Latest news with #Bilkul
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
A brave appointment - patience might be required
Albion have taken their time with the appointment of Ryan Mason but for good reason. It's been 43 days since Tony Mowbray was sacked on Easter Monday after a 3-1 defeat by struggling Derby ended their play-off was appointed just over three weeks after Carlos Corberan left on Christmas Eve for Valencia and, in hindsight, it could be argued that it was rushed. In part due to games coming thick and fast as the Baggies looked to maintain their place in the top six, but also down to the collapse of the publicised plans to give the job to Swiss head coach Raphael of the unfortunate end to Mowbray's short second spell, there was pressure on club owners Bilkul to get this one right. They've bided their time to look for the right candidate, but also had to play a waiting game because Mason was never going to leave Tottenham while he was helping them win the Europa the ticker tape has settled on those celebrations, Mason has decided to leave the comfort of his boyhood club. Only time will tell if the gamble to give the 33-year-old his first senior head coach role will pay off, but just like the process of appointing him, patience may be required from the a brave appointment. The Baggies have gone from 61-year-old Mowbray - whose vast experience and success in the Championship was highlighted by Albion sporting director Andrew Nestor as a reason for his return in January – to a man almost half his predecessor's age and who has never managed at this level does have 13 games as a caretaker boss in the Premier League on his CV though and has worked his way up the coaching ranks at boyhood club Spurs. Since 2018, the former midfielder has also sat under the learning tree of some of the world's best managers, including Jose Mourinho and Antonio Albion fans were calling for a young head coach with fresh ideas, so he fits the bill on that front, but they will need to be patient with him. Mason is unlikely to hit the ground running like his former colleague Chris Davies, who left north London for Birmingham City last summer and dominated League One with a superior squad to the level they were doesn't have that right now at The Hawthorns, so perhaps there will be less pressure on him, and more on Nestor and his recruitment team to give him the tools to succeed. It's a work in progress but in hindsight the recruitment in the 2024-25 season had more misses than hits, so the decisions they make in this next window on which players to sign - and just as crucially which players to move on - will be just as important as the managerial decision they've just made.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
A waiting game but a worthwhile one?
It's been a month since Albion sacked Tony Mowbray after a dismal defeat to Derby on Easter Monday put paid to their play-off hopes. The thinking behind the swift decision just hours after the game was to give the Baggies a head start in the recruitment process. The only problem is that since then, several clubs have also begun searching for new bosses, including Championship rivals Norwich, Hull and Watford; the latter of whom have already filled their vacancy.A small section of Baggies fans are getting impatient as time ticks by but the Baggies ownership group, Bilkul, know they must get this appointment right. Sporting director Andrew Nestor favours an analytical and statistical approach to finding the right person and that takes time to pour over and there's plenty of due diligence to be done on the character of candidates no surprise to me that the search is approaching the final days of May. Playing the waiting game has allowed the club to watch the managerial merry-go-round unfold and explore their options. If they'd have rushed the appointment, a more suitable candidate may have become available after the event. It could be argued that the appointment of Mowbray was rushed after the plan to appoint Swiss head coach Raphael Wicky collapsed but that's an old Baggies' aim is to mould a model where they can recruit players to fit a certain system, and the head coach does their work on the training ground, so arguments that the club need a manager quickly for recruitment reasons are largely unfounded in this day and age. However, the next head coach will want to get their feet under the table soon to begin planning for pre-season and figure out how they can craft a team that can compete for promotion again. The hierarchy have done a good job of keeping genuine rumours to a minimum this time, which has perhaps caused some of the impatience, but we could now be approaching the final days of the search and hopefully fans will have reason to be excited for the next campaign.
