West Brom sack manager Tony Pulis

Tony Pulis has been sacked as the manager of West Bromwich Albion, with Gary Megson set to take charge on a temporary basis.

A 4-0 defeat at home by Chelsea on Saturday extended the club’s sequence without a victory to 11 matches and led to calls from the fans for Pulis’s dismissal. West Brom’s Chinese owner, Guochaun Lai, was at the match and has dismissed Pulis with the club one place and one point above the relegation zone.

“These decisions are never taken lightly but always in the interests of the club,” said the chairman, John Williams, in a statement on Monday. “We are in a results business and over the back end of last season and this season to date, ours have been very disappointing. We would like to place on record our appreciation of Tony’s contribution and hard work during a period of transition for the club which included a change of ownership. We wish him well in his future endeavours.”

Pulis took over at The Hawthorns in January 2015 and West Brom finished 13th, 14th and 10th under him. This season’s dismal form continues a run which began in April. Megson, who was manager between 2000 and 2004 and returned to the club in the summer, has been put in caretaker charge.

Lai watched the Chelsea defeat after flying over from China for a pre-arranged trip and is now tasked with finding a new manager, with the Aberdeen manager and former Albion player Derek McInnes linked to the post.

Pulis replaced Alan Irvine when the Baggies were a point above the relegation zone in January 2015, eventually leading them to 13th. They finished 14th in 2015-16 and came 10th last season but failed to win any of their final nine matches.

Pulis made a defence of his record before the Chelsea defeat, suggesting Albion would struggle to get a better replacement. “If I left tomorrow I’d put my record on the table and put it in front of anybody and see what they think of what I’ve done here in three years,” he said on Friday.