Millwall manager Gary Rowett is in line to replace Steve Bruce at West Brom because the Championship outfit admire his ability to thrive on a shoestring budget, according to The Sun.
Now, such a statement does not bode particularly well for Baggies fans hoping for to see some cash get splashed during the January transfer window.
If the West Brom board are seriously considering a manager who can build a squad greater than the sum of it’s parts without spending big on signings, that certainly seems to suggest that whoever takes Bruce’s place on the Hawthorns bench will not be backed up by a sizeable transfer warchest.
Rowett has led Millwall to three successive top-half Championship finishes. That is despite the fact that, in the last four transfer windows, the Lions have only spent around £4 million on new signings; much of that devoted to bringing in the lavishly talented Zian Flemming from Eredivisie outfit Fortuna Sittard.
Will Gary Rowett replace Steve Bruce as West Brom manager?
Millwall finished one place and two points ahead of a far-more expensively-assembled West Brom side in 2021/22. Since then, the gulf between the two sides has only grown. That is despite the fact that Rowett lost his star man Jed Wallace to West Brom when his contract expired in the summer.
“To be honest, the gaffer’s been unbelievable since he’s come in,” Wallace said back in 2020; Rowett having taken over a team sitting 17th before dragging them all the way up to eighth.
“What I’ve enjoyed the most is that, tactically, we have a different gameplan playing against every single team. We change formation, we change tactics, we change the way we’re going to press them from the opposition’s goal-kick. We change how we take corners depending on the opposition.”
Per The Sun, Rowett is also keen on a fresh start, and would be interested in the West Brom job. A switch to the Midlands would see the Bromsgrove-born 48-year-old move closer to his family after three years in London.
Millwall, however, are yet to receive an official approach from West Brom.
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