squads they could really show some attractive football.

another one bites the dust.....and he was 80/1 to be the next to get sacked at christmas time ....what a month can do in football.

Roy actually could do a job there, I mean like the job would suit him as he can draw as many games as he wants and get away with it. He already  has a ready made excuse. Didnt he save Fulham from a very similar position a few years ago?

If he does get it, I feel sorry for WBA fans, they play good football there, on the ground and they will have to endure Roy's tactics and press conferences. Jesus the thought of it is awful.

To be fair Fulham were in even deeper sh*t than WBA. Miraculous how Fulham survived!

My Mother-in Law's a Baggie, I'll be in proper take the piss mode if they end up hodgson. I know they've gone on a bad run but his win %age was 49% and they want to swap him for Mr 36%?