Clarke’s last match in charge of West Brom was the 1-0 defeat at Cardiff, which was settled by a Peter Whittingham header midway through the second half.
West Brom made the announcement on their website saying:
West Bromwich Albion have this evening relieved Head Coach Steve Clarke of his duties and placed him on gardening leave with immediate effect.
This was the unanimous decision of the Football Club’s Board of Directors following a disappointing performance throughout 2013.
Albion have won only seven of their 34 Barclays Premier League games during the calendar year – a 20 per cent win percentage yielding a total of only 31 points – despite a substantial investment in the first-team squad.
Joint-Assistant Head Coach Keith Downing will assume control of first-team affairs whilst the Club considers all available options for a new Head Coach.
What seems clear from Steve Clarke’s post match interview after the loss to Cardiff was that the coach did not expect to be sacked before he went to bed that night.
From Albion’s view, however, fearing relegation after a run of four straight defeats heading into Christmas, the board had little option other than to sack the boss just before Christmas if they had lost faith in his abilities to win.
West Brom’s next run of games are Hull (h), Tottenham (a), West Ham (a), Newcastle (h) on New Year’s Day.
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