Boab 73 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo has been relieved of his duties and put on gardening leave with immediate effect.The Baggies lost 3-0 at Manchester City on Saturday and the club gave the side's run of 13 defeats in 18 games as the reason for their decision."This has been a tough decision," said West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace."But we, as a board, believe it is the right one to give the club the best possible chance of remaining in the Premier League."Former Chelsea midfielder Di Matteo took over at the Hawthorns in June 2009 and led the Midlands club to promotion last season.The side lost 6-0 to Chelsea in their opening game of the campaign but recovered to lose just twice in their first nine games, which included a 3-2 win at Arsenal 3-2 and coming back to draw 2-2 at Manchester United.West Brom even briefly moved into a top four spot after beating Fulham in October but their results have dipped badly in recent months and they are just two points off the relegation zone."Our poor sequence of results stretches back more than three months and there has been little sign of it coming to an end," added Peace."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."We now begin the search to find a new head coach who will fit into our existing set-up and work under our sporting and technical director, Dan Ashworth, with a view to taking the club forward."Di Matteo's assistant Eddie Newton and head of sports science Ade Mafe have also left the club and first-team coach Michael Appleton has been placed in temporary charge, with the club's next two Premier League games against fellow relegation battlers West Ham and Wolves."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," said Peace."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."http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_bromwich_albion/9388972.stmWith Wolves and West Ham coming soon, very rash IMO Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClintonGrey 365 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Hope they get relegated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laudrupforever 17 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Terrible, senseless call. Relegation would serve them right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM1872 3,714 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I'm sure Walter Smith's contract is running out. This position would suit him nicely, it requires a lot of defending. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlCapone 7,678 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Quite a strange decision! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irwin Sparkes 97 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 They've lost 13 of their last 18 gamesCan't keep someone indefinately just because he plays good football Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSuedeSambas 53,834 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Poor decision IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewGer 606 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Bet you they go for Ian Dowie, dunno why but teams in the relegation zone seem to hire that clown an awful lot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Sasac 164 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Usual names will be linked. It's poor form, but he's a good manager. The last thing they need is to be without a manager for the run in to the end of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemdog 39,389 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Strange decision, a poor one at that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlippinEck 3,707 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Whats the point in gardening leave? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClintonGrey 365 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Whats the point in gardening leave?Well, your garden would look pretty shitty if you didn't take care of it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoghurto 9 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 They've lost 13 of their last 18 gamesCan't keep someone indefinately just because he plays good footballThey stuck with Mowbray for the entire season, despite performing a lot worse than this season. But I guess you could say they learned their lesson then? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irwin Sparkes 97 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 They stuck with Mowbray for the entire season, despite performing a lot worse than this season. But I guess you could say they learned their lesson then?Di Matteo's squad is a lot better than the one Mowbray had and shouldn't be on a run like they're on Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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