Baggies face Blues compensation barrier

Chris Hughton and Alan Curbishley are already being spoken of as candidates to replace England-bound Roy Hodgson at West Brom.

The club have been planning for the day that Hodgson steps up to replace former England head coach Fabio Capello for a while with it now being suggested in some quarters that Curbishley's reluctance to take the Wolves job in February was because he anticipated the Hawthorns hotseat chance. Birmingham boss Hughton is likely to be the early favourite if, as expected, Hodgson leaves to become the new England manager. However, his availability may also be dependent on whether he can get Birmingham back up and also tied up with negotiations between the clubs over the future of Ben Foster. Hughton was close to landing the Baggies job 15 months ago before Hodgson's appointment and made a good impression on Albion chairman Jeremy Peace. The 53-year-old, who led Newcastle back to the Premier League in 2010, has taken Birmingham into the Championship play-offs, despite seeing his squad decimated amid financial turmoil. If the compensation demands from St Andrew's scupper any chance of Hughton taking over, Albion will look at the next best alternatives which are believed to include Cardiff boss Malky Mackay, Bristol City manager Derek McInnes and Charlton Athletic's Chris Powell. Michael Appleton's name has also been mentioned and he may return to the Baggies coaching staff as part of or to head up the new regime depending on how the club fare with their top targets.