Alan Pardew set to be named West Brom boss
Alan Pardew is set to be named as Albion boss today after the Baggies threw away a two-goal lead against his former club Newcastle.
The 56-year-old is believed to have agreed a two-and-a-half year contract with the club and will replace Tony Pulis, who was sacked last week, as head coach.
He will inherit a squad that has been rejuvenated by interim boss Gary Megson in the past week but remains on a 13-game winless streak in all competitions after a frustrating night at The Hawthorns.
Pardew's main target will be to steer Albion clear of the drop zone, which they could be dragged closer to on Wednesday should other results not go their way.
His first training session will be on Thursday and his first match at the helm will be against former club Crystal Palace at The Hawthorns on Saturday.
Pardew has been out of work since he left Selhurst Park 11 months ago, and has been eager to get back into football.
He was in talks with a few clubs in the summer but nothing came to fruition and jumped at the chance to take over the Baggies, which he described as an 'attractive job' on Sunday.
He knows Albion technical director Nick Hammond from their time at Reading together, and was interviewed by chairman John Williams last week.
Albion's new boss wasn't at The Hawthorns last night when Megson took charge of the team in the 2-2 draw with the Magpies.
Hal Robson-Kanu gave the Baggies the lead on the stroke of half-time before 19-year-old Sam Field added a second after the break with his first goal for the club.
But Ciaran Clark reduced the deficit soon after with a header and a Jonny Evans own goal from a Matt Ritchie free-kick seven minutes from time levelled things up.
It was the fifth time this season that the Baggies had thrown away a lead late on, and the second time in four days it had happened after Harry Kane's equaliser at Wembley robbed Albion of all three points on Saturday.
"The players are off tomorrow, not been off for eight days," said Megson. "I don't think we'd get a tune out with them anyway, because they're so flat.
"I'm in at 10am to see the chairman, I'm not aware what it's about. I can't tell you anymore."
