West Brom appoint ex-Newcastle boss Bruce as manager

Bruce
signed
an
18-month
contract
to
replace
Valerien
Ismael,
who
was
dismissed
after
just
seven
months
at
the
helm
on
Wednesday.

West
Brom
have
won
just
one
of
their
past
seven
games
in
the
Championship
and
slipped
to
sixth
following
a
2-0
loss
at
Millwall
on
Saturday,
leaving
them
eight
points
adrift
of
the
automatic
promotion
places.

Bruce,
who
spent
two
years
in
charge
of
West
Brom’s
rivals
Aston
Villa
from
2016,
has
been
promoted
to
the
Premier
League
four
times
in
his
managerial
career
and
was
available
after
being
sacked
by
Newcastle
in
October,
shortly
after
the
Tyneside
club’s
lucrative
takeover.

He
has
been
named
manager;
Ismael
was
head
coach
at
The
Hawthorns.

“I
am
delighted
to
have
the
opportunity
to
manage
a
club
that
has
such
great
history
and
tradition,”
Bruce
said
in
a
statement.
“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,
West
Brom
CEO],
I
knew
I
could
not
resist
the
challenge
of
getting
this
club
back
to
where
they
want
to
be.

“I
am
coming
in
with
one
aim
and
that
is
to
get
Albion
to
the
Premier
League.”

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.”