West Brom: Is Steve Clarke The Right Man For West Brom?
Where else exactly were West Brom supposed to look for a new manager?
"From the outset, we decided to pursue candidates who are renowned for their coaching ability and Steve was very much at the forefront of our thoughts because of the clubs he has worked at and the high regard he is held in within the game".Dan Ashworth, West Brom Technical Director, said that to the West Brom website. It shows that West Brom were not looking for a manger at all instead they put the emphasis on coaching ability. Ahead of managerial experience, media handling and history in the transfer market they valued Steve Clarke's training ground ethos. As a coach there are fewer held in higher esteem in England than the Scotsman. In a playing career that spanned 16 years and 2 clubs (St. Mirren and Chelsea) it was only natural that he would stay in the game that he loved. When Ruud Gullit, his former boss at Chelsea, took over at Newcastle in 1998 he appointed Clarke as his assistant manager. When Gullit resigned a year later Clarke was installed as Caretaker Manager but his only game in charge of any first team to date ended in a 5-1 defeat to Manchester United. 5 years later he was back at Chelsea and when Jose Mourinho arrived at Stamford Bridge he promoted him from Youth Team Manger to Assistant Manger. Many trophies followed and in 2006 he got his UEFA Pro Licence readying himself for a career in management. He applied for the Chelsea job when Mourinho departed but was unsuccessful and soon found himself at West Ham as Number 2 to another Chelsea legend in Gianfranco Zola. During his time in England he has worked closely with the likes of Sir Bobby Robson, Jose Mourinho and Kenny Dalglish. There is absolutely no doubting his coaching ability and his desire to become a manager but only time will tell if West Brom have made the right choice. In Other News: On Thursday Spanish football lost one of it's most colourful characters in Manuel Preciado. He was a legend at Sporting Gijon and it was there that he ended Mourinho's 9 year undefeated home league run. Life hadn't always treated Manolo well; "Life has hit me hard," he once said in an interview. "I could have weakened and ended up shooting myself or I could look to the heavens and carry on. I preferred the second option." That showed the character of the man but a day after being tasked with taking Villareal back to the first division we are unfortunately mourning this tragic loss . Live tonight: Football is finally back. The Euro's are here. Check around What Culture for news, match previews and reports. Tonight co-hosts Poland take on Greece at 5pm (GMT) followed by Russia and the Czech Republic at 7:45pm (GMT).