Championship

West Brom: Joseph Masi on behind the scenes claim which saw Ismael sacked

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Image for West Brom: Joseph Masi on behind the scenes claim which saw Ismael sacked

Joseph Masi has been speaking on the Express and Star’s YouTube channel about what went on behind the scenes at West Brom prior to Valerien Ismael being sacked.

The West Brom board had to swallow their pride on Wednesday when they sacked Ismael, despite handing the Frenchman a bumper four-year deal in the summer, but he was not the only casualty, with former CEO Xu Ke now becoming a non-executive board member, while Li Piyue has been replaced as the club’s chairman.

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While the Baggies’ poor run of form which has yielded one win from their previous seven league outings will have surely played a part in Ismael’s dismissal, his refusal to start Sam Johnstone after the shot-stopper served a three-game ban seemingly went a long way to him losing the dressing room and thus, his job.

Masi offered an insight into the behind-the-scenes incident which finally saw Ismael sacked.

“I think the fallout with Sam Johnstone is the straw that broke the camel’s back, if I’m honest. I think that was the final nail in his coffin – that’s not putting too much emphasis on Sam Johnstone, that’s just the final thing, if you like.

“They had a fallout and I think players who were wavering on him, that was probably the moment where, if they were unsure about Ismael, that was probably the moment where they fell onto the side of not having him.”

TIF Thoughts on Ismael’s dismissal…

Results were bad enough, but to not start an England international and the ‘keeper with the second-most clean sheets in the Championship is very odd from Ismael, and it should have come as no surprise to him that the dressing room did not agree with such a decision, especially when it backfired and the Baggies lost that game, anyway.

Ismael now leaves West Brom sixth in the Championship after three defeats in their last four league matches, having scored the third-fewest goals out of any side in the top half of the league this season and with star striker Daryl Dike out injured for a prolonged period of time, so whoever comes in has a task on their hands to get confidence and goals flowing quickly.

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