It will not be long before Chris Hughton is as high as his Albion team in the table of the Championship's longest serving managers.
He is already up to tenth, just over 13 months into the job, following the sackings last week of Derby's Paul Clement and Rotherham's Neil Redfearn.
Of the nine that have been with their clubs longer than Hughton, Bolton's Neil Lennon, former Albion boss Russell Slade at Saturday's hosts Cardiff and Gary Rowett at Birmingham have occupied their hotseats for only two months more.
Clement was axed after five defeats in his 30 league games in charge, with Derby fifth in the table.
That was not good enough for chairman Mel Morris, who spoke of the 'Derby way' - nobody knows what that is - and not enough progress being made.
Promoted academy chief Darren Wassall's reign began with a 1-0 home defeat by struggling MK Dons, inflicted by on-loan Albion midfielder Jake Forster-Caskey.
Morris claimed the managerial change is not about getting promotion but what do you suppose will happen if Wassall, or somebody else, does not take Derby up and then they start next season indifferently?
Morris, no doubt, will swing the axe again. Another trigger-happy chairman/owner with expectations as unrealistic as some supporters, who rant on social media for heads to roll as soon as their team goes through a blip.
Redfearn's reign was even shorter than Clement's, 20 league games.
Rotherham took just 17 points over that period, so you might think Redfearn deserved the sack.
Did he really? Rotherham had eight points from their opening nine matches under his predecessor Steve Evans before the former Crawley manager went to Leeds.
Rotherham are exactly where you would expect them to be in the Championship for a club with their profile and resources - fighting a relegation battle.
The culling of managers in double-quick time is not, of course, confined to the Championship. It happens in the Premier League, League One and League Two as well.
Drastic action is needed to halt this destabilising nonsense.
From next season, with the abolition of the emergency loans system, every club in the country will be limited to buying, borrowing, lending and selling players in two periods, July and August in the summer, January in the winter.
The same restriction should apply in respect of managers, with the exception of scope to act in cases of gross misconduct.
Even a four-month guarantee is nowhere near long enough for a manager to assemble the players he wants and get his ideas across but it would at least be a start.
Hughton highlighted in the wake of Clement's and Redfearn's departures the danger of things continuing the way they are, managers getting the sack before they even get their feet under the table.
He warned they will focus more and more solely on the first team, with not just results but instant results necessary to cling onto their jobs.
Clubs up and down the country, Albion included, are investing millions of pounds in academies in an attempt to attract and produce young talent.
How much attention will a manager pay to this area when he increasingly knows his future depends not on the next one or two players progressing through the ranks but the next one or two games without a win?
And how many will take a chance on an unproven hot prospect at the expense of a more established player with their necks permanently on the line?
So we end up with managers and first team coaches consumed by the same kind of short-term thinking as the likes of the absurdly impatient Morris.
Crazy isn't it? And high time that something is done about it.
Original article
He is already up to tenth, just over 13 months into the job, following the sackings last week of Derby's Paul Clement and Rotherham's Neil Redfearn.
Of the nine that have been with their clubs longer than Hughton, Bolton's Neil Lennon, former Albion boss Russell Slade at Saturday's hosts Cardiff and Gary Rowett at Birmingham have occupied their hotseats for only two months more.
Clement was axed after five defeats in his 30 league games in charge, with Derby fifth in the table.
That was not good enough for chairman Mel Morris, who spoke of the 'Derby way' - nobody knows what that is - and not enough progress being made.
Promoted academy chief Darren Wassall's reign began with a 1-0 home defeat by struggling MK Dons, inflicted by on-loan Albion midfielder Jake Forster-Caskey.
Morris claimed the managerial change is not about getting promotion but what do you suppose will happen if Wassall, or somebody else, does not take Derby up and then they start next season indifferently?
Morris, no doubt, will swing the axe again. Another trigger-happy chairman/owner with expectations as unrealistic as some supporters, who rant on social media for heads to roll as soon as their team goes through a blip.
Redfearn's reign was even shorter than Clement's, 20 league games.
Rotherham took just 17 points over that period, so you might think Redfearn deserved the sack.
Did he really? Rotherham had eight points from their opening nine matches under his predecessor Steve Evans before the former Crawley manager went to Leeds.
Rotherham are exactly where you would expect them to be in the Championship for a club with their profile and resources - fighting a relegation battle.
The culling of managers in double-quick time is not, of course, confined to the Championship. It happens in the Premier League, League One and League Two as well.
Drastic action is needed to halt this destabilising nonsense.
From next season, with the abolition of the emergency loans system, every club in the country will be limited to buying, borrowing, lending and selling players in two periods, July and August in the summer, January in the winter.
The same restriction should apply in respect of managers, with the exception of scope to act in cases of gross misconduct.
Even a four-month guarantee is nowhere near long enough for a manager to assemble the players he wants and get his ideas across but it would at least be a start.
Hughton highlighted in the wake of Clement's and Redfearn's departures the danger of things continuing the way they are, managers getting the sack before they even get their feet under the table.
He warned they will focus more and more solely on the first team, with not just results but instant results necessary to cling onto their jobs.
Clubs up and down the country, Albion included, are investing millions of pounds in academies in an attempt to attract and produce young talent.
How much attention will a manager pay to this area when he increasingly knows his future depends not on the next one or two players progressing through the ranks but the next one or two games without a win?
And how many will take a chance on an unproven hot prospect at the expense of a more established player with their necks permanently on the line?
So we end up with managers and first team coaches consumed by the same kind of short-term thinking as the likes of the absurdly impatient Morris.
Crazy isn't it? And high time that something is done about it.
Original article