West Brom will reunite with Valerien Ismael for an evening on Wednesday when they take on the Frenchman's current employers Watford at Vicarage Road. Ismael was appointed Albion boss in the summer of 2021 following the club's fall into the Championship, when he replaced the outgoing Sam Allardyce upon leaving Barnsley.
The former Bayern Munich and Crystal Palace defender guided Albion to their longest ever unbeaten start to a league season, going ten matches at the beginning of that campaign without suffering a loss, but things quickly unravelled after their first defeat at Stoke City in the October and, by the following February, he had been relieved of his duties with Albion sitting in the top six.
Ismael left England for his next managerial gig and headed to Turkey to take the Besiktas job, but having been let go there he returned to England for the Watford vacancy this past summer when he replaced Chris Wilder. On Wednesday, Ismael - as well as former club captain Jake Livermore - will see a number of old faces, including a couple of players that he and Ian Pearce worked to bring to the club that summer. Here is how that crop of nine arrivals under his ill-fated stewardship are doing.
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Alex Mowatt
There's something of a redemption for Mowatt at Albion, having been shipped out to Middlesbrough on loan a little over a year ago by Ismael's successor Steve Bruce. With Carlos Corberan in the hot-seat upon his return, Mowatt has been granted another opportunity at The Hawthorns and enjoyed an impressive pre-season. He has been given various minutes from the bench, but a first league start under Corberan has remained elusive for now.
Adam Reach
The winger was able to play in a variety of positions in Ismael's rigid 3-4-3 formation; he played on the left of a back three, as the left wing-back and in the front-line at various stages. Reach struggled to make an impact in the final third under Bruce and Corberan last season, although he could be relied upon with his athleticism and defensive aptitude. Currently sidelined with the second serious injury of the year, and won't be back until 2024.
Daryl Dike
Another player on this list who has had more than his fair share of injury misfortune, and is actually experiencing that currently. Dike was signed for £7m in January 2022 and, at that stage, was backed to fire the goals that Ismael's side were creating but struggling to score. Albion have only fleetingly seen returns on their investment, but that came under Corberan last winter. Dike was struck down with injury on his first start under Ismael.
Jayson Molumby
A player who has come on leaps and bounds over the course of his time at Albion. Joined initially on loan and struggled to break into the team under Ismael because the spots were nailed down by Livermore and Mowatt - when he did have a chance he was sent off. Meets with Ismael again as one of the first names on Albion's - and Ireland's - team-sheet.
Matt Clarke
The pick of the Albion loanees that summer. Clarke brought balance and an extra physical presence in the air and on the ground on the left of that back three under Ismael. Immediately established himself as a starting player and went on to play 33 times for Albion that season after shaking off injury niggles. Scored on his final appearance against Barnsley, but Clarke - who moved to Boro on a permanent deal - has had zero luck since a back injury which has sidelined him for almost 12 months.
Jordan Hugill
Not a bad Championship centre forward - as Albion found out to their detriment on Good Friday at Rotherham - but this, for the player and the club, was just a dismal loan move which benefitted nobody. Scored a single goal in a game where he should've scored four and made it abundantly clear after his exit that he had no time for Ismael.
"He's told me I'm only going to play when the weather gets cold and the pitches get s***'," Hugill explained earlier this year. "What's going on? As you can imagine, from that point on, my confidence went. I wasn't playing, and then I basically became a professional darts player at West Brom."
Andy Carroll
Carroll was parachuted in on a free transfer after leaving Reading, following that desperately unfortunate Dike injury in the same transfer window the American himself had arrived at the club. Carroll made a decent fist of things when leading the line in Ismael's final game in charge, in the loss down at Millwall, but within days the landscape had change and, whether he liked it or not, Carroll was reunited with Steve Bruce.
“I did enjoy my time at West Brom – it's a great club. I had Steve Bruce as manager for two years at Newcastle, and I didn’t get much game time," Carroll said. “So when I joined West Brom and he became their manager three days later, it was like ‘really? - but it is what it is. I still worked hard and tried at West Brom, but the situation was out of my hands after signing under a different manager – things like that happen in football.”
Kean Bryan
Perhaps the most unfortunate of all the injury victims on this list. Defender Bryan only arrived at Albion as cover for the defence after Dara O'Shea had suffered a horrific injury while representing Ireland. After a handful of short cameo appearances, Bryan was handed his first start in a win over Hull in November 2021 - he limped off before half time having done his ACL and he never appeared again, having been released in the summer. Still without a club.
Quevin Castro
The youngster was signed from the non-league in what was a pretty risk free deal for Albion. Penned a two-year deal, but made only three senior appearances for the club and was released in the summer. Joined York City on a free transfer and has been playing in the National League this year. Remembered for referring to Albion as a 'stepping stone' upon signing because: "My aim is to be one of the best players in the world - and I know I will be."
