On the face of it, replacing a manager who led you to promotion three months ago with another who suffered relegation in that very same season doesn’t make a lot of sense.
But who are we to argue with the growing number of West Bromwich Albion fans calling for an end to Eddie Howe’s exile from top-level football?
With the shock of that 2-0 defeat to fellow strugglers Fulham still ringing in the ears, the Telegraph reports Slaven Bilic’s position as Baggies boss is in serious doubt.
And there have been rumblings of discontent behind the scenes for a while, if truth be told.
The Sun reported a week ago that Bilic was unimpressed by the slow nature of West Brom’s summer recruitment, with top target Karlan Grant only arriving on the final day of the window – four games into the season.
But we didn’t need a newspaper to tell us the forthright Croatian was furious about the decision to let Ahmed Hegazi, one of his most experienced players, leave for Al-Ittihad days after producing a fine display in a 0-0 draw with Burnley.
The West Brom boss did that himself.
And that damaging loss to an apparently doomed Fulham side on Monday felt seismic. If it wasn’t the straw that broke the camel’s back, the poor dromedary is certainly feeling the strain.
Fortunately there are a few proven, out-of-work tacticians ready to step into the breach if Bilic goes. See Nigel Pearson, Sam Allardyce and, of course, Howe himself.
The 42-year-old’s near decade-long spell at Bournemouth might have ended in relegation but, in the eyes of many a West Brom supporter, the 42-year-old and his attractive attacking football are the perfect fit for a Baggies side that has plenty of gifted forwards.
Howe certainly feels far more long-term than the potentially knee-jerk appointments of Pearson and ‘Big Sam’, regardless of their firefighting, survival expertise.
Howe turned Ryan Fraser, Callum Wilson and David Brooks into Premier League stars while overachieiving with a limited squad.
Who’s to say he can’t do the same with Matheus Pereira, Karlan Grant and Grady Diangana?
Here’s what some West Brom fans had to say on Twitter about the situation:
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