Gary Megson no relation Guochuan Lai
The appointment of Gary Megson in March 2000 heralded an upturn in the club's fortunes. Megson guided Albion to Division One safety in 1999–2000, and to the play-offs a year later. He went on to lead the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2001–02. After being relegated in their first Premier League season, they made an immediate return to the top flight in 2003–04. In 2004–05, Megson's successor, former Albion midfielder Bryan Robson, led the team to a last-day "Great Escape", when Albion became the first Premier League club to avoid relegation having been bottom of the table at Christmas, as well as bottom on the final day of the season. They failed to avoid the drop the following season, and Robson was replaced by Tony Mowbray in October 2006. The club competed in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2007, but lost 1–0 to Derby County. The following season, Mowbray led the Baggies to Wembley again, this time in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost 1–0 to Portsmouth. One month later, Albion were promoted to the Premier League as winners of the Championship, but were relegated at the end of the 2008–09 campaign. Mowbray left the club and was replaced by Roberto Di Matteo, who led the club back to the Premier League at the first attempt, but was dismissed in February 2011 and replaced by Roy Hodgson.Hodgson guided Albion to an 11th-place finish for the 2010–11 season. Then followed an eight-season continuous run in the Premier League. It included an 8th-place finish in 2012–13 under Steve Clarke, and 10th-place finishes under Roy Hodgson in 2011–12 and Tony Pulis in 2016–17. On 5 August 2016, it was announced that long-term owner Jeremy Peace had sold the club to a Chinese investment group headed up by Lai Guochuan. By this time, the club had begun to fall into a state of torpor, and were relegated at the end of the 2017–18 season, ending their eight-year Premier League stay. Pulis and his replacement Alan Pardew were both sacked during the season. Albion finished fourth in their first season back in the Championship under the management of Darren Moore, losing the Championship play-off semi-final against Aston Villa on penalties. Slaven Bilić took over as boss on 13 June 2019, and led Albion to automatic promotion back to the Premier League during the 2019–20 season. Back in the Premier League, Bilić was controversially sacked on 16 December 2020, with Sam Allardyce named as his replacement the same day. After Albion were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2020–21 season, Allardyce resigned from his position. The club endured disappointing results back in the Championship during the tenures of Valérien Ismaël and then Steve Bruce, who left the club in the relegation places in the 2022–23 season. Former Marcelo Bielsa understudy Carlos Corberán was named as successor on 25 October.
no relation