West Brom next manager: former Man Utd man now second-favourite as ex-Hull City boss joins ‘longlist’
West Bromwich Albion are still on the search for their next head coach, over four weeks after relieving Tony Mowbray of his duties.
The Baggies confirmed Mowbray had been sacked after the disappointing 3-1 defeat to Derby County on Easter Monday, a result that was enough to end all chances of finishing in the Championship play-off positions. It was a great shame that it didn’t work out for Mowbray as he’s loved at The Hawthorns for leading Albion to the Championship title back in 2007/08.
Mowbray’s second spell wasn’t anywhere near as successful as he lost eight of his 17 matches in charge, winning just five and drawing the remaining four. The 61-year-old clearly retained his passion and adoration for the Baggies but football is a results business and the ownership opted to move in a different direction.
Who has been linked with the West Brom job so far?
It awaits to be seen exactly what said direction will end up being, as Albion are taking their time to appoint Mowbray’s successor. Tottenham Hotspur first-team coach Ryan Mason has been the bookies’ favourite since the beginning but there have been no indications of an approach just yet. Marti Cifuentes was briefly linked when he was placed on gardening leave by Queens Park Rangers, though there’s been no movement there either.
Then there’s Portsmouth’s John Mousinho, who was rather suddenly drawn in as one of the new bookies’ favourites last week. The Pompey manager has done a brilliant job at Fratton Park, leading his team to promotion from League One a year ago and then securing their Championship status with a 16th-placed this season just gone.
It appears Mousinho isn’t in contention, however, and the 39-year-old confirmed himself recently that he’s committed to Pompey. “Genuinely, my mindset is I’d like to have a long, successful career at Portsmouth,” Mousinho told our sister publication.
“I still feel incredibly grateful to the club for taking a chance on me and a risk on me in the first place. I’ll never forget that. We can talk about my ambitions and the club’s ambitions matching up in the future, but this is a club that went and took a risk on me that no one else did. There’s that alignment there, in terms of what we’re trying to achieve.”
Who are the current favourites to be the next West Brom manager?
With the search now dragging on, the bookies are adding several new names to the list, one of whom is Minnesota FC boss Eric Ramsay. The 33-year-old has become immensely popular at the Major League Soccer club, winning 24 of his 51 matches in charge to date, drawing 10 and losing the remaining 17. Ramsay recently made the headlines for guiding Minnesota to a huge 4-1 victory over Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
Ramsay began his coaching career with Swansea City under-18s before moving on to an academy role at Shrewsbury Town. He then moved to Chelsea, where he was the assistant manager for the under-23 side for two years. Ramsay then left the Blues for a senior coaching role at Manchester United and a part-time gig as the Wales assistant manager.
The bookies recently made Ramsay the new second favourite to succeed Mowbray, at 11/4. Spurs coach Mason still leads the way at 1/1 (evens), while interim Albion head coach James Morrison is still in the running at 7/2 despite distancing himself from the permanent role.
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Former Southampton manager Russell Martin, who recently revealed he’s turned down several approaches from clubs, is in at 6/1. Mousinho, despite committing himself to Portsmouth, stands at 8/1 to round off the top five.
Then, in sixth, Ruben Selles has emerged as a potential contender. The Spaniard was recently relieved of his duties as Hull City’s head coach. It didn’t work out for Selles at the MKM Stadium as the 41-year-old failed to meet expectations after joining from Reading. Hull narrowly avoided relegation, staying up thanks to goal difference alone.
Here’s the full list of favourites:
Ryan Mason – 1/1
Eric Ramsay – 11/4
James Morrison – 7/2
Russell Martin – 6/1
John Mousinho – 8/1
Ruben Selles – 12/1
Marti Cifuentes – 12/1
Steve Cooper – 16/1
Luke Williams – 25/1
Sean Dyche – 25/1
Steven Gerrard – 25/1
Thiago Motta – 25/1
Chris Hughton – 33/1
Darren Moore – 33/1
David Wagner – 33/1
Des Buckingham – 33/1
Gareth Southgate – 33/1
Gary O’Neil – 33/1
Graham Alexander – 33/1
Grant McCann – 33/1
Ian Evatt – 33/1
John Terry – 33/1
Leam Richardson – 33/1
Lee Carsley – 33/1
Leighton Baines – 33/1
Nathan Jones – 33/1
Neil Warnock – 33/1
