West Brom sack Eric Ramsay after winless nine-game spell leaves club on brink
west brom have dismissed head coach Eric Ramsay following a 1-1 home draw with Charlton that extended the club’s winless run to 10 matches and left them one point above the Championship relegation zone. The move comes after a 44-day spell in charge that produced just four points from the league matches and intensified pressure on the club ahead of a run of fixtures with 12 league games still to play.
Eric Ramsay's tenure: nine matches, 44 days and a two-and-a-half-year deal
Eric Ramsay, 34, was appointed on a two-and-a-half-year deal on 11 January to replace Ryan Mason. His time at The Hawthorns lasted 44 days and encompassed nine matches in charge overall, eight of them in the Championship. The side collected four points from those eight league fixtures — four draws and four defeats — leaving Ramsay without a league victory before his dismissal.
Match sequence: Middlesbrough, Norwich, Derby, Stoke, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Charlton
The sequence of results under Ramsay began with a 3-2 loss to Middlesbrough and included a 5-0 home defeat by Norwich, described as the club's biggest-ever home defeat outside the top flight. West Brom picked up a late 1-1 draw at Derby and secured goalless draws with Stoke and Birmingham, but suffered a 3-0 defeat at Portsmouth and a 2-0 home loss to leaders Coventry. The side were also knocked out of the FA Cup after losing at Norwich.
West Brom position and immediate implications
Following the 1-1 draw with Charlton — in which George Campbell’s first-half added-time header ended a 405-minute goal drought and Lyndon Dykes’ 70th-minute equaliser extended West Brom’s winless run to 10 matches — the club sit one point above the relegation zone in the Championship. The team’s standing, fourth from bottom in one account and shown as 21st in another reference, combined with 12 league fixtures remaining, crystallised the relegation risk that the board said required urgent change.
Coaching changes: Dennis Lawrence departs and James Morrison steps in
The club confirmed it had parted company with Ramsay and assistant head coach Dennis Lawrence. First-team coach James Morrison will oversee first-team affairs on an interim basis; this will be his second spell stepping into the role this season. His first assignment on return is scheduled to be a crucial fixture against relegation rivals Oxford United on Saturday.
Background and reaction: MLS, Manchester United and fan unrest
Ramsay arrived from Minnesota United, where he had taken the club to back-to-back Conference play-off semi-finals, and before that worked as a first-team coach at Manchester United under Erik ten Hag and held an assistant coach role with the Wales men's team. He is Shrewsbury-born. Fan unrest had been evident after heavy defeats, including chants directed at Ramsay during the Coventry match. In his post-Charlton comments to WM, Ramsay acknowledged the situation was "not good enough, " said the team had taken "a step backwards, " and stressed he had "controlled what I can control. "
Charlton manager Nathan Jones also revealed an unusual pre-match disruption for his side, with his squad arriving 30 minutes late and walking roughly half a mile to the stadium; he described his team as "really poor in the first half. "
Ramsay’s departure leaves West Brom searching for their fourth head coach in 14 months after Carlos Corberan left for Valencia and Tony Mowbray was sacked before the end of last season. What makes this notable is the rapid turnover at the top of the dugout amid a compressed schedule and a narrow points margin separating safety from relegation, increasing the urgency of any next appointment.
The club released a statement placing on record its thanks to Eric Ramsay and Dennis Lawrence and wishing them well for the future. The board now faces the immediate task of steadying a squad that has failed to win under the latest managerial regime and arresting a slide that has left the campaign on precarious footing.
