Valerien Ismael on 'predictable, painful' West Brom & his future

Valerien Ismael admitted that he was at fault for the way West Brom were set up against Preston North End on Wednesday and he vowed to learn lessons as Albion make for Millwall.

Albion were deservedly turned over by North End on a toxic atmosphere at The Hawthorns, their first home defeat of the season, and it prompted questions over Ismael’s stability as manager of the club.

Conceding that the boos at full time were justified, Ismael revealed he found the performance of, and the consequent result suffered by, his players ‘painful’, that they were ‘predictable’ and he indicated he himself was ‘bored’ of the football on show.

That is not his intention.

The Frenchman plans to push the reset button at Millwall, where he’ll need to see a wholly different side to the one which was dispatched in the week.

“You guys know me - I was bored on the sidelines. It’s not my vision. I take full responsibility,” he admitted. “We work for months on solutions with the players, we need to adapt to situations. My game plan is intensity and energy, and that game takes me back to my DNA.

“It taught me very well, but I take full responsibility and that will change on Saturday. We need to change and adapt to the opponent’s game. We were more predictable, you’re right. We need action, intensity, be horrible. It was painful but it woke me up to what is my way.

“We must give confidence to the players. I overload the players with too many solutions. The players will have a better game plan on Saturday. We can get what we need. We have shown in the past. We are in transition.

“We will have set-backs, even when painful. We have done lots of good work behind the scenes. It’s a bumpy road, it’s up and down, but football can change quickly. We