Slaven Bilic fired by West Brom after 1-1 draw against City

WEST BROMWICH, England (AP) — Slaven Bilic was fired by struggling Premier League team West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday, becoming the first manager to lose his job this season.

West Brom is in next-to-last place in the Premier League after collecting only seven points from its opening 13 games in its first season back in the top division.

The team earned a 1-1 draw at Manchester City on Tuesday but it wasn’t enough to save Bilic, who has been in charge for 18 months and led West Brom to promotion from the Championship at the end of his first season as manager.

West Brom said assistant coaches Dean Računica and Danilo Butorović, and first team coach Julian Dicks have also left the club.

“Albion would like to thank Slaven and his coaching staff for their efforts in achieving promotion last season and wishes them all well in the future,” the club said in a statement.

Bilic, a former player and coach of Croatia’s national team, was fired by Premier League club West Ham in 2017 after 2 1/2 years in charge.

The 1-1 draw at City was Bilic’s 100th Premier League game as a manager. Afterward, he said he was “calm” amid reports he was about to be fired.

“To be fair, I’m not bothered,” he said. “I’m doing my job. I’m enjoying it. I’m working hard for myself, for my staff, for the players, for the club, that’s all.”

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