3 Ryan Mason replacements West Brom must consider ASAP ft ex-Man Utd boss | OneFootball

FLW identifies three candidates Albion should consider following the sacking of Ryan Mason.

The ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City midfielder departs The Hawthorns following Albion’s 10th straight defeat on the road against Leicester City, the worst away run for the club in almost a century.

Discontent had been brewing for a while in the stands of B71, with Albion supporters frustrated by a lack of identity, questionable substitutions and a real lack of consistency on the pitch.

Mason leaves Albion languishing 18th in the Championship table and seven points off the bottom three, with the Baggies hierarchy acting now to give the team the best possible chance of looking up the table rather than over their shoulders in the coming weeks and months.

It’s bound to have been a hefty payoff for Albion to afford, given Mason originally signed a three-year contract, but the club have decided to use the break in Championship action due to the FA Cup to have over a week to instill a new boss.

Bilkul Group may well be seeking another youthful manager, but one who, this time, has the experience of managing in this division, while a boss who has leadership qualities will be welcomed to try and lift what are quite low spirits in the dressing room right now.

With this mind, Football League World lists three managers who West Brom should be considering to replace Mason.

Michael Carrick

The first candidate for the West Brom hotseat should be Michael Carrick, who is still searching for a return to management ever since leaving Middlesbrough last summer.

The former Manchester United midfielder was in charge at the Riverside Stadium for three seasons, consistently having his Boro side in contention for a place in the top six.

Carrick got Boro into the play-offs during his first term with the club, securing a fourth-place finish, while eight and 10th placed finishes followed before his eventual departure.

Getting vital Championship experience under his belt, Carrick is a boss who has proven that he can take over a side and get them fighting towards the right end of the table, and it would be unsurprising to see the Albion squad have a revival under his guidance.

Furthermore, at just 44, Carrick still has so much room to grow and develop as a boss, and will be able to use his experiences at Boro to his advantage if he was to take over the Black Country outfit.

Not to mention, Carrick has previously been linked with the Albion post by Football Insider, so it will be intriguing to see if he is one of the club’s top choices.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Despite having a long time away from managing in the Championship, Ole Gunnar Solskjær could be a surprise candidate as he searches for a way back into English football.

His latest stints at Manchester United and Besiktas make for impressive reading. Solskjær became the third-fastest United manager in the club’s history to reach 50 wins, while he achieved third and second-placed finishes in the top-flight.

And after joining Turkish giants Besiktas in January 2025, he did possess a win percentage of 52.17%.

In the Stick to Football podcast with Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Jill Scott, Solskjær opened up about a return to management and hinted at an ambition to manage in the second-tier, so the 52-year-old could well be in the frame.

The only concern for Albion would be Solskjær's previous failed stint in the Championship with Cardiff City. The Norwegian failed to help the Bluebirds avoid relegation from the Premier League in 2014, before leaving the Welsh side after eight months following a poor start to life in the second-tier.

However, that was a long time ago, and he has had a lot of time to hone his craft as a manager, with experiences at the likes of Man Utd and Besiktas standing him in very good stead should he have another crack at managing in the Championship.

Russell Martin

Russell Martin is someone who would certainly divide opinion if he was appointed as Albion’s new manager, but he has claimed a promotion onto his CV with Southampton.

The former Swansea City and Norwich City defender handled the pressure exceptionally well when tasked with getting the Saints back up to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and he did so through the play-offs, battling past West Brom in the semi-final.

His stint in the Premier League went far from according to plan, sacked in December 2024 after just 16 top-flight games in charge, while a trip to Scotland to manage giants Rangers resulted in Martin being the club’s shortest-serving permanent boss in their 153-year history.

With a couple of real low moments in the past year, Martin needs an opportunity to reestablish himself, and returning to the Championship could be exactly what he needs given his previous success in it.

The 40-year-old would certainly pull no punches when it comes to taking over such an underachieving squad, and you feel that kind of honesty and toughness is exactly what the club needs to help them battle out of the current position they find themselves in.