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Kieran King

Former Newcastle boss Steve Bruce favourite for West Brom job after Valerien Ismael sacking

Former Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce has emerged as the favourite to become the next West Bromwich Albion manager after the sacking of Valerien Ismael.

The Baggies parted company with the Frenchman following a run of disappointing results which had seen them drop from inside the automatic promotion places and down to fifth.

However, defeats against Preston North End and Millwall in the space of four days proved to be the most damaging of Ismael's short-lived reign and Albion announced that he'd be leaving the club despite signing a four-year contract last summer.

West Brom will now go about sourcing a successor to Ismael, at least until the end of the season - and the current favourite, odds on, is ex-Magpies and Aston Villa boss Bruce, who has been backed at 1/4.

This would be Bruce's first job in management since departing Newcastle in October after two-and-a-half years on Tyneside.

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During his time at St James' Park, Bruce won 28 of his 97 matches at the helm and guided the Magpies to a 12th and a 13th place finish in the Premier League.

But a frustrating start to this season and a change of ownership at the club meant Bruce was sacked after his side's 3-2 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur which stretched their winless run to nine games in all competitions.

After just over three months out of the game, Bruce's next job could be to help the Baggies to promotion to the top-flight and they're in a pretty healthy position to at least challenge for the play-offs.

Albion are eight points behind second-place Blackburn Rovers heading into the final 15 games of the season and there's very much something to play for towards the top end of the division.

Meanwhile, Tony Mowbray is second and current Lincoln City boss Michael Appleton is third favourite on the list, with John Terry and Lee Bowyer amongst the top-five.

Here is the bookmakers’ new Albion manager market, and the odds of those immediately deemed to be in the running.

(Source: Sky Bet)

  • Steve Bruce 1/4
  • Tony Mowbray 10/1
  • Michael Appleton 10/1
  • John Terry 12/1
  • Lee Bowyer 14/1
  • Mick McCarthy 14/1
  • Alex Neil 16/1
  • Gareth Ainsworth 16/1
  • Paul Warne 16/1
  • Roy Keane 16/1
  • Wayne Rooney 16/1
  • Darren Ferguson 18/1
  • Darren Moore 18/1
  • Liam Manning 20/1
  • Neil Warnock 20/1
  • Paul Cook 20/1
  • Sam Allardyce 20/1
  • Lee Johnson 25/1
  • Sol Campbell 33/1
  • Nigel Adkins 40/1
  • Paul Ince 40/1
  • Emma Hayes 50/1
  • Ian Holloway 50/1
  • Mike Newell 66/1

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