West Brom sack Ryan Mason - these 2 Baggies players may be secretly happy | OneFootball

FLW identifies two West Brom players who will be relieved that Ryan Mason been sacked.

Ryan Mason has been relieved of his duties as West Brom boss.

The ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City midfielder departs The Hawthorns following Albion’s 10th straight defeat on the road - 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 in-game management, and of course, wretched results.

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.

Like any manager, there are certain players in the West Brom squad who weren’t favoured by Mason during his short time in charge.

And because of that, they will be relieved that there will be a change of boss to help them work their way back into the first-team picture and become an asset for the remainder of the campaign.

With this in mind, FLW identifies two Albion players who will be looking forward to the future under new management now Mason has departed.

Daryl Dike

One player who certainly will be relieved to hear of Ryan Mason’s departure is Daryl Dike, who will be bitterly frustrated that his final season in a West Brom shirt has gone the way it has so far.

Ever since Mason walked through the door, the American international has struggled for minutes, falling down to third in the pecking order of the forward department behind Aune Heggebo and Josh Maja.

After missing the opening nine games of this term due to a thigh problem, Dike returned to the squad and has kept himself fit, but hasn’t managed to start a league game in the 17 matches he’s been available for.

From the seven matches he has been introduced, he has played just 31 minutes, a shocking statistic for a forward who has had previous pedigree of netting regularly in the second-tier.

It was demonstrated on Monday evening against Leicester City in Mason’s final game in charge, as the Foxes were constantly troubled by crosses all evening, particularly in the second half when Karlan Grant and Mikey Johnston got further freedom on the flanks.

But Mason refused to bring on Albion’s only target man in the squad, leaving some supporters bewildered as Samuel Iling-Junior replaced Isaac Price instead.

With a new manager, Dike will be hopeful he can get back into a starting role and be the force at the top end of the pitch that Baggies supporters know he can be.

He had such a successful run of form in front of goal under Carlos Corberan, where he went on a run of 22 straight appearances from November through to April of the 2022-23 season, recording seven goals in the process, so the potential is definitely there.

From this, all connected with Albion will be hopeful this can resurface given his previous injury struggles.

Alfie Gilchrist

Alfie Gilchrist was tipped to succeed Darnell Furlong when linking up from Chelsea in the summer transfer window, but he hasn’t been able to stamp his authority in a starting capacity at all under Ryan Mason.

In the 20 games he’s been available for, the full-back has made just four starts and appeared three times off the substitutes bench for the club, failing to dislodge George Campbell, who has earned the majority of game-time in that role.

But Campbell’s best position is in central defence, so Gilchrist will be left scratching his head as to how he has been unable to displace the American international, given he is the club's only natural right-back option.

It’s whether a change of management and system can bring the best out of him. Let’s not forget he featured 30 times for Sheffield United last term, who went all the way to the play-off final, so he has the quality to be playing week in, week out for a promotion-contending side.

Gilchrist will be glad to see the back of Mason given his lack of minutes and will be hopeful a new manager can look at his previous Championship pedigree and take a chance on him to be West Brom’s first choice right-back.