Next West Brom manager: Six contenders to take over at the Hawthorns

The Baggies are near-certainties to go down after Pardew failed to inspire a turnaround in their form after replacing Tony Pulis.

We look at some possible replacements to take the hot seat.

Michael Appleton 7/2

The former Baggies midfielder and current Leicester City assistant manager would be a popular appointment at the Hawthorns.

Appleton had a temporary spell in charge of the Baggies back in 2011 following the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo and has gone on to manage Blackpool, Blackburn and Oxford United.

During his three-year tenure at Oxford, he guided 'The U's' into League One and reached the final of the EFL Trophy in back-to-back seasons.

Dean Smith – 11/2

The former Saddlers boss is performing well at Brentford and hails from Great Barr, just a couple of miles from The Hawthorns.

True, Smith is a boyhood Villa fan but his No.2 Richard O'Kelly is a big Baggies fan and Neil Cutler – who they worked with at Walsall is already in place as Albion's goalkeeping coach.

Smith is highly thought of at Brentford but the Baggies are a big step-up and the 47-year-old is ambitious to test himself at the highest level possible.

Darren Moore 16/1

The man asked to step in to mind the shop in the wake of Pardew's exit, could Moore be the long-term solution?

Made over 100 appearances for the club during his career as a centre-half and has been working on the coaching staff, promoted to working with the first team by Pardew after his appointment.

Nigel Pearson 10/1

Pearson performed a miracle to keep Leicester in the Premier League during the 2014/15 campaign, winning seven of the last nine matches after the Foxes had managed just four Premier League wins all season prior to that run starting in April.

That is exactly the kind of impact West Brom are in need of. The 54-year-old is another to have managed Albion on an interim basis, having won three and drawn one of his games in charge after Bryan Robson was sacked in 2006.

Pearson is currently seemingly happy in the relative footballing backwater of the Belgian second tier with OH Leuven.

Graham Potter 14/1

The most successful English manager in European club competition this season, Potter has worked wonders with Swedish minnows Ostersund - and happens to have played for West Brom between 1977 and 2000.

Potter would be a brave and left-field choice but the 42-year-old's record in Sweden stands up against some of the very best in the business.

He has come to prominence this season by getting Ostersund out of a Europa League group which included Athletic Bilbao and Hertha Berlin and also masterminded a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates in the knock-out stages of that competition.

Derek McInnes 8/1

The current Aberdeen manager is highly regarded in the game and could be the perfect fit to oversee a huge squad overhaul in the summer.

McInnes led the club to their third straight Scottish Premiership runners-up spot last season and was granted permission to speak to Sunderland last summer, but decided to stay in Scotland.

But the former West Brom captain may find the temptation of a return to the Hawthorns too difficult to turn down.