Roberto Di Matteo relieved of duties

06 February 2011 14:01
Italian placed on gardening leave Roberto Di Matteo has been relieved of his duties as head coach and placed on gardening leave with immediate effect. The Italian’s time as Albion boss came to an end following yesterday’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City. Chairman Jeremy Peace said the decision had been “tough” but it was the right one “to give the Club the best possible chance of remaining in the Barclays Premier League”. Michael Appleton has now been placed in temporary charge until future notice. The choice to remove Di Matteo was the unanimous choice of the Board of Directors after the Baggies had lost 13 of their last 18 matches in all competitions. In an official statement, Jeremy Peace said: “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 to act now. "This Club's track record proves we do not take such decisions lightly, with Roberto being only our fourth Manager or Head Coach in almost 11 years. "We now begin the search to find a new Head Coach who will fit into our existing set-up and work under our Sporting & Technical Director, Dan Ashworth, with a view to taking the Club forward. "On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Roberto for his efforts over the past 19 months, particularly for his contribution towards last season's promotion success and our very promising start to the current campaign. We wish him and his family well for the future. "Roberto embraced the structure in which we wanted him to work and he has been a good colleague. "However, we are in a results-driven industry and felt we had no choice but to act now." Assistant manager Eddie Newton and Fitness Coach Ade Mafe have also left the club with immediate effect.

Source: FOOTYMAD