West Bromwich Albion have confirmed the appointment of former Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce as their new permanent manager. The 61-year-old, who was relieved of his duties by the Magpies in October, has signed an 18-month contract at The Hawthorns and will be tasked with sealing an immediate return to the Premier League over the coming months.
Bruce has added Stephen Clemence, Steve Agnew and his son Alex Bruce to the club’s backroom staff, with James Morrison and Gary Walsh set to stay on.
He has already spoken of his delight at taking charge of the Baggies, who currently occupy sixth place in the Championship table but sit eight points adrift of second-placed Blackburn Rovers.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to manage a club that has such great history and tradition,” he told the club website.
“It is a club I obviously know well from my time in the Midlands, and I am already relishing the challenge of taking it forward.
“I did not envisage I would return to management this quickly, but once I got the phone call from Ron [Gourlay, CEO], I knew I could not resist the challenge of getting this club back to where they want to be.
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“I am coming in with one aim and that is to get Albion to the Premier League.”
West Brom’s newly-appointed CEO Ron Gourlay added: “Steve is a highly-respected and experienced manager who has an impressive record of earning promotion to the Premier League.
“His excellent man-management skills, tactical nous, and ability to hit the ground running were among the many reasons we decided he was the man to take us forward.
“Promotion remains our objective for this season, and we are confident that with Steve leading the club we have given ourselves every chance of achieving that goal.”
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Bruce already has four Premier League promotions to his name and will be looking to add a fifth with West Brom after enduring a difficult spell in charge of Newcastle.
He joined the Tyneside outfit in 2019 and managed to seal a 13th-placed finish in the Premier League at the end of his first season before going one better by clinching 12th a year later.
However, he never managed to win over the support of the Magpies faithful and ultimately paid with his job after he was promptly sacked by the club’s new owners in October.
Bruce left Newcastle after winning 28 of his 97 games in charge before he was eventually replaced by former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe.
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Gary Neville was highly critical of Newcastle’s treatment of Bruce at the time, insisting that he was being used as a scapegoat to distract from the other issues that plagued his time in charge.
“This thing with Steve Bruce is totally wrong,” said Neville in his role as a pundit on Monday Night Football.
“If it was any other walk of life, it would be classed as employment abuse. Bruce needs clarity.
“The leaks in the last week, two weeks, four weeks. Bruce deserves to be treated with decency. Stop using Steve Bruce as a shield for criticism as a football club.”
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