‘Hard not to fear for it’ – Valerien Ismael’s future at West Brom: The verdict

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Brom lost for the first time at home in the league last night, with Preston North End running out as 2-0 winners at The Hawthorns. 

Goals from Emil Riis and debutant Cameron Archer ensured the three points for the visitors, in what a dominant display from the 13th-placed side. 

The Baggies are now at risk of dropping out of the play-offs altogether, with several clubs outside of the top-six finding form at the moment. 

Concerns around the playing style and the insistence of continuing to operate in a 3-4-3 have been circling all year, however, it appears that this latest setback may have heightened these worries. 

Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts regarding Valerien Ismael’s time at West Brom thus far and if time is running out for him…

Ben Wignall

With the way the West Brom fans reacted to their loss against Preston North End then it’s hard not to fear for it.

The Baggies played awfully, had zero shots on target and seemed to only have one plan and that was to go long and it just didn’t work against the Lilywhites.

Fans exited The Hawthorns quickly after PNE’s second goal and they made their feelings clear with loud boos and even chanting for former boss Slaven Bilic.

Despite still being in the play-off places, the way West Brom have been playing hasn’t been good at all and it’s very hard to watch even when they’re winning.

The owners are in a tough position as Ismael is on a long contract and also was backed with the signing of Daryl Dike earlier this month, but if another