Immediately adapting well after relegation from the Premier League, West Brom saw their 2021/22 Championship campaign take a turn for the worse. 

With Valerien Ismael unable to regain form, the former Barnsley boss was shown the exit door in February and Steve Bruce was tasked with shifting momentum.

However, the season ended with mid-table mediocrity, in the form of a 10th-placed finish, with the Baggies only securing a top-half finish on the final day of the campaign.

One person who saw their fall coming during the campaign was former Albion striker Hal Robson-Kanu, who told the Express & Star why he did not carry on with the Midlands club: “I didn’t agree with the direction the club was going in.

“If I was staying there had to be a long-term vision, a project. I didn’t want to be in a place where we were languishing in mid-table in the Championship.

“I think coming down from the Premier League, you have got to be fighting to go straight back up.

“You have got to have the right structure in place.

“But some of the decisions that were being made and what was being done behind the scenes, I personally didn’t agree with so I felt it was the right time to move on.

 

 

“I made that decision quickly, a lot earlier than when it was released.

“The club put out the retained and released list but I told them a month before that I wouldn’t be staying on.

“Looking at the club now – it’s not the vision I have for the club. It should be competing as a minimum in the top two and trying to cement itself in the Premier League. Fingers crossed they can get back to a better vision and execute it.”

The verdict 

Starting fresh, West Brom will be hoping that they can steady the ship with Bruce having a full summer in charge, and perhaps this is the kind of set up Robson-Kanu would have placed more faith in. 

Expectations levels will once again rise as the summer transfer window gets underway, with automatic promotion set to be the collective objective at The Hawthorns. 

The appointment of Valerien Ismael was a risk that did not pay off, with Bruce a manager with excellent knowledge of the top-end of the Championship, knowing what is required to mount a promotion push. 

The summer is now vitally important for Bruce and his West Brom side, ahead of what is a massive season for the Midlands club.