Albion must beware the ‘Curbishley conundrum’
The Hawthorns has been a managerial graveyard for Chelsea. Both Andre Villas-boas and Roberto Di Matteo lost their jobs following fixtures there. With the title secured in 2015, Jose Mourinho’s side were defeated 3-0, a portent of the following season’s unravelling.
Antonio Conte bucked the trend by winning the league at West Bromwich last year. Few expect him to be at Chelsea next season although defeat today would not spell the end for him. Not yet. But it could for the man in the home dug-out.
No matter the faith in any manager, two wins in 20 league games puts him under severe pressure, but what makes it far worse for Tony Pulis (below) is that he is facing the triple whammy of poor results, disappointing performances and fan disenchantment.
So, a heavy loss against Chelsea, combined with a poor showing and a mutinous atmosphere among supporters will place him in peril.
It seems, not for the first time, that “Pulis-ball” is the problem and there is a real issue about style of football, which many Premier League clubs face: if you play the percentages then what are you left with when the points are not forthcoming? Take away the wins and your position is wan.
If Albion were to sack Pulis then they may want to turn to a manager with a proven track record of keeping teams up, of winning relegation battles and creating the kind of solid side that is rarely in trouble. Yes, a Tony Pulis-type. Or Sam Allardyce.
But there also comes a time when the fans, often more than the owners, want a bit more. When mere survival is not enough. What is the point of being in the Premier League if the football is boring? Staying there, yes. But when that status is in jeopardy there is not a lot left. Losing without entertaining is just losing.
This will all grate on Pulis. He has never endured relegation. In four decades as a player, coach or manager, it has never happened. Even Conte, his opponent today, has suffered that failure.
The argument for keeping Pulis is not just his track record and his acumen but that old chestnut: be careful what you wish for, which can, alternatively, be known (by me at least) as the “Curbishley conundrum” after what happened next when Alan Curbishley quit Charlton Athletic in 2006.
Publicly, that was about needing a new challenge but, really, it was the result of shared disenchantment, with manager and fans no longer seeing eye to eye.
Curbishley, the fans thought, was not the man to take the then Premier League club to the next level. Unfortunately, Charlton are now in League One after an awful decade.
It does not mean the time was not right for Curbishley to go, and Pulis’s links with Albion are nowhere near as deep, so it would not be such a wrench. But there are other examples. More recently, there was Crystal Palace, who went from Allardyce to Frank de Boer, wanting to progress, but he lasted only four games and they are now in a desperate fight against relegation.
It is a dilemma. There is nothing wrong with ambition. But it is stating the obvious to say the right decisions must be made.