English second division side West Bromwich Albion have parted company with manager Valerien Ismael after just seven months in charge.
In a terse announcement, the English Championship promotion hopefuls announced the split on Wednesday. Ismael, who played professionally in the Bundesliga for Werder Bremen, FC Bayern Munich and Hannover 96 among others, had taken the West Bromwich coaching job last summer and signed a four-year contract. The Frenchman had previously coached league rivals Barnsley FC, with whom he won 25 of his 44 games.
However, West Brom have lost three of their last four league games, winning only one of their last eight matches for the West Midlands club. The current fifth place in the table would only entitle them to participate in the Premier League play-offs. West Brom are currently eight points adrift of a direct promotion spot.
Three coaching stops in Germany
After his playing days, Ismael began his coaching career in Germany, first as coach of the second teams of Hannover and Wolfsburg. After a brief interlude in Nuremberg, the 46-year-old returned to the Wolves, where he coached the Bundesliga team for just over four months. Via Apollon Smyrnis (Greece) and Linz ASK, Ismael finally landed on the island in 2020.
