West Brom fans all the same thing as Valerien Ismael lands new manager job

West Brom fans have moved to wish Valerien Ismael the best of luck in his new venture after he was unveiled as the new manager of Turkish giants Besiktas on Friday afternoon.

Frenchman Ismael left Albion at the end of January after a run of one win in eight games in all competitions, during a time in which Albion surrendered the healthy gap they’d opened up to the chasing pack in the battle for promotion from the Championship. Successive defeats to Preston North End and Millwall were consequently the final straw for Ismael, who was relieved of his duties just seven months into a four-year contract after arriving last summer from Barnsley.

Albion since replaced him with Steve Bruce, who has not enjoyed an immediate new manager ‘bounce’ and has enjoyed just two wins from his first nine matches in charge. Albion, as a result, have dropped down from play-off contention and are now comfortably mid-table, with little hope of forcing their way back into the promotion reckoning after dropping more points at Bristol City on Saturday.

Ismael, who’d guided Barnsley from relegation peril to the play-off semi-finals the season before in the Championship, and who has also previously managed Wolfsbury in Germany and LASK in Austria, has taken up the reins at Besiktas and held his first press conference on Friday at the stadium.

The Turkish Super Lig side sacked Sergen Yalcin in December after a poor run of results, and Onder Karaveli has been in charge of proceedings on a temporary basis in the meantime. They’ve won just two of their last eight league games, though, and the club’s hierarchy have made plans to appoint a new permanent boss in place before the season ends.

Ismael has landed the job and he'll oversee the remaining