West Brom Opinion: Bringing in Bruno Labbadia would be a massive statement of intent from the Baggies
According to claims from Express and Star, West Brom have held a second round of talks with former Wolfsburg manager Bruno Labbadia, as the Baggies continue their search for a new full-time manager heading into the upcoming season.
Express and Star understands that West Brom have prepared a four-man shortlist in their pursuit of a new full-time manager, with Lincoln City’s Danny Cowley and former Brighton boss Chris Hughton all under consideration for the vacant managerial role.
West Brom ended the season with James Shan playing the role of a caretaker manager following the dismissal of former manager Darren Moore midway through the campaign. The Baggies missed out on the chance to secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, as they lost out to Aston Villa in the play-off semi-finals.
Labbadia doesn’t have any prior managerial experience in English football but he is held in high esteem as a manager in the Bundesliga. The 53-year-old enjoyed a successful playing career in Germany with the likes of Bayern Munich, Kaiserslautern, Hamburger SV, Darmstadt, Werder Bremen and Arminia Bielefeld before starting his managerial career with Darmstadt in 2003.
The former striker has carved out a massive reputation for himself in Germany over the course of his managerial days at Bayern Leverkusen, Stuttgart and Wolfsburg, becoming a fan favourite for his aesthetic and attractive brand of football in the Bundesliga.
Labbadia has served as the manager of Hamburg twice, although both the spells turned out to be disastrous and ended in dismissals.
To put things into perspective, it won’t be a bad idea for West Brom to bring in a foreign manager and given that Labbadia has an eye-watering profile in the Bundesliga, the Baggies have every reason to look at him as their next full-time manager.
Norwich City have enjoyed the fruits of playing a gamble on someone like Daniel Farke and West Brom, who are also a club in the same mould, should also try and experiment with the 53-year-old.
A modern-day manager who believes in dynamic football, Labbadia’s philosophy involves keeping possession of the ball and building the play from the back. He likes to use a 4-3-3 formation, with one central defensive midfielder holding things together and two box-to-box midfielders supporting the front three.
He also encourages the centre-backs to use their ball-playing qualities and carry the ball further up the pitch to facilitate quick build-up play.
West Brom have some really talented players in their ranks and Labbadia has a good record of working with the youngsters and there are few better than him when it comes to extracting the best out of rising talents.
The Baggies need stability at the helm of affairs to not only get back into the Premier League but do so with a certain identity like Norwich have done.
Labbadia might find it difficult to cope with the nature of English football in the initial stages but he is a high-profile manager who knows how to deal with the various aspects of the game and one would expect him to excel in the long run.
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West Brom certainly need a change and the appointment of Labbadia would be a huge statement of intent from the club hierarchy.
