West Bromwich Albion

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West Bromwich Albion's failure to reach this season's Championship play-offs is "unacceptable", says midfielder Jed Wallace.

The Baggies were in sixth place when Tony Mowbray replaced Carlos Corberan as head coach in January but a run of just five wins from his 18 games in charge ended their play-off hopes and Mowbray was sacked.

"It's been massively disappointing - take the first five games out of the season and our points-per-game has been average," Wallace told BBC Radio WM.

"At times like this you have to look at yourself - as a group of players you have to look at yourself and say how many of us have had a good season? I know I certainly haven't."

West Brom finish their season at home to Luton Town on Saturday (12:30 BST) with James Morrison still in interim charge but Wallace will reflect on the season as one of regret.

The Baggies can finish no higher than ninth while their maximum possible points haul of 64 would be their fewest in the Championship since 1999-2000.

"It's disappointing looking at the table in disbelief," added Wallace

"The amount of chances we've missed, the amount of late goals and individual errors is the tale of the season - it's not acceptable for a club this size."

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West Brom caretaker manager James Morrison said the goalless draw against Cardiff was the "story of our season" for the Baggies.

The match was Morrison's first at the helm following Tony Mowbray's departure on Easter Monday and the draw means they cannot finish in the top six and will play in the Championship next season.

"I was pleased with the backline who defended well and put their bodies on the line," Morrison said.

"But I'm frustrated with that last bit. Feels that's the story of our season.

"I asked them to take that anger and frustration of the week into the game and I could sense that."

Having both sacked their managers over Easter Weekend, Cardiff City and West Bromwich Albion will meet on Saturday (15:00 BST) with ambitions of staying alive on either side of the table.

The Bluebirds will be under the charge of Wales captain Aaron Ramsey after sacking Omar Riza following their defeat to Sheffield United on Friday.

The Welshman's first game at the helm culminated in a 1-1 draw with Oxford, keeping them afloat in the relegation fight with three points between them and safety.

While former Albion midfielder James Morrison replaces Tony Mowbray, who lost his position after a 3-1 loss to Derby County on Monday, for the first time as the Baggies look to keep their fleeting hopes of the play-offs alive.

• Cardiff are winless in their last seven league games against West Brom (D4 L3), failing to score in five of these matches.

• West Brom have won two of their last three away league games against Cardiff (D1), as many as in their previous 11 visits (D6 L3).

• Cardiff have won just one of their last 10 league games (D4 L5), and are winless in six since beating Blackburn 2-1 in March.

• West Brom have lost five of their last six league games (W1), as many as they had in their previous 30 (W8 D17).

• West Brom are winless in their last 14 away league games (D7 L7). It's their longest run since a run of 15 between September 2017 and March 2018, while they've never gone 15 without a win on the road outside the top-flight.

Following the departure of boss Tony Mowbray and with play-off hopes seemingly over, the team at BBC Radio WM discuss what's next for West Bromwich Albion and whether it's a future that includes midfielder Tom Fellows.

The 21-year-old has the joint-highest number of assists in the Championship this season, level with Portsmouth's Josh Murphy on 13, and is one of the club's biggest financial assets having come up through the youth ranks.

"The stance is that Albion don't have to sell Tom Fellows," BBC Radio WM's West Bromwich Albion reporter Steve Hermon said.

"The question is, unfortunately in modern football, is now the right time to sell Tom Fellows?

"He is at his peak value so if you are going to sell him, this summer is probably the time," he added.

Listen to the full episode of the West Midlands Football Phone-In on BBC Sounds.

"It just seems so knee jerk. Given the situation they are both in, just at least maybe wait until the end of the season and have a bit of planning and have the conversations."

While Omar Riza's exit from Cardiff City came as no real surprise, what about the other two of the Championship's most recent managerial departures?

West Bromwich Albion sacked Tony Mowbray after a 3-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Derby County saw their chances of the play-offs become increasingly remote, while Norwich City removed Johannes Hoff Thorup from his post following a run of poor form.

The 72+ podcast team sit down to discuss all three managerial departures and give their thoughts on whether the clubs made the right decision in starting afresh before the season concludes in less than two weeks.

Listen to the full episode and more on the Football Daily podcast.

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Tony Mowbray did not get the best out of the West Brom players at his disposal, according to Martin O'Connor who worked with him during his time in charge of Birmingham City.

Mowbray was sacked by the Baggies on Monday after a run of five defeats from their past six Championship games with the club's play-off hopes increasingly remote with two games of the season remaining.

The 61-year-old was appointed in January following the departure of Carlos Corberan to Valencia.

"Tony is an old-school manager and wants his players to perform on the pitch but I don't think he's got the best out of the players," O'Connor told BBC Radio WM's football phone-in.

"If I'm being brutally honest and knowing the way Tony works, the players he had at West Brom weren't ones he would have recruited so he's worked with players he knows he wouldn't be next season if that was the case."

Albion have slipped from sixth place and three points inside the play-off places at the end of last month to 10th and six points adrift of the top six. They close out the campaign with games at Cardiff City and against Luton Town.

"Sometimes you have to move your philosophy with who you work with and who you've got," added O'Connor, who is loans manager at Birmingham.

"I'm not saying Tony didn't do that but when you look at the players under Carlos Corberan they were different to those under Tony - he likes men and characters and people who will put things on the line and he wasn't getting that."

You can listen to the Football Phone-in with Daz Hale on BBC Radio WM every weeknight 6-7pm.

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Earlier we asked what you made of the decision by West Bromwich Albion to part ways with head coach Tony Mowbray in the wake of Monday's home defeat by Derby.

Here are a selection of your responses:

Chris S: Loved that we got Tony Mowbray back after we lost Carlos Corberan as he did such a great job last time. For whatever reason it just didn't work, he is a great guy and the players let him down badly but it was the right decision to let him go unfortunately. No away win in 15, can't keep clean sheets and don't score, it was inevitable.

Euan: Think it was the right call - and I think TM's appointment was the first major slip up for Shilen Patel. Looks a lot like they panicked after the (Raphael) Wicky deal fell through and picked a nostalgic option, and between him and poor effort from the players it has cost us a shot at promotion. Sadly the right man 15 years ago was not the right man today.

Nik: I think West Brom could have given Mowbray until the end of the season, but perhaps the owners wanted to send a message. His position at the club was becoming untenable though, so it shows the owners want results - hopefully the new appointment will allow the club to hit the ground running with a rebuild in the summer.

David R: A really nice bloke who should be remembered for his first time in charge, not the last few months. I hope he recuperates, manages his health away from the pressure of management and has a long and happy retirement.

Bob F: Weird team selections and baffling substitutions.

John B: Football is a results-driven game and so I think it was a correct decision to sack Mowbray. He has not been able to get the best out of the current squad of players and that has to be down to his coaching style. He tried and he failed, so time to move on. I think we should be trying to get a young manager ready to move up to Championship level rather than go for another Tony Mowbray-type who has done it before but not in the recent past. Time to build for the future with a young eager team of players.

Adam S: Wrong decision to appoint him to start with. Steve Cooper would have been a better choice if owners wanted to change style of play from Corberan's reign.

Julian: It was a sympathy appointment and not the right one. Not his fault that the team drew too many games under Corberan which has left them in this position. Better they get a decent young manager and build for a challenge next season because they would only have been relegated from the Premier League if they had been promoted. The right decision has been made

Andrew L: The results over the past few weeks say it all, there was no plan B with Tony, maybe we should address the recruitment process and start from scratch. Hopefully we can rebuild during the summer.

Paul W: I think it is harsh. Yes, the results had been poor, but we had started to slip out of contention under Carlos. Too many draws, lack of quality all season. Not clinical enough at either end of the pitch. Tony tried to implement new ideas and it didn't work. Players need to take responsibility too. He should have been given time to develop the squad and find new players in what will be a transition for us, like he has at other clubs.

Keith B: 'They' say you should never go back. In this instance 'they' were completely correct. Awful appointment by the board. This period has tarnished his reputation at Albion.

Paul F: The last few matches are some of the worst performances I have seen by an Albion team. At least now we get chance to rebuild over the summer with some new ideas, enthusiasm and tactics.

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West Bromwich Albion are searching for a new boss after Tony Mowbray was sacked after just three months of his second spell in charge.

The 61-year-old was dismissed after Monday's 3-1 home defeat by relegation-threatened Derby County - a loss that effectively ended the Baggies' hopes of making the Championship play-offs.

Albion lie 10th, six points behind Coventry in sixth, with just two games remaining, at relegation-battling Cardiff on Saturday and home to their fellow strugglers Luton on 3 May.

Former Blackburn, Middlesbrough and Sunderland boss Mowbray was reappointed as head coach at The Hawthorns in January, almost 16 years after he left for Celtic.

He replaced Carlos Corberan, who left the club on Christmas Eve to take over at La Liga side Valencia with the Baggies sitting seventh, but oversaw just five wins in his 18 games in charge.

We want to know whether you agree with the decision to part ways with Mowbray with two games still remaining, what you think went wrong for Mowbray and who you would like to see replace him at the helm?

Let us know your thoughts here.

Steve Hermon
BBC Radio WM

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There's an air of sadness to Albion's decision to end Tony Mowbray's second spell in charge after less than 100 days. Particularly due to the huge respect he built in his memorable first reign, but the swift sacking barely hours after a 3-1 defeat by Derby County is probably best for all parties.

A data led search for Carlos Corberan's successor after his abrupt departure on Christmas Eve led sporting director Andrew Nestor to the 61-year-old, who'd received the all-clear from a bowel cancer diagnosis just days earlier.

His return to football management in January was a feel-good story but unfortunately it won't have the fairytale ending of another promotion to the Premier League with the Baggies.

He inherited a squad that had been drilled by the meticulous Spaniard and took the handbrake off. Unfortunately, the players couldn't be trusted at the wheel and the play-off push went off the rails.

Mowbray's chopping and changing of line-ups suggested he was trying to figure out who he could trust to play his way but while he was doing that, results failed to come and two dismal displays over the Easter weekend have cost him his job.

The players certainly shouldn't be absolved from blame for the underwhelming end to the season. It looks like they needed Corberan's discipline, rather than Mowbray's friendly arm around the shoulder.

Time is on Albion's side with the season coming to a close but there's pressure on owners Bilkul to get this next appointment right to re-establish the club as one that can fight for promotion next season.

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West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Mowbray believes his side are facing a "tough period" after losing 3-1 to Derby County.

Goals from Ebou Adams, Jerry Yates and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, the Baggies' sole score coming from striker Adam Armstrong, subjected the Midlands club to their fifth loss in six games.

"Obviously, it's a tough period for us," said a dejected Mowbray to BBC Radio WM.

"I haven't seen anything since I've been here like the goals we conceded today from the set-plays.

"It's so unlike us. Two set-play goals from a hard-working, honest team. I thought we lacked courage today, didn't play enough forward passes, weren't brave enough on the ball."

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West Bromwich Albion boss Tony Mowbray admitted that his side were not good enough to deserve anything other than a local derby defeat by his old club Coventry City.

"We've lost late goals in games when we felt we should have been winning, and found a way to lose or drop points, but that wasn't the case this time," he said.

"We've lost a little of our normal intensity. But it's football. You have to take it on the chin."

Albion are now six points shy of the play-off places, after once again failing to win away from The Hawthorns.

After winning their first three away games this season, they have now not triumphed on the road since Hull City on 10 November - and they have picked up only three away points out of a possible 24 under Mowbray.

If Coventry and Bristol City both win on Easter Monday, and Albion fail to win at home to Derby County, it would confirm that the Baggies will remain in the Championship for a fifth successive season.

And Mowbray admitted: "Away, we just haven't accrued the points that we need to. Coventry are a decent team and they're on a good run of form and yet I still felt that we would come here and dominate more. But they played pretty well first half.

"We tried to make the changes at half-time that would have given us more control and yet we lost a goal within three minutes and had a sending-off pretty quickly after, and obviously the dynamic changed.

"We didn't perform at our level. It's frustrating that we aren't getting to the level we need to be at in such big games."

This is a Midlands derby with potentially significant repercussions for both sides' play-off hopes, as sixth-placed Coventry City take on West Bromwich Albion, one place and three points below them on Good Friday (15:00 BST).

The Sky Blues saw two important points slip through their fingers with Hull City's late equaliser on Monday and know any kind of repeat in this play-off six-pointer will give great hope to the Baggies - who bounced back from three straight defeats with a win against Watford last time out - and the chasing pack.

• Coventry City have lost each of their past four league games against West Brom, scoring only once in these defeats.

• West Brom have won four of their past six visits to Coventry (D1 L1), winning 2-0 there last season under Carlos Corberan.

• Coventry have won three of their past five league games on Good Friday (D1 L1), beating Huddersfield Town 3-1 last season.

• Among all teams to play 20+ league games on Good Friday, only Torquay United (10.5%) and Stoke City (12.5%) have a lower win ratio than West Bromwich Albion (15.4%, six wins in 39 games).

• West Brom's Tom Fellows has more Championship assists than any other player this season (13), 11 of which have come from open play – he's the only player with 10+ assists from open play in the competition this term.

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Kyle Bartley's West Bromwich Albion contract has been extended to the summer of 2026.

An appearance-based clause in the defender's contract has been triggered, giving him a new deal to stay at The Hawthorns for at least another season.

Bartley, 33, joined Albion from Swansea City in 2018 and has made 228 appearances for the Baggies, with 27 of them coming this term.

His career began at Arsenal and has included spells on loan at Sheffield United, Rangers, Birmingham City and Leeds United.

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West Bromwich Albion have already set themselves the challenge of winning their last five games this season to stand a chance of reaching the Championship play-offs for the second successive year.

And Saturday's 2-1 home win over Watford made it 'one down, four to go'.

Mikey Johnston got what proved to be the winner at The Hawthorns, only his third goal of a comparatively disappointing campaign, given the form he was in this time last season on loan from Celtic.

Now Albion face an even tougher test, at Frank Lampard's Coventry City on Good Friday.

And Johnston, who scored what also proved to be the winner in a 2-1 victory over the Sky Blues 13 months ago, believes Albion are well capable.

"I know they've been on a good run," Johnston told BBC Radio WM. "But we're confident we can beat them. We need to win and feel we can, as we do about every game. But we also need to score more goals."

In the three straight defeats that preceded Saturday's win, Johnston reckons that losing 1-0 to both Norwich and Sunderland was all down to missed chances. And he includes himself as being among those who need to do better.

"The Sunderland and Norwich games, and Watford too, should have been put to bed a lot earlier," he said.

"I should have scored a lot more this season. I'm always trying to get on the end of crosses. It's about getting into the right positions. But it's given us confidence that we're creating a lot of chances."

Albion start the day seventh, three points behind sixth-placed Coventry. Victory would lift Tony Mowbray's men above his old club on goal difference. Defeat would make the gap six points with three games left.

The very definition of a six-pointer.

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West Brom boss Tony Mowbray admitted he "didn't particularly like" his side's performance in their 2-1 win over Watford.

"I think the three points is the most important thing, I didn't particularly like our performance," he told BBC WM.

"I prefer to dominate the game and have double the shots of the opposition. It was a strange game today, they're a hugely athletic team and gave us some problems and yet I always felt on transitions there was a lot of space for us to play into.

"Two cutback goals is brilliant because we've worked on that a lot in the past 10 days.

"After the Sunderland game where we had over 60% possession and over 20 shots and lose 1-0, I said to the players do they want to be the dominant team or do you want to defend deeper and leave some space to counter-attack. It was interesting for me to see how quickly we could break away. It's food for thought moving forward."