West Brom poised to offer Tim Sherwood head coach role
Albion were today poised to offer Tim Sherwood the head coach's job at The Hawthorns.
The Baggies look set to open contract talks with the former Tottenham chief after he emerged as the No.1 candidate following the completion of interviews last night.
Hawthorns sources insisted that no-one had yet been offered the chance to succeed Pepe Mel.
But 45-year-old Sherwood, who left White Hart Lane at the end of last season, appears in line to be offered a deal after convincing chairman Jeremy Peace that he is the man to lead the club.
After looking like an outsider earlier in the recruitment process, the ex-Spurs and Blackburn midfielder impressed Peace and his fellow directors during a formal interview on Friday and subsequent talks over the weekend.
And, while they met with other candidates on Monday and yesterday, Sherwood has been identified as their preferred option and they hope to make progress with thrashing out a deal in the next 24 hours.
The outspoken Londoner seems likely to press for ex-Spurs team-mate Les Ferdinand to join his coaching staff while Albion are keen for former caretaker boss Keith Downing and goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely to remain on the backroom team.
French media sources last night claimed Lille manager Rene Girard had held unsuccessful talks over taking over at The Hawthorns but the former Montpellier coach now looks set to stay in France.
Meanwhile, Albion fans have handed the club a massive show of support by matching last year's season-ticket sales despite a nightmare 12 months.
The club today praised the Hawthorns faithful as they announced 16,000 season tickets have been sold – almost identical to 2013.
The sales boost comes despite a woeful season that saw the club avoid relegation to the Championship by just three points.
