Yet another ridiculous Premier League sacking

This season has been a campaign of ridiculous sacking in the Premier League.

On Sunday West Brom boss Roberto Di Matteo joined the names of Sam Allardyce and Chris Hughton in getting rather undeservedly sacked.

Gardening Leave

The Italian has been placed on gardening leave with first team coach Michael Appleton taking over on a temporary basis. This is without doubt one of the most short-sighted decision made by a Premier League club this season.

Just a few months ago ever body was falling over themselves to praise Di Matteo and his team for their brand of football. Yet after a few bad results he is suddenly a poor manager and losing his job. They are in the Premier League and every team goes through a rough spell.

Statement

West Brom chairman revealed the ridiculous decision on the clubs official website saying: “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”

Philosophy

Di Matteo likes his teams to play attractive football and it worked pretty effectively for most of the season. Results in recent weeks have been poor but Di Matteo is a promising young coach who is looks set to become a top manager.

Realistic

Surely the West Brom board need to be realistic. The club’s first priority would have been to stay in the Premier League at the start of the season and they are currently just outside the Premier League drop zone. I’d say they have had a decent season.

From reading the opinions of Baggies fans they believe the Italian should have stayed and the majority are bemused and disgusted by Di Matteo’s sacking. If I was a West Brom fan right now I would be absolutely seething.

Some West Brom fans are even saying that chairman Jeremy Peace should have left the club instead of the ex-Chelsea player.

Backing

The West Brom board really need to take a good hard look in the mirror. They saw that the team was struggling yet decided not to give their boss any money to spend in the transfer window. They can no longer expect to keep the club in the Premier League on the cheap.

They need to start backing their bosses or the Baggies will be a yo-yo club for years to come. Every successful club in football has had continuity and I believe sacking Di Matteo will prove an awful decision in the long run, if not the short-term.

Replacement

I’m sorry to say there are few available managers out there that could come in and do a better job than the Italian. The likes of Chris Hughton, Sam Allardyce and Alan Curbishley have already been linked with the job.

All three have their strengths and I’m sure they would do a decent job for the Baggies but could they really take West Brom forward in the way that Di Matteo would have? I very much doubt they can. They also wouldn’t even be able to strengthen their squad with the transfer window now shut.

Panic

The sacking of Roberto Di Matteo was a typical knee-jerk panic reaction of a Premier League club on a bad run of results. It’s a modern day phenomenon in football unfortunately.

In normal seasons Premier League seasons managers are sacked because the teams are bottom of the league or really struggling but I don’t think West Brom are playing that badly.

They may have suffered a few bad results in recent weeks but they are not dead and buried and aren’t even in the relegation zone. I think Di Matteo would have got the Baggies clear of the relegation zone, especially with homes against West Ham and Wolves coming up in the next two games.

Future

West Brom now needs to focus on the future and staying in the Premier League, whoever their new boss may be. Di Matteo has created good foundations at the club and the next manager will have a decent squad of players to work with.

For Roberto Di Matteo I’m sure he will find himself a new job very soon, as he is a highly rated coach. I’m sure he will go on to become a good manager, probably at a big club. Good luck Roberto you deserved better.

Should West Brom have fired Roberto Di Matteo?