Alan Pardew accepts he could lose West Brom job after Watford defeat

Alan Pardew has conceded his West Brom future is out of his hands after Watford condemned the Baggies to a fifth consecutive Premier League defeat.

Pardew is facing a fight to remain in charge at The Hawthorns beyond this weekend as his side’s slim chances of survival took another major hit following Troy Deeney’s second-half strike.

The Baggies remain rooted to the foot of the table and are now eight points adrift of safety with only nine matches to play.

West Brom were the better of the two sides here at Vicarage Road, but Salomon Rondon spurned a number of opportunities to break the deadlock, while Deeney – linked with a move to The Hawthorns during the January transfer window – made no mistake with his only chance of the game.

The travelling West Brom supporters joined the Watford fans in goading Pardew by singing that he will be sacked on Sunday morning.

“If the consequences from this defeat are that I lose my job then that will be what it is,” said Pardew. “It is turned into a personal situation, but this is about West Brom and not about me.

“I have got no message to the board. I don’t think it is anything to do with that. I am employed to be the manager of this football team and I try to put out a side that I think has got a chance of delivering the win.

“All I can hope, and what I think was on the surface today, was a commitment from the players to address the situation. Unfortunately for us we came out the wrong side of it.”

West Brom stalwart Chris Brunt led the criticism against Pardew following the defeat by Huddersfield last weekend, but the Baggies can count themselves unlucky to have lost against Watford.

Jonny Evans hit the woodwork, after his hooked shot from the byline rebounded off Orestis Karnezis and on to his near post, while Rondon, who has scored just four times in the league this season, had two chances after the interval to break the deadlock.

First, he beat the offside trap only to shoot straight at Karnezis, before failing to find the target with a poor header from Kieran Gibbs’ cross moments later.

“We should have definitely got a draw and maybe should have won,” Pardew added. “If our fans were honest, and they were brilliant today, I think they have seen a committed performance.

“But when the ball does not go in the back of the net it is a bit frustrating and we keep seeing that in an area we have struggled with all year.

“We have got nine games left and there are still a lot of points to play for. A win can change the dynamic, but when you look at our win and goal ratio you question that.”

In contrast to Pardew’s troubles, Watford manager Javi Gracia now has won all three of his games at Vicarage Road since he took over from Marco Silva.

The Hornets have climbed to ninth with their top-flight status seemingly secured.

“It is Troy’s second goal in the last two games and we have got six important points,” Gracia said.

“Troy is not only important for goals but important for us on the pitch, off the pitch and he is our captain, too.

“I don’t know what will happen in the future but we are in a good moment and we will try to continue in this way.”