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West Brom's search for a new manager is plunged into chaos after technical director Luke Dowling leaves... with chief executive Xu Ke now in charge of finding someone to fill the managerial hotseat

West Bromwich Albion's search for a new manager has descended into chaos with the departure of technical director Luke Dowling.

Albion's hunt for a successor to Sam Allardyce has hit numerous setbacks since the club were relegated from the Premier League, with Dowling's exit 'by mutual consent' announced in a short statement on the official website.

Dowling had been tasked with finding Allardyce's replacement and had identified former Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder, only for club owner Guochuan Lai to block the appointment.

Luke Dowling (left) has left the club to put West Brom's managerial search in complete disarray
Sam Allardyce replaced Slaven Bilic last December but was unable to keep the Baggies up
Dowling identified Chris Wilder - but the move was blocked by Baggies owner Guochuan Lai

West Brom were then turned down by former Huddersfield manager David Wagner.