West Bromwich Albion sack head coach Slaven Bilic

| 16 December 2020

Croatian Slaven Bilic was appointed in 2019 and won promotion from the Championship.

West Brom have sacked manager Slaven Bilic less than 24 hours after he led the promoted side to a creditable draw at Manchester City.

Having taken the reins at the Hawthorns last summer, the former Croatia and West Ham boss ended his first season at the Baggies helm with automatic promotion as Sky Bet Championship runners-up.

West Brom have found life tough back in the Premier League and sit 19th in the standings on seven points following Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium.

Bilic's last match in charge of West Brom saw the Baggies hold Manchester City to a draw — Bilic’s last match in charge of West Brom saw the Baggies hold Manchester City to a draw (Clive Brunskill/PA)

Reports emerged after the match that the Croatian was set to be sacked and the West Midlands club called time on his 18-month stay on Wednesday lunchtime.

In a statement, West Brom said: “West Bromwich Albion have today parted company with head coach Slaven Bilic.

“Assistant coaches, Dean Racunica and Danilo Butorovic, and first-team coach Julian Dicks have also left the club with immediate effect.

“The Baggies are currently 19th in the Premier League table with seven points from 13 fixtures.

“Albion would like to thank Slaven and his coaching staff for their efforts in achieving promotion last season and wish them all well in the future.

“The club will make no further comment at this time.”

Former England and Everton boss Sam Allardyce has been linked with the Baggies job — Former England and Everton boss **Sam Allardyce** has been linked with the Baggies job (Nick Potts/PA)

Sam Allardyce, who has been out of work since leaving Everton in 2018, has swiftly emerged as the main contender to replace Bilic.

The former England boss has cancelled upcoming work with talkSPORT and is reportedly set to sign an 18-month deal at the Hawthorns.

Bilic, who becomes the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season, said following Tuesday’s draw at City he was “calm” about his future with the Baggies.

“I’m very calm. I love my job. I’m here and calm,” said Bilic. “To be fair, I’m not bothered. I’m doing my job. I’m enjoying it. I’m working hard for myself, for my staff, for the players, for the club, that’s all.”

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed his disappointment over Bilic’s sacking in his Wednesday press conference.

“I’m very sad to hear that Slaven lost his job,” he said. “I think he’s done great for them, getting promotion. I’m sure he’ll get a job again when he wants to.

“Hopefully more and more clubs and teams think long term.

“Of course it’s a short-term business, we need results short term as well, but everyone knows that continuity is key to success. Sometimes they don’t have the patience for it, though.”