Roberto di Matteo's Last Game

Manchester City F.C. 3-0 WBA

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it was all a bit of a surprise when RDM was originally given the newly created job of "head coach" upon tony mowbray's departure to manage celtic. at the time, his appointment seemed perplexing and certainly many doubted the managerial pedigree of the man whose only previous experience in management was to take mkdons to a LEAGUE 1 playoff spot the year before.

i was expecting someone more along the lines of derek mcinnes, or perhaps one of his contemporaries in the likes of john hughes. mcinnes had done well in scottish football management (much like TM before him) and had also been popular with the supporters from his days as an albion player. john hughes' name never came up.

di matteo, however, had an immediate and profound impact at the hawthorns, starting the 2009-10 CHAMPIONSHIP campaign with a 9 game unbeaten run, ultimately leading them to automatic promotion and a new points-total record for the club. he then saw the albion through its best start ever to a PREMIER LEAGUE season with a fair run of successful results - including a 3-2 win over the arsenal at the emirates and a hard-fought 2-2 draw at old trafford.



RDM won the supporters over to his cause by posting good results. but when the baggies went to bloomfield road in the beginning of november it all started to unravel. we all remember michael oliver's red-card decision (since rescinded) against pablo ibanez and gonzalo jara unable to control his temper seeing the baggies finish the match with 9-men and losing to the tangerines by a score of 2-1. this was followed by a listless performance in a home defeat to manchester city. nobody suspected at the time just how bad this was going to get, as the baggies have gone on to lose 13 out of their next 18 games and dropping 15 places in the league table.

this was also the point where we started to see the cracks and flaws in RDM's approach.

while there were hints of it last year, this season has demonstrated that the gaffer is not the best "man-manager" in the business, and makes it quite plain - as reflected in his team selections - how he feels about certain players. what is never clear is whether his issues with particular individuals are purely football related or personal in nature. everybody remembers how di matteo alienated robert koren, ultimately forcing him to leave the club.

it was also pretty obvious that he had no use for roman bednar in the PREMIER LEAGUE, and i'm not sure how well his attitude towards the czech striker went over with the supporters. bednar was always a popular player at the hawthorns and even keeping him on the bench was a good tactical decision in that his presence lent a positive energy to the atmosphere. you could always get a little excitment out of the hawthorns' crowd merely by sending him out to warm-up along the touchline.

why hasn't he been playing nicky shorey?



i don't think that there's an albion fan who hasn't asked themselves this particular question in the last two months.

and with a defence that has literally fallen apart over the last three months, why has he kept the same full-backs in the team week after week and leaves pablo ibanez on the bench in favour of paul scharner?

this culminated in the truly bizarre starting line-up against manchester city that put marc-antoine fortune on the right-wing and simon cox in central midfield. this all smacked of a man desperately clutching at straws. and it is this fact that gives the game away. di matteo has probably been at odds with the board and structure of the club for some time longer than had heretofore been suspected.

the news leaking out of the hawthorns today would seem to indicate that the situation between di matteo and the board has been strained since before christmas, and that he had also lost the confidence of the players at this point.

this was evident in the wholly gutless, inept performance by the baggies at eastlands, losing 3-0 to manchester city.

i never imagined that i would like him personally, or that he was someone who i'd want to know, but he did a great job with the baggies in the CHAMPIONSHIP and he certainly had my enthusiastic support last year. the baggies' famous win at arsenal under his leadership will remain his personal legacy in west bromwich albion folklore for the post PREMIER LEAGUE era. he has achieved something positive in his time at the club, and leaves them an improved team since his arrival.



i can safely say that sam allardyce will not be coming the hawthorns. it is potentially too divisive an appointement. i imagine that they will go after roy hodgson first. after what he was able to do at fulham, he's probably more than equipped to meet a similar challenge now at west brom. and the timing is good with the baggies still not having dropped into the bottom three - yet.

the next few days and weeks will tell the tale, but jeremy peace and the board have taken a tremendous gamble and put their integrity on the line as choosing this particular moment in time in which to part company with di matteo and his staff. if the baggies stay up, they'll have made a brilliant managerial decision. by the same token, they will have failed and be personally responsible if the baggies poor form persists and an inevitable relegation battle is unsuccessful.