Premier League: Slaven Bilic sacked by West Bromwich Albion, replaced by Sam Allardyce

Slaven Bilic has been sacked as head coach of West Bromwich Albion after a year-and-a-half in charge of the club, with Sam Allardyce replacing him.

The former England manager, who is from the west Midlands, has signed an 18-month contract at the club.

Sporting and Technical Director, Luke Dowling, said: “In Sam we have a man who has a proven Premier League pedigree with a track record of improving every club he has managed.

“We believe and, more importantly, Sam believes we have a group of players that have the quality needed to give the club its best chance of Premier League survival.”

Allardyce had a brief spell as player-coach West Brom during the tail end of his playing career. He managed the Baggies' reserves in 1988-89 and was then promoted to first-team coach for the following campaign.

His return to the Hawthorns comes just hours after Bilic was fired.

"West Bromwich Albion have today parted company with head coach Slaven Bilic," the club said in a statement.

"Assistant coaches, Dean Racunica and Danilo Butorovic, and first team coach Julian Dicks have also left the club with immediate effect."

The 52-year-old Croatian is the first Premier League boss to leave their job this season.

Bilic took the West Brom job in June 2019 and guided them automatic promotion from the Championship (the English second tier) at the first time of asking.

He managed 65 games and finished with a 40 per cent win percentage.

After a surprising 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Tuesday, Bilic told reporters: "I'm doing my job. I'm enjoying it. I'm working hard for myself, for my staff, for the players, for the club, that's all.

“Everything else is out of my control. I’m not really bothered what’s happened behind the scenes. I don’t care.”

Bilic’s dismissal is not entirely surprising given the club’s mediocre brand of football this season and the results simply do not lie. Allardyce, Nigel Pearson, Mark Hughes and Eddie Howe are all linked to the job but, for their situation, there is only one stand-out option.

Pearson’s tarnished image after falling out with the Watford ownership last season is likely to put WBA off, while Howe’s supposed aspirations for a long-term project and Hughes’ generally disappointing managerial record means it would not be much of a stretch to see relegation specialist Allardyce make his return to the Premier League.

Defensive organisation will be critical if West Brom are to stay up this season. With Allardyce in charge they would have a chance of doing so, having developed a survival portfolio through his experiences at Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Everton in recent years. But he is also an expensive risk and will likely want significant spending power in January that Bilic did not get in the previous window.