West Bromwich Albion are looking for a new manager for next season, following the news that Sam Allardyce will not stay on at The Hawthorns following the Baggies relegation from the Premier League.
Allardyce only took over the reins at West Brom from Slaven Bilic in December 2020, managing 26 games, winning just four with a win percentage of 15%.
Chris Wilder comes in as the bookie’s firm favourite for the job at West Brom.
The 53-year-old hasn’t had a job since he left Sheffield United back in March, departing with the club on 14 points after 28 games.
Wilder is a manager that has worked his way up the divisions, having started at the likes of Halifax Town, before moving to Oxford United, where he lead them to promotion via Conference Premier play-offs in 2010, before moving to Sixfields to Northampton Town where he won the League Two title with 99 points in 2015/16.
The former Oxford man was a huge fan favourite at Bramall Lane, having led the club from a mid-table position in League One, to the Premier League via two automatic promotions in 2016/17 and 2018/19, before finishing ninth in the top flight last campaign, the Blades best league finish since the 1991/92 season.
The appointment of Wilder would be a popular one at The Hawthorns, as the former Sheffield United man would likely give the Baggies the best chance of earning promotion straight back to the Premier League. This job would be a decent one for Wilder to take, as West Brom will be one of the favourites to be promoted back to the Premier League.
Frank Lampard is the next manager on this list, having been without a club following his sacking by Chelsea in January due to a poor run of form that had seen the Blues win just two of their last eight league games under the former Derby County manager over the festive period.
However, following the aftermath of his sacking, there were rumours of the Chelsea transfer team signing players that he wasn’t interested in bringing to the club, which was essentially the downturn in his form at the Bridge, as he managed to finish fourth in the Premier League with them in 2019/20 having had a transfer ban.
A move to West Brom would be a good one for Lampard, as he would effectively be at a club that are one of the favourites to get promoted back to the Premier League next season, however, having managed his dream club in Chelsea, the 42-year-old might see this as too much of a step down having managed the Blues in the Champions League this campaign.
Lampard is priced at 8/1 to be the next manager at The Hawthorns.
Former West Brom player and coach Michael Appleton has also been linked to the vacant managerial role at The Hawthorns.
Appleton currently manages at Lincoln City, where he has done well since taking over from Danny Cowley in September 2019, having consolidated the Imps place in the division, before reaching the playoff final this time around.
Prior to joining Lincoln, Appleton was West Brom’s Under 23s manager, having been in the first-team coaching staff, assisting then-manager James Shan, as the Baggies narrowly missed out on the playoff final to Aston Villa.
Appleton is priced at 10/1 to make a return to West Brom as manager.
