West Bromwich Albion: Sam Allardyce steps down as Head Coach

West Bromwich Albion have confirmed Sam Allardyce will step down from his post as Head Coach at the end of the season. 

Allardyce says he was offered a role but didn't feel he could commit to the length of time required, given the stage of his career: "West Bromwich Albion made me a generous offer to stay at The Hawthorns that shows the commitment of an ambitious club. After serious consideration I have decided not to accept that offer."

Allardyce’s long-time assistant Sammy Lee and first team coach Robbie Stockdale will also depart The Hawthorns.

In a statement, the club said: "Sam has given his reasons for leaving and we respect his decision. He has been brilliant to work with and I wish him, Sammy and Robbie all the very best in the future. They will always be welcome at The Hawthorns."

Albion say they'll now begin the process of finding Allardyce's replacement.

Reacting to the news, West Brom fan Jas Sansi says the new manager will have big shoes to fill.

On Wednesday (19th May), Albion welcomed around 5,000 fans back to The Hawthorns for the first time since lockdown restrictions began for their game against West Ham.

The Baggies took the lead in style thanks to Costa Periera scoring from a corner. But visiting West Ham levelled through Thomas Soucek just before half time, before the Hammers scored two more in the second half. 

Analysis from our Sports Correspondent Steve Clamp:

Sam Allardyce's decision not to stay on at West Bromwich Albion doesn't come as a huge surprise. At his stage of his career would he really want the long slog of trying to get the club back up to the Premier League? Achieving promotion from the Championship is far from guaranteed, no matter what pedigree a club has.

Many Albion fans hadn't been happy when their previous boss Slaven Bilić was sacked in December, despite the club  already being in a relegation battle. Bilić had, after all, led them back to the Premier League in the previous season. 

But you could certainly argue there was sense in bringing Allardyce to the club, he knew how to make teams tough to beat and at the time of his appointment he had never been relegated. Of course that changed once Albion's drop out of the Premier League was confirmed with a three one defeat to Arsenal on the 9th of May.

In January he made shrewd signings, which, for a time, looked like they might just be enough to save the club. But despite a handful of impressive results, including a 5-2 victory at Chelsea their slide eventually became unstoppable.  

From my point of view, Sam was always a pleasure to deal with on our 'Covid secure' remote media briefings, answering any question put to him, and talking passionately and intelligently about the vile way some of his players had been treated on social media. Sam may have lost his record of never being relegated, but with a team that was always struggling, his managerial reputation shouldn't be too tarnished by events at the Hawthorns. 

For West Brom, they now need to find a coach with hunger and fresh ideas to once again steer the club back to the Premier League.