West Brom have been without a manager at the helm since Darren Moore was relieved of his duties at the Hawthorns whilst they were in a play-off place. They eventually reached the playoff semi-finals, losing out at that stage to bitter rivals Aston Villa.
The search goes on for someone to take over the direction that the Baggies take next season. That search might have been made a little more interesting with the recent news that Hull City and Nigel Adkins have gone their separate ways.
Adkins steered the Tigers to a midtable 13th place finish last season, a solid if unspectacular place to find themselves after a hard 46-game campaign. Their final 62-point haul left them safe from relegation by a fair distance, and they only ended eight points shy of the play-off places.
It was enough of an achievement for the powers that be behind the scenes at Hull City to offer Adkins a new deal. However, it mustn’t have been a deal that sat well with the former Sheffield United manager, hence him leaving his position at the KCOM when his current deal runs out at the end of this month.
Whilst there is no indication that Adkins is in any way linked to the vacant West Brom job, there are many reasons that would make the two an ideal fit.
West Brom and the Adkins diet – a suitable match?
West Brom need a proven manager, they can’t afford to take any chances or appoint any leftfield candidates. There is undoubted promise, potential and possibility at the Hawthorns – the Baggies need someone who can tap into all of that.
Bringing someone from outside the domestic market does have its advantages, of course it does. However, employing from within also has its advantages. Bringing in Adkins would mean that the Black Country side are getting a manager with more than a good knowledge and experience of the English game.
The Birkenhead-born manager has 282 games worth of experience in the Sky Bet Championship, evening out at an average 1.35 points-per-match. He also led Southampton to two, successive promotions from League One (2010/11) and the Championship (2011/12) and managed the Saints for 22 games in the Premier League.
He knows the English game, he’s got more than enough experience across the English league system, and he has the respect of players wherever he has been. Add all that together and it isn’t too big a stretch of the imagination to see why Nigel Adkins and West Brom would be a good fit.
