West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion have become the second side to be relegated from the Premier League after Southampton's win over Swansea City on Tuesday night.

The result condemns West Brom to the Championship and gives Southampton's survival hopes a huge boost. The Saints are now three points clear of Swansea going into the final round of fixtures on Sunday.

Southampton welcome Premier League champions Manchester City to St Mary's Stadium, while Swansea are at home to already-relegated Stoke City.

A point would be enough to keep Mark Hughes' side in the top flight, but a heavy defeat coupled by a big win for Swansea would keep Carlos Carvalhal's team up at the expense of Southampton.

Substitute Manolo Gabbiadini was the hero for Southampton as he scored the only goal of the game after 72 minutes. Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski had saved from Charlie Austin, but Gabbiadini was on hand to poke home the rebound.

It's a bitter blow for West Brom who have enjoyed a resurgence in form since Alan Pardew was sacked and Darren Moore appointed as caretaker manager.

Moore oversaw impressive wins over Manchester United, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as a 2-2 draw against Liverpool at Anfield.

The results saw him awarded the Manager of the Month award for April, per Barclays Football:

Congratulations to @WBA manager @DarrenMooro on winning the April Manager of the Month Award. A #GameChanging run picking up eight points from four games, including a win at Old Trafford. pic.twitter.com/suGtTgoSOn

— Barclays Football (@BarclaysFooty) May 8, 2018

However, West Brom's great run came too late, and they will play Championship football next season. It remains to be seen if Moore will be appointed manager on a permanent basis, but he has shown he should be seriously considered for the role.

West Bromwich Albion launched a brilliant late fightback to draw 2-2 with Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday, scoring twice in the final 12 minutes.

Danny Ings fired Liverpool into an early lead with his first goal since October 2015, taking advantage of some slack defending.

Liverpool were in complete control of the contest after the break, and Mohamed Salah grabbed his 31st Premier League goal of the season in the 72nd minute with a tidy finish following an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain through ball. 

While the game looked over, West Brom didn't give up and got themselves back into the contest thanks to Jake Livermore's 79th minute goal. Then, with two minutes of normal time remaining, Salomon Rondon thudded a header past a sprawling Loris Karius to give the Premier League's bottom side a deserved point.

   

Liverpool Strike Early

With Tuesday's UEFA Champions League semi-final in mind, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp rested a number of key men. It meant a rare chance for Ings to show what he could do from the start.

It didn't take the former Burnley man long as he reacted quickest following some awful West Brom defending, hammering a left-footed shot home from close range. Per Squawka Football, it had been a long time coming:

Danny Ings has scored his first Premier League goal since the 4th of October, 2015.

The 930-day wait to celebrate again is over. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/RuE8TH5oPn

— Squawka (@Squawka) April 21, 2018

The goal was the main bright spark in what was an otherwise quiet half from Liverpool in the final third.

Salah buzzed around as expected, linking the play and drawing fouls. The closest the Egyptian came to getting on the scoresheet in the first half was with a long-range free-kick that arched over the crossbar.

At the other end, West Brom came close to an equaliser when James McClean fired a cross into the six-yard box, but it somehow evaded the stretching Rodriguez.

     

Ings in the Wars

After the break, Ings continued to be involved in the action and will have felt hard done by in a couple of instances.

The first saw the forward blatantly taken out inside the penalty area by Craig Dawson, but no penalty was awarded. Mike Keegan of the Daily Mail couldn't quite believe it:

Incredible non-penalty decision.

— Mike Keegan (@MikeKeegan_DM) April 21, 2018

The second was a tangle with Ahmed Hegazi. As the two fell to the floor after jostling for the ball, the Egyptian aimed a short-arm punch into the stomach of the Liverpool striker, but it went unnoticed.

In the end, an eventful day for Ings came to an end in the 65th minute as he was replaced by Roberto Firmino.

          

Salah Scores Again

With fresh legs on the field, Liverpool were enlivened in attack, with Firmino and fellow substitute Oxlade-Chamberlain linking to release Salah for the second goal of the game.

Oxlade-Chamberlain's delicate ball put Salah in on the left channel, and he lofted the ball nonchalantly over the onrushing Ben Foster. As we can see here, there aren't many players who have matched his goal haul in the Premier League:

Elite. 🇪🇬 pic.twitter.com/0y4Wv7U6kf

— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 21, 2018

The finish was indicative of a player operating with supreme confidence and eerily similar to the goal Salah scored against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League recently.

Former club Roma face a huge challenge trying to keep the Reds' No. 11 quiet Tuesday.

      

Liverpool Let It Slip

Thoughts did appear to turn towards Tuesday for Liverpool, as Salah was withdrawn from the contest in place of Dejan Lovren, and the intensity slowed. From here, West Brom found a foothold.

In the 78th minute, Livermore reacted fastest in the penalty area after a Karius save, bundling the ball home to give West Brom some hope. It woke up the Hawthorns, and with Liverpool looking shaky, they sensed something was there for their team.

In the end, there was, as a brilliant delivery from the left flank from Chris Brunt tempted Karius into coming for the ball.  Rondon got there first and planted a header into the bottom corner. As noted by OptaJoe, West Brom haven't made the most of his goals this term:

7 - Salomon Rondon has equalled the record for most Premier League games scored in a single season without winning any of them (7, level with Jordan Ayew in 2015-16). Misfortune.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 21, 2018

For Liverpool, it was undoubtedly two points dropped, giving Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur a boost in the race for second. West Brom will still go down this season, but their supporters will be encouraged by their improved displays under Moore.

West Bromwich Albion announced they parted ways with manager Alan Pardew on Monday after a run of eight successive Premier League defeats, with assistant John Carver also departing.

The club's website said first-team coach Darren Moore would step into a caretaker role.

A statement read: "The club would like to thank Alan and John for their efforts and wish them well in their future endeavours."

West Bromwich Albion and Alan Pardew have agreed to mutually part company following discussions between both parties.#WBAhttps://t.co/5nB4TJWdes

— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) April 2, 2018

Pardew was brought in as manager in November as a replacement for Tony Pulis, but his attempts have been unsuccessful, as West Brom sit at the bottom of the Premier League, 10 points from safety.

Sky Sports Statto broke down Pardew's miserable record at the Hawthorns, with their best league result of his reign being a 2-0 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion:

West Brom's PL record under Alan Pardew:
P18 W1 D5 L12 F13 A30
Pts 8 (from possible 54) https://t.co/vHfyp1xRDv

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) April 2, 2018

In comparison, Pulis took 10 points from a possible 36 before he and the club separated on November 20, a few days after they'd suffered a 4-0 home defeat at the hands of Chelsea.

Matt Wilson of the Express and Star suggested the writing had been on the wall for Pardew, with West Brom seven points adrift of nearest relegation rivals Stoke City with only six games left to play:

After nine defeats in a row, there really was no other option. But this should have happened much earlier. The writing's been on the wall for some time now.

— Matt Wilson (@mattianwilson) April 2, 2018

The West Midlands side have kept one clean sheet in the Premier League in 2018, and it looks like Moore will lead them into Saturday's home visit of Carlos Carvalhal's improved Swansea City.

Pardew led the Baggies to a shock 3-2 win over Liverpool at Anfield in the FA Cup fourth round, but the 2-1 home loss to relegation rivals Southampton in the next round ended their cup run in glum fashion.

The club's future looks bleak, and Pardew's successor will face a daunting task in attempting to keep the club in the top flight.

West Bromwich Albion players Jonny Evans, Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore and Boaz Myhill have apologised for breaking curfew and stealing a taxi from outside a restaurant in Barcelona, per BBC Sport.

The quartet issued a statement via the Baggies' official website:

"We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to our team-mates, the Head Coach, the Club and especially the supporters for the events which have been the subject of widespread and negative publicity.

"We felt it important we identify ourselves as the players involved in an incident which occurred during the training camp in Spain this week out of respect for team-mates who otherwise could be implicated by association.

"We freely acknowledge and apologise for the break of curfew which we accept represented a breach of the standards of professionalism required of us as representatives of West Bromwich Albion FC.

"The Club has informed us that it will now conduct its own inquiry into the incident and we will co-operate fully.

"In the meantime, we would like to assure our supporters that this incident does not reflect the determination and resolve we possess to do all we can to recover a difficult season."

The infractions occurred while West Brom took a trip to Spain.

BBC Sport's Matt Davis detailed the issues. Davis noted how four of the Baggies' senior stars were interviewed by Catalan regional police after taking a taxi without permission to return to the team hotel after finishing at a restaurant at around 5:30 a.m.

The incident does not reflect well on a squad rooted to the bottom of the Premier League. West Brom are seven points adrift of safety, a position making manager Alan Pardew more reliant on his squad's most experienced players.

It's what is likely to disappoint Pardew and owner Guochuan Lai the most that senior players such as Evans and Barry were involved.

Evans, 30, is the best defender at Pardew's disposal, while 36-year-old holding midfielder Barry would be expected to act as a leader for a struggling group.

As BBC Sport's Simon Stone pointed out, the gesture of an apology can't mask the underlying concern about the attitude and application of West Brom's top players:

Apology fine but to ignore manager like that doesn’t suggest discipline is too great @WBA

— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) February 16, 2018

Lai recently sacked chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman, putting the pressure firmly on Pardew. The manager has revealed he feels "let down" by the players' dubious actions, per Goal's Dom Farrell.

The fact this incident occurred less than two days before the Baggies take on Southampton in the fifth round of the 2018 FA Cup only emphasises the challenge facing Pardew to motivate a distracted squad.

Former West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City striker Cyrille Regis has died after suffering a heart attack on Sunday. He was 59.

According to Jacob Murtagh in the Mirror, the five-time England international died Sunday night, with the news announced via the WBA Former Players Twitter account:

It is great sadness that the FPA announce the death last night from a heart attack of one of the Club,s great legends Cyrille Regis. Our sincere condolences go to his family friends and colleagues. RIP Big Man pic.twitter.com/UT5jaRFF9b

— WBA Former Players (@WbaFormer) January 15, 2018

Regis spent most of his club career in two long spells with the Baggies and Coventry, but he also spent time at Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Wycombe Wanderers and Chester City before his retirement in 1996.

When he debuted for England in 1982, he became only the third black player to be capped at senior level by the Three Lions—after Viv Anderson and Laurie Cunningham.

Manchester United legend Andrew Cole was one of many to pay tribute to Regis after the news of his death:

https://twitter.com/vancole9/status/952819322522660864

The Sunday People's Neil Moxley, BBC's Dan Walker and the Guardian's Sid Lowe all added their own tributes:

Cyrille, gone. Trail-blazer for black footballers, powerhouse of a striker. More importantly, lovely man. Doted on his family. Was the first person whose column I ghosted for the S. Mercury. Huge loss to WBA and Coventry...RIP Big Man.

— Neil Moxley (@Neil_Moxley) January 15, 2018

Awful news about the death of Cyrille Regis. Huge figure in football... a trailblazer, a wonderful talent and a thoroughly top bloke.

— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) January 15, 2018

Cyrille Regis: kind, gentle, good man. Rest in peace.

— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) January 15, 2018

Regis was appointed an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2008.

After his retirement from playing, he coached at West Brom before becoming an agent.   

West Bromwich Albion have confirmed the appointment of Alan Pardew as their new manager.

The club's official Twitter account relayed the news on Wednesday:

Introducing our new Head Coach, Alan Pardew...

Full story ➡️ https://t.co/oMksgIoD5D#WBA pic.twitter.com/JzrV6YbsOC

— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) November 29, 2017

"I'm thrilled with the opportunity Albion have provided and looking forward to getting to work with what I consider to be a talented group of players," Pardew said, per the club's website. "The immediate challenge will be to get the results we need to pull ourselves up the table. But I'm aware that while I'm joining one of the great, traditional clubs of English football, it is one determined to go forward in the Premier League."

Pardew steps in to take over from Tony Pulis, who was sacked on November 20 with the club languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.

Gary Megson took over the team for the clash with Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend when they earned a creditable 1-1 draw. He was also in charge on Tuesday, when the team surrendered a two-goal lead against Newcastle United to draw 2-2.

The appointment sees Pardew return to management after he was axed by Crystal Palace in December 2016. Since then, he has spent time working as a pundit on Sky Sports.

As noted by Kristof Terreur of Het Laatste Nieuws, the return of the 56-year-old continues a familiar theme in English football:

Good old Premier League:

✔️ Roy Hodgson (70) managing Crystal Palace
✔️ David Moyes (54) is back, now at West Ham
✔️ Alan Pardew (56) is on his way to West Brom
✔️ Sam Allardyce (63) in talks with Everton

What’s Harry Redknapp doing nowadays?

— Kristof Terreur (@kristofterreur) November 27, 2017

There will be a hope among the West Brom fanbase that Pardew can help push the club away from the relegation zone.

Under Pulis, the side enjoyed a prosperous summer transfer window and won their first two games of the 2017-18 campaign. However, they went winless for their next 12 Premier League clashes, and Pardew takes over with the Baggies down in 16th in the standings.

The former Palace coach has helped improve sides in the past, though. With the Eagles, he prompted an initial upturn in form when taking over, while in a four-year spell at Newcastle United prior to that, he enjoyed some memorable moments, leading the team to a fifth-place finish in 2011-12.

In the past, the Englishman has had some issues with consistency in his managerial career. Oliver Kay of The Times doesn't believe that's something that will worry West Brom at the moment, though:

Usual criticism of Pardew is that he's a manager who can't sustain a team beyond an initial 12/18-month "bounce". I suspect a 12/18-month bounce would suit West Brom's board just fine at the moment

— Oliver Kay (@OliverKay) November 21, 2017

Pardew is renowned for getting sides off to fast starts, and when his teams build momentum, they can be tough to stop.

At West Brom, he'll take over a squad that was built to play direct and physical football under Pulis, although there are plenty of talented operators around. Pardew will feel confident of keeping the squad safe from relegation with the likes of Jonny Evans, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Nacer Chadli at his disposal.

It wouldn't be a surprise to see Pardew take a little longer than usual to get his ideas across, as the team he's taking over has been low on confidence for much of the campaign. But you would back a coach of his experience to keep this West Brom side afloat in the Premier League.  

Slaven Bilic has reportedly rejected the opportunity to make an instant return to Premier League management after spurning an approach from West Bromwich Albion.

West Ham United announced Bilic's departure at the beginning of November before West Brom sacked Pulis on Monday, and Jason Burt and John Percy of the Telegraph reported the former has since turned down the Baggies. 

Bilic is understood to have conveyed it's "too early for him to return to football," and Alan Pardew is still said to be favourite to take over at the Hawthorns, having been out of a job since leaving Crystal Palace in December 2016.

Former Everton and Manchester United manager David Moyes has since succeeded Bilic at the West Ham helm, but West Brom remain without a boss and have Gary Megson in charge as caretaker at present.

Bilic led West Ham into their new era at London Stadium but couldn't maintain the progress witnessed in the past two seasons, when they finished seventh and 11th in the Premier League.

One former charge of the Croatian's who was anything but saddened by Bilic's exit was former West Ham full-back Alvaro Arbeloa, who took to Twitter to express his lack of sympathy after his firing:

Better late than never. https://t.co/JIATfzL9DY

— Álvaro Arbeloa (@aarbeloa17) November 6, 2017

Pardew, on the other hand, may be ready to make a return to management after 11 months on the sidelines, having left Selhurst Park last year after a miserable start to the 2016-17 campaign.

While some might view the Englishman as a limited option, The Times' Oliver Kay argued Pardew's limitations may suit the Baggies just fine for the predicament they're in:

Usual criticism of Pardew is that he's a manager who can't sustain a team beyond an initial 12/18-month "bounce". I suspect a 12/18-month bounce would suit West Brom's board just fine at the moment

— Oliver Kay (@OliverKay) November 21, 2017

West Brom sit 17th in the standings, one point above the relegation zone, and have failed to win a match in their last 11 outings across all competitions, comprising four draws and seven defeats.

It also helps Pardew's case that he has a contact inside the Hawthorns, according to the Daily Mail's Laurie Whitwell:

Link to piece. Pardew knows WBA director Hammond from Reading. Megson doesn’t want to be No 2 under new manager https://t.co/RRjoviuqs8… https://t.co/xpxjVR4A9e

— Laurie Whitwell (@lauriewhitwell) November 21, 2017

In any case, Megson doesn't look likely to take the reins on permanent terms as Percy and Burt's report referenced recent quotes from the stand-in boss: 

"This is absolutely not an audition for me and while everyone aspires to be in the Premier League, this is in the most unfortunate of circumstances. I've obviously been out football for some time and this isn't something I was expecting to happen earlier this year. 

"I was on my way to Corsica on holiday with my wife when Tony called me and asked to come in as his assistant. I wasn't sure about it as I'd never done the role before."

The west Midlands side haven't won a match since Pulis led them to back-to-back victories at the beginning of this season, a run Megson will hope to end when he leads the team at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

West Bromwich Albion sacked manager Tony Pulis on Monday following the team's disappointing run of form in the Premier League. 

News that Pulis had been given his marching orders came via the club's official website on Monday.

Club statement on Head Coach Tony Pulis...#WBA https://t.co/Br6CXyHUA0

— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) November 20, 2017

Baggies chairman John Williams thanked Pulis for his efforts but made it clear results were not good enough in comments to the club's official website:

"These decisions are never taken lightly but always in the interests of the club.

"We are in a results business and over the back end of last season and this season to date, ours have been very disappointing.

"We would like to place on record our appreciation of Tony's contribution and hard work during a period of transition for the club which included a change of ownership. We wish him well in his future endeavours."

Gary Megson has been placed in temporary charge, the club confirmed.

The Welshman was axed with the Baggies down in 17th position in the table, with just 10 points taken from their 12 top-flight matches this season. The final straw was the club's 4-0 home loss against Chelsea on Saturday.

0-4 - This was Tony Pulis’ joint heaviest home @premierleague defeat, matching his 4-0 defeats to Man City (October 2016) and Chelsea (January 2013 as Stoke boss). Bleak. pic.twitter.com/J5VYGER7kK

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 18, 2017

The Times' Oliver Kay felt the Baggies had to act following their poor recent run of form.

Pulis sacked by #WBA. Hardly a surprise. Results this season (& end of last) were nowhere near good enough -- performances often even worse. Sad that he got such a lot of flak towards the end. Good man doing an honest job, but struggling https://t.co/foFL7eBBUS

— Oliver Kay (@OliverKay) November 20, 2017

Henry Winter of the same publication believes Pulis' reputation will see him back in work soon.

Tony Pulis' overall record of keeping teams up, if not the quality of the football, will doubtless ensure he gets another job. https://t.co/61FRdA7ddb

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) November 20, 2017

The decision ends almost three years in charge of West Brom for Pulis, during which he steadied the club in the Premier League.

Having taken over in January 2015, the coach's methods helped the Baggies climb the table to a position of safety.

In the campaigns since, West Brom have rarely been in danger of relegation. Last season, his side finished in 10th position, having threatened to challenge for a European spot earlier in the year.

The 2017-18 season started well after a summer of smart recruitment, with two 1-0 wins kicking off the campaign. But an 11-game winless run prompted unrest among the supporters, who were watching unattractive football with little productivity.

As Stuart James noted in the Guardian, so much of Pulis' managerial blueprint is centred around a strong set-piece strategy (h/t Sachin Nakrani of the same paper):

https://twitter.com/SachinNakrani/status/931834592763502593

When the team is performing well and defending robustly, supporters can stomach that style, as they did at the Hawthorns last term and in the campaign before that. But when the results take a downturn, there's little to prevent angst from spreading.

And Pulis' issue has always been finding another way to win in these ruts. He's stood by his principles down the years, and tactical versatility has been scarce as a result.

It will be intriguing to see where West Brom turn next in an attempt to pull away from the bottom of the table.

While there are talented footballers in the squad, the team has been built to play a physical and direct style. Supporters may want to see a more eye-catching side in the weeks to come, but that type of post-Pulis transformation could take time.

Looking at their form and position, it's debatable whether the Baggies have that luxury.

Grzegorz Krychowiak has left Paris Saint-Germain on a season-long loan to join West Bromwich Albion.

The Baggies announced via their official website that Krychowiak has joined the club on a temporary basis, and the player confirmed the move via his own Twitter account:

Come on guys... you know who I am joining! ➡ #WBA 😆

— Grzegorz Krychowiak (@GrzegKrychowiak) August 30, 2017

Krychowiak has signed a season-long loan deal with West Brom and will look to give manager Tony Pulis some added steel in midfield.

The 27-year-old established himself as one of the most fearsome destroyers in European football during his two years with Sevilla, and he won back-to-back UEFA Europa League titles with the Spanish side in 2015 and 2016.

However, tasked with a more technical role in the French capital, Krychowiak struggled to make an impact with PSG, starting just 11 matches in all competitions last season.

Indeed, the midfielder's best work undoubtedly lies in regaining possession for his side rather than his technique or distribution of the ball.

Krychowiak's reading of the game is exceptional, and he shines when breaking up play, intercepting passes and winning physical duels in midfield—few can match him at his best.

While he may not have been well-suited to the demands placed on him at the Parc des Princes, if utilised correctly, he can be a magnificent acquisition for West Brom and make them far more robust in the centre.