Tony Pulis has strengthened his powerbase at West Bromwich Albion on the back of some significant backroom changes and the club have moved to support their head coach further by making ambitious moves for Charlie Austin and Rickie Lambert to sharpen their strikeforce.
In a development that was no real surprise given Pulis’s desire to exercise full control over recruitment and transfers, Terry Burton, the club’s technical director, has been told that his contract is being terminated only 13 months after being appointed. Mervyn Day, the club’s head of recruitment, has also been placed on garden leave with Burton.
A statement said that the decisions were made “as part of the ongoing review of the club’s performance” and that Albion would look to fill the positions in due course. It is not anticipated, however, that appointments will be made soon, with Pulis preferring to operate within a structure that allows him to be hands-on in all areas of the club.
The Welshman’s immediate priority is strengthening the playing squad. Austin, the Queens Park Rangers striker who would command a club-record fee in excess of £10m, and Lambert, who is surplus to requirements at Anfield, are both targets and Albion’s interest in both players comes at a time when the club hope to persuade Saido Berahino to sign a new contract.
Berahino scored 20 goals in all competitions last season and Pulis wants to retain the 21-year-old’s services as well as adding some firepower to reduce the burden on him for the new campaign. Albion face plenty of competition for Austin, who was the fourth-highest goalscorer in the Premier League last season, and it may well be that the QPR winger Matt Phillips – another player on Pulis’s wish-list - is a more realistic Loftus Road target. Lambert, with his physical presence, offers different attributes.
Either way, it seems likely that Brown Ideye, Victor Anichebe and Stéphane Sessègnon will all move on as Pulis starts to shape the squad before a season when it is still unclear whether the club will change hands. Jeremy Peace, Albion’s chairman, has signalled his intention to sell up and it is believed that a Chinese consortium has shown serious interest in taking over at The Hawthorns. Albion are expected to release a statement within the next 24 hours clarifying the takeover situation.
