West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo has been relieved of his duties 解除職務(wù) and put on gardening leave 帶薪休假 with immediate effect.

The club's board said a run of 13 defeats in 18 games was the reason for the decision.



In a statement via the League Managers Association (LMA), Di Matteo said: "I was extremely surprised and disappointed to be relieved of my duties."

West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace said the move was "a tough decision".

He added: "Our poor sequence of results stretches back more than three months and there has been little sign of it coming to an end… if this run continues much longer, achieving our goal of retaining our Premier League status will become increasingly difficult. That is why we felt compelled 迫于壓力的 to act now.

Peace was quick to point out removing Di Matteo was not a knee-jerk reaction

"This club's track record 比賽成績(jī)記錄 proves we do not take such decisions lightly 從不草率下這樣的決定， with Roberto being only our fourth manager or head coach in almost 11 years," he said.

LMA chief executive Richard Bevan said it was a shame that Di Matteo was not being given the opportunity to see out the season 堅(jiān)持到賽季的最后 at the Hawthorns.

"Roberto represents yet another victim of the 'hire and fire' mentality “想聘就聘，想解雇就解雇”的狀況 that pervades 蔓延 in our game," he said.

He continued: "The club has big games ahead, against Wolves and West Ham, and you have to question the decision to sack the manager. It is in exactly situations like these that we all want to see clubs back the individuals they have employed rather than see the sack as a quick fix 速效解決辦法。"

While Jeremy Peace thanked Di Matteo for "his efforts… particularly for his contribution towards last season's promotion success," he emphasised that in "a results-driven industry 只看結(jié)果的行業(yè)，" the board "felt we had no choice but to act now."