Masonry collapses – new architect required | OneFootball

As is often the case when Albion sack a head coach, I am conflicted. I always want our head coaches to succeed as that means that the club is succeeding, and I don’t want my club to be one that dispenses with head coaches at the first sign of a potential problem. On the other hand, allowing an apparently failing coach to continue in charge for too long is never helpful – Steve Bruce, Alan Pardew and, in a different way, Tony Pulis are the most recent examples of that.

The appointment of Ryan Mason always carried with it a greater risk than most such hires. As a rookie, the chances of him being an immediate success were, perhaps, slim, but there was no real expectation of promotion at the beginning of the season, and most fans, and certainly the club hierarchy, would have been content with a top half finish and an outside chance of the top six. Even with the club languishing in eighteenth place, you could still argue that the top six is only a decent run of five or six results away, but the chances of such a run happening have become increasingly slim.

It does seem harsh that Mason’s departure comes after one of the team’s best performances in recent weeks but, on the other hand, it also highlighted the issues that have plagued the team all season. The failure to take chances, albeit the Foxes’ ‘keeper played a blinder, and costly lapses in defence – it was a great finish from Fatawu for the winner, but he was alone in the box with time and space.

The other recurring criticism of Mason reared its head at the King Power in his use of substitutes. It’s been clear that his options have been limited by squad size and injuries, but while Mowatt’s injury forced him off, the decision to take off Price and Maja backfired as many of his substitutions have done – Albion lost control of the match from that point onwards, and I suspect it was Samuel Iling-Junior who should have been close to Fatawu in the final minute.

Furthermore, the result also meant that this season’s team have matched a 99-year-old club record of ten successive away league defeats. Albion have put in some good performance, earned some good results at the Hawthorns, but the failure to pick up anything away from home since September was a stark indication that something wasn’t right. There had been rumours in recent days of dressing room discontent, and Isaac Price’s reaction to his withdrawal on Monday was a further indication of that. It may well have been that, more than the results alone, that swayed the ultimate decision.

Regular readers will know that I was loath to blame Mason for all of the performance issues – I still think that the players must bear a significant portion of the blame and there is no doubt that the squad size, quality and injuries made Mason’s job more difficult, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to defend him. The squad was evidently able to produce good performances but could not do so consistently – it is up to the coach to give the players the training, tools, environment and confidence to reproduce their better performances on a more consistent basis. No one expects perfection every week, particularly in the Championship, but the high points were just too infrequent and the lows were becoming inevitable, particularly on the road.

Having said that, I was surprised that the decision came when it did, just thirteen days after Andrew Nestor’s statement that the coaching team needed “time to settle”. I expected Bilkul to give Mason a little more time, but the unrest among the fanbase was, I suspect, becoming too hard to ignore.

And so where to next? While I expect, and hope, that there were break clauses in the contracts given to both Mowbray and Mason that limited compensation payments, Bilkul cannot afford to get this one wrong, both financially and reputationally. Mowbray was the supposed “safe pair of hands” that most welcomed, while Mason was the exciting rookie – perhaps something in between is what is needed.

The obvious name that jumps out is Michael Carrick who, I feel, was unlucky to have been sacked by Middlesbrough, at least from the outside. He made an immediate impact when he took over at the Riverside in 2022, and did what Corberán could not in that first partial season and got his team into the play-offs. He was also known for developing players, something that Mason has seemingly failed to do, with the likes of Chuba Akpom, Hayden Hackney and Cameron Archer examples of players who improved during his tenure. His second season was not as successful, but he probably has the experience that Bilkul will be looking for.

Another name in the frame, at least as far as the bookies are concerned, is Lee Carsley. The last time Albion appointed a former England manager didn’t go too badly, albeit Carsley is a somewhat different prospect to the vastly experienced Roy Hodgson. Indeed, like Mason, it would be Carsley’s first permanent role as a senior boss having held interim roles at Coventry City, Brentford and Birmingham City, as well as with the England national team. While an undoubtedly good coach, he would carry the same risks as Mason and it would be a surprise to see Bilkul repeat that particular experiment.

Of course, Bilkul may be looking in an entirely different direction but I think the club need someone that the players can immediately respect. Carrick fits the bill for me, but he may not want it. We will just have to wait and see.