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Yet in his first game in charge of West Bromwich Albion Hodgson showed he has a quality that is even more valuable. Napoleon once said he preferred neither courageous nor brilliant generals but lucky ones, and, in his latest managerial reincarnation at least, Hodgson looks like being one of those.

He might claim his decision to send on Carlos Vela and James Morrison, who combined to cancel out Jamie O’Hara’s goal and draw the first Black Country derby ever fought out at Premier League level, was a managerial masterstroke.

But Vela’s strike two minutes into stoppage time came from a rebound when an otherwise impressive Wayne Hennessey spilled Morrison’s speculative shot. This was not planned or preordained, but really, really lucky for West Brom and their new manager, and the Hawthorns celebrated it as though they had just dealt Wolverhampton Wanderers a death blow.

Mick McCarthy, the Wolves manager, was left licking his wounds and said he was satisfied with a mere point, but it all seemed a bit false. Like overcooked pasta, Wolves remain stuck to the bottom of the Premier League, and West Brom are within touching distance of the relegation zone.

“When you equalise late in the game you feel happy, but when I look back on this in a few days I won’t feel so good,” Hodgson surmised.

The reality is that both teams demonstrated the kind of limitations which are sure to see at least one of them sent back to the Championship at the end of the season – a failure to convert the simplest of chances and the type of incompetent defending which creates them. West Brom have not kept a clean sheet since August.

Three training sessions are not enough to sort out such defensive shortcomings even for a coach of Hodgson’s experience, and Wolves found a way through just before the break when Kevin Doyle was body-checked outside the area by Gabriel Tamas.

Nenad Milijas had the wherewithal to use the free kick to square the ball to O’Hara, who struck first time with his left foot from the edge of the area into the top corner.

Hodgson said that one of his players – he would not name names – should have been level with the ball to cut off Milijas’s pass, but vaguely explained that Wolves, “through their organisation, managed to get rid of that player”. But he added that “there is not a goal scored where there is not a mistake”.

By rights Wolves should have taken a two-goal lead. Quite how Matt Jarvis did not provide Wolves with their second soon after the interval, only he knows. Tamas tried to head back to Boaz Myhill and failed spectacularly, leaving Jarvis to nip in for the simple task of volleying home. He scuffed wide.

If that was bad, Marc-Antoine Fortuné’s attempt to equalise soon after was pitiful. Peter Odemwingie found his team-mate just yards from goal and Fortuné only had to smack the ball from point-blank range past Hennessey. Instead the striker ended up hitting nothing but clean air. You don’t get much more incompetent than that.

Hodgson shook his head in disgust, and introduced Vela and Morrison. The latter sent a low shot at Hennessey, and the Welshman spilled the ball straight to Vela, who tapped in. The away support lobbed a smoke bomb – apparently smuggled into the ground inside a cuddly toy — into the Millennium corner, but the Hawthorns erupted in relief. Their new man has lady luck on his side.

Labels: Albion, Bromwich, Carlos, gives, grounds, Hodgson, lucky, strike, Telegraphcouk, Velaaposs

West Bromwich Albion have installed Roy Hodgson as their No1 choice to take over from the sacked Roberto Di Matteo, although they would appear to have plenty of work to do before he could be persuaded to take the job as the manager.

The Midlands club, who have placed the coach Michael Appleton in caretaker charge ahead of the relegation crunch match against West Ham United at The Hawthorns on Saturday, are also keen to talk to Chris Hughton, as they prepare to take the decision upon which their Premier League survival could hinge.

Hodgson and Hughton are both out of work, having been sacked by Liverpool and Newcastle United respectively, and the former has the added advantage of 35 years of managerial experience. Although Hodgson endured a disastrous time at Liverpool his work at Fulham, where he initially helped them to stave off relegation before building them up to greater heights, he has been noted by the Albion board of directors.

The worry for Albion is whether Hodgson can be convinced that they represent his most attractive route back into the game. Moreover, the chairman, Jeremy Peace, is known for keeping a tight grip on the purse strings and Hodgson might prove too expensive for him.

Hughton would seem a more viable option and so might Appleton, who hopes to audition successfully for the post against West Ham. To his mind, it is his job to lose and he hopes to have not only the West Ham game but also the one against Wolverhampton Wanderers thereafter. He has held his first meetings with the backroom and sports science staffs to outline preparations for the visit of West Ham.

Appleton, a former Manchester United and West Bromwich midfielder, whose playing career was cut short by injury, has been coaching at The Hawthorns for five years and, crucially, he has the respect of the players. He is also well regarded by the club's hierarchy, who appreciate that he has turned down the opportunity to leave for other posts on no fewer than seven occasions.

Appleton can look to the Blackburn Rovers manager, Steve Kean, for inspiration. Kean, who had coached at Ewood Park, was promoted from within by the club's owners after the sacking of Sam Allardyce and after he spent a brief period as the caretaker manager.

Albion have dismissed suggestions that the dismissal of Di Matteo on Sunday morning was knee-jerk. The team's results had been poor over a period of time – they are on a run of 13 defeats in 18 matches – while questions had also been asked about the Italian's man-management style.

The club maintain that they have at open mind over the search for his successor, with nothing as yet set in stone. One option under consideration is the appointment of a fire-fighter on a short-term contract until the end of the season, with the brief to keep the team in the Premier League. One manager who can be discounted is Allardyce, who was never an option for Peace, while Steve McClaren, sacked by Wolfsburg, would not be interested in the vacancy.

Labels: Albion, Bromwich, Chris, Guardian, Hodgson, Hughton, manager, wanted

WEST BROMWICH, England (AP)—West Bromwich Albion fired manager Roberto Di Matteo on Sunday as the team battles against relegation from the Premier League.

A 3-0 loss to Manchester City on Saturday was West Brom’s 13th loss in 18 games in all competitions, leaving the team only two points above the drop zone.

The 40-year-old Di Matteo had been in charge for less than 20 months before West Brom announced Sunday that he was being “relieved … of his duties and placed … on gardening leave.”

“This has been a tough decision but we, as a board, believe it is the right one to give the club the best possible chance of remaining in the Premier League,” West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace said in a statement. “Our poor sequence of results stretches back more than three months and there has been little sign of it coming to an end.

“If this run continues much longer, achieving our goal of retaining our Premier League status will become increasingly difficult. That is why we felt compelled to act now.”

Di Matteo, a former Italy midfielder who was hired by West Brom in June 2009, secured the team’s instant return to the Premier League last May.

After losing two of its first nine league games, West Brom was a contender for Europa League qualification. But the team has won only three times since then and taken one point from its past three games.

“This club’s track record proves we do not take such decisions lightly, with Roberto being only our fourth manager or head coach in almost 11 years,” Pearce said. “We are in a results-driven industry and felt we had no choice but to act now.”

Assistant coach Michael Appleton will take over on an interim basis.

Di Matteo retired from playing due to injury in 2002 after struggling to recover from a triple leg fracture two years earlier.

The former Chelsea player impressed in his first managerial job at MK Dons, guiding the team to the 2009 League One playoffs in his only season in charge before moving to West Brom.

Labels: Albion, Bromwich, fires, manager, Matteo

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