Noel Whelan believes Slaven Bilic is a great appointment for West Bromwich Albion, but his criticised the club for sacking Darren Moore in the first place.

Albion announced Bilic as their new head coach yesterday, with the former West Ham United manager signing a three-year deal at the Hawthorns.

The Baggies had been searching for a permanent manager for over three months after Moore was sacked unexpectedly in March with the team nine points outside the automatic promotion places in the Championship.

First-team coach James Shan was appointed caretaker manager until the end of the season, with the club deciding to bring in Steven Reid and Michael Appleton to assist him.

Shan was able to cement Albion's position in the top six, but the club would miss out on promotion, losing to Aston Villa on penalties in the play-off semi-finals.

Former striker Whelan believes that Bilic is a good appointment for West Brom and is confident that he can guide the club to promotion to the Premier League next season, although he criticised the club for sacking Moore in the first place.

“I thought the sacking of Darren Moore was very harsh in the first place, I really did,” Whelan told Football Insider.

“I didn’t really see the point in it. They were sitting in a healthy position and Darren Moore will be feeling very aggrieved by that and rightly so. I thought he was doing a fantastic job. It was a very rash decision to get rid of him. We do see these rash sackings every now and again but what can you do?

“(Bilic’s arrival) is a statement of intent. They will be looking to push back into the Premier League with that appointment and he wouldn’t have come if he didn’t expect West Brom to put a challenge in for a place in the Premier League.

“A great appointment for West Brom and somebody who is very meticulous over his job and doesn’t leave any stone unturned.”

The Verdict

I couldn't agree more with Whelan here. I thought it was unbelievably harsh for West Brom to sack Moore.

I thought he was doing a great job, especially when you consider that it was his first job in management and where the other two relegated teams, Swansea and Stoke, were in the table.

It looks like their decision to sack Moore ended up costing them promotion, but Bilic is a vastly experienced manager and an excellent appointment for the Baggies.

I would expect the club to challenge for automatic promotion next season under him and I think he will be able to cope with the pressure of managing a club expected to win promotion.