Some will say it should never have lasted this long and others could justifiably argue that he was not the right man from the first day, but after Saturday’s draw with Luton TownSteve Bruce was dismissed from his position as West Bromwich AlbionAfter discussions with Ron Gourlay (chief executive), the manager met on Sunday.
A lack of a coherent strategy in the summer recruitment leading to the disaster on deadline day, rocky relationships with some players, questions on the manager’s attention to detail and a failure to arrest Albion’s slide down the table has brought Bruce’s tenure to a premature end. Nine months before the end of his contract, having picked up just eight victories in 32 matches – a 25 per cent win rate – he exits with the club 22nd in the Championship, their lowest league position since 2000.
Gourlay considered Bruce’s position following the 3-2 home derby defeat to Birmingham CitySeptember 14th Albion’s performance in front of a packed audience at The Hawthorns, and a Sky audience was so bad that some supporters turned on Albion and the players and gave them boos at each whistle. Still, Gourlay decided that Bruce would be given more time, with a stretch of ‘winnable’ matches on the horizon.
Albion was then transferred to Norwich City three days later. Their six consecutive league wins were enough to propel them to the automatic promotion spots. Bruce was pragmatic and appointed captain after the Birmingham performance. Jake LivermoreThe players responded by putting themselves back in the lineup.
