That Lee Bowyer has often been referred to as one of the brightest young coaching minds in the EFL, despite earning a living at two clubs about as stable as a stepladder on a bouncy castle, is testament to the often sterling work he did at Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City.
Bowyer led Charlton – Roland Duchatelet’s Charlton – to the League One play-off in 2018 before beating Sunderland at Wembley a year later. He then kept the relegation wolf from Birmingham’s door after taking over from Aitor Karanka in March 2021; repeating the trick in 2022.
The job he did in the most testing of circumstances at St Andrews was, to quote the Birmingham Mail, a ‘minor miracle’. Especially when you consider Bowyer had little more than a shoestring budget to work with.
Bowyer has proven himself capable of galvanising a squad of players, building a side far greater than the sum of it’s parts with so little spending power at his disposal.
The 45-year-old, a straight-talker never afraid to say what’s on his mind, is also capable of stepping into a figurehead role in place of absent, increasingly-unpopular owners.
Bowyer would, with most things considered, be pretty well qualified to take over at West Brom; booed off the pitch following Tuesday’s 2-0 home defeat to Bristol City. A result that left the Baggies just above the relegation zone and eight points off the promotion positions.
Could Lee Bowyer replace Steve Bruce as West Brom manager?
According to The Athletic, finding a replacement for the sacked Steve Bruce is proving to be rather complicated. Especially with West Brom’s parachute payments set to come to an end in 2023, thus putting off potential candidates. Michael Carrick is opting for Middlesbrough. Sean Dyche wants a Premier League job. Gary Rowett, Leam Richardson and Russell Martin, meanwhile, have distanced themselves from the role.
So the ongoing availability Bowyer should give the Baggies some food for thought. According to The Mirror, he high on West Brom’s radar back in 2020 when Slaven Bilic was under pressure.
Bowyer’s commitment to a high-pressing, hard-working, counter-attacking 4-4-2 system is in stark contrast to Bruce’s oft-incomprehensible gameplan. It’s not hard to imagine, say, Jed Wallace, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Conor Townsend or Jayson Molumby thriving under Bowyer. He could make use of West Brom’s prosperous but underutilised academy too, having handed out plenty of debuts at Birmingham.
Marcel Oakley, Jobe Bellingham, George Hall and Jordan James all featured last term for the Blues. Conor Gallagher and Josh Cullen shone under Bowyer at Charlton too.
Per The Sun, West Brom are looking at a relatively young managers (at least in comparison to 61-year-old Bruce). Manager’s capable of thriving despite having limited funds to spend. Bowyer ticks both of those boxes.
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