February 03, (THEWILL) – Steve Bruce has been hired as the manager of West Brom on an 18-month contract, four and a half months after leaving Newcastle and indicating that he would not return to club management.
With West Brom seventh in the Championship, Bruce replaces Valérien Ismael, who was fired on Wednesday. The 61-year-old has achieved promotion to the Premier League four times and is hoping to do so again.
Commenting on his appointment, the former Aston Villa and Birmingham manager said: “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, the chief executive], 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.”
Alex, Bruce’s son, will be working in the backroom with Stephen Clemence and Steve Agnew.
Gourlay, who was appointed on Wednesday, said: “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.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
