West Brom Sack Boss Alan Irvine

30 December 2014, 07:04 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

West Brom have confirmed they've sacked head coach Alan Irvine.

The club say they had no choice but to take the "unpleasant'' decision and sack head coach Alan Irvine.

Irvine left his post on Monday night after just half a season in charge.

He paid the price for a run of seven defeats in nine Barclays Premier League games which has left the team in 16th place, a point above the bottom three. The last straw was Sunday's 2-0 loss at Stoke, their third defeat in a row.

The club said in an official statement that Irvine had been placed on garden leave and assistant head coach Rob Kelly, with Keith Downing, would take charge of the team for the New Year's Day game at West Ham.

Albion revealed they expected to be able to name Irvine's successor by the weekend.

Albion technical director Terry Burton said Irvine's dismissal was "a decision taken with regret but sadly driven by necessity''.

He said on the club's official website: "We appointed Alan in the summer convinced that we had taken on one of the foremost coaches in the UK and nothing that has happened since then has altered our view.

"The individual progress of our players such as Craig Dawson and Saido Berahino are testament to that.

"But sadly that simply has not translated into results and they remain the ultimate currency of Alan's position.

"Securing a sixth season in the Premier League is the over-riding target and sometimes unpleasant decisions have to be taken to serve that imperative.

"Alan has impressed everyone with his manner, dedication and diligence, but he knows that results have simply not been good enough.

"We place on record our gratitude for his efforts and hold nothing but good wishes for his future endeavours. This was a decision taken with regret but sadly driven by necessity.''

It means the Baggies are now looking for their fourth manager in little more than 12 months.

Irvine left his role on the Everton staff to take over from Pepe Mel at The Hawthorns, the Spaniard himself having only joined the club in January last year as successor to Steve Clarke.

He admitted in the wake of the defeat to the Potters he did not have control over whether he kept his job after just four league wins in 19 games.

Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood, who was heavily linked with the Albion job when it was available in the summer, and former Stoke and Palace manager Tony Pulis are among the favourites to succeed Irvine.