Assessing the performance of each West Midlands club this season

The 2022/23 season has been an incredibly rocky one for West Midlands clubs.

All the EFL and Premier League clubs in the region have had torrid seasons or at the very least experienced turbulence before their season recovered.

Only Birmingham City and Coventry City kept the same manager all the way through the season, with every other club in the region dismissing a manager at some point in the campaign.

However, even they had their struggles this season, so it is worth assessing how each club in the region has performed this season to see why football in the region is struggling.

Aston Villa – currently 7th in the Premier League

While the 2022/23 season has turned into Villa’s best Premier League campaign for more than a decade, it did not start out that way.

Steven Gerrard started the campaign in the Villa Park dugout as Villa served up some of the most turgid football seen in B6 since the days of Paul Lambert.

He was dismissed in October after a 3-0 drubbing away at Fulham and was replaced by Unai Emery, who has overseen a dramatic recovery at Villa Park.

Villa’s season still is not over and they could still achieve European qualification for the first time since 2010, surely putting Emery up there for the Manager of the Year award.

Wolves – Currently 13th in the Premier League

Just like with Villa, Wolves’ season is not over, but they have not enjoyed the Villans’ level of success.

Despite a largely positive first season in charge, Bruno Lage managed to embroil Wolves in a relegation battle, paying for it with his job.

Julen Lopetegui was brought in and eventually managed to drag them away from the trap door, but it was not looking good for a while.

They should be fine for next season as they have a top-class manager who, if given the freedom to overhaul the squad as needed, will get them firing back up the league in no time.

Coventry City - 5th in the Championship

The Sky Blues have enjoyed an incredible campaign under Mark Robins, which could get even better still.

Coventry have been one of the surprise packages of the season, embarking on a shock play-off push and achieving a top-six finish.

Robins' side are still in their play-off tie with Middlesbrough, though they are a goal down from the first-leg defeat at the CBS Arena.

A return to the Premier League for the first time since 2001 is still within their grasp, but even if they stay down they have had a remarkable season.

West Brom – 9th in the Championship

This was a tricky season for West Brom as they largely recovered from their shocking start to the season quite quickly.

Steve Bruce was replaced by Carlos Corberan who gave them a shot at the play-offs, but The Baggies’ issues lie in the boardroom.

To say the club are cash-strapped would be an understatement, with the club recently writing off £5 million that was taken out of the club by owner Lai Guochuan.

Corberan is used to working on a budget after performing miracles at Huddersfield Town, but the financial situation is incredibly alarming.

Stoke City – 16th in the Championship

This season has been incredibly underwhelming for Stoke as they settle for yet another season of midtable mediocrity in the Championship.

It is their joint-worst performance in the Championship since relegation in 2018, with The Potters yet to rise above 14th in the last five years.

Alex Neil served up boring, turgid football as their period of stagnation continued, with no way out currently presenting itself.

Birmingham City – 17th in the Championship

Blues are one of two clubs in the area not to sack their manager this season and with good reason as John Eustace has done a good job in difficult circumstances.

Just like West Brom, they are currently stuck under one of the worst owner regimes in the country, with Trillion Trophy Asia driving the club into the ground since their takeover in 2016.

Managing in those circumstances is near-impossible, but Eustace has performed admirably to keep the club afloat.

A takeover has now been agreed so there is finally light at the end of the tunnel for Blues fans.

Port Vale – 18th in League One

Vale did okay for their first season back in League One, but it was not without struggles.

The Valiants were in the relegation mix for much of the season, though they never looked to be in serious danger of dropping back into League Two.

However, it was not enough to save Darrell Clarke’s job, with the former Bristol Rovers boss being dismissed just before the end of the season.

Clarke’s former assistant Andy Crosby has replaced his former boss in the dugout who will be looking to avoid a second successive relegation battle.

Walsall – 16th in League Two

The 2022/23 season promised so much for The Saddlers, yet it delivered so little.

Michael Flynn had Walsall firmly in the play-off race in January as well as a run to the fourth round of the FA Cup, but it was another false dawn.

However, star men Danny Johnson and Liam Bennett both left the club in January and this was the death knell for their season and Flynn’s job.

They won just twice in the league after beating Mansfield on New Year's Day, with a miserable second half of the season condemning them to a second 16th-place finish in a row.

So, what’s the issue?

There is a common theme with many of the issues faced by West Midlands clubs, that being uninterested owners who are unwilling to invest.

Fosun let Wolves’ squad go stale, Lai took money out of an already struggling West Brom and BSHL let Birmingham’s stadium and squad fall into disrepair.

However, things do look like they are starting to change with a looming takeover at Birmingham, a squad overhaul at Wolves and Trivela presenting a concrete vision for Walsall’s future.

While West Brom continue to face an uncertain future under Lai's ownership, things generally are looking better for clubs in the region.