West Brom told to avoid appointing ex-Rangers boss - 'it’s a recipe for disaster' | OneFootball

FLW’s West Brom fan pundit has commented over whether Russell Martin would be welcome at The Hawthorns.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Brom are on the lookout for a new manager after parting ways with Ryan Mason.

The ex-Tottenham and Hull City midfielder’s last game in the Albion dugout was a 2-1 defeat at Leicester City, where the Baggies were considered very unfortunate to be on the losing side.

But it condemned the Black Country outfit to a 10th straight defeat on the road, matching a record that was set 99 years ago.

It left Mason’s position untenable, with controlling shareholder Shilen Patel now searching for his third permanent manager since Carlos Corberan exited the club in December 2024.

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.

And all is not lost this season, with the club still only 10 points off the play-offs, that gap can be made up by going on a run of consistent form.

As the news broke that Mason had left The Hawthorns, rumours began swirling around over who will be the next person to take on the Albion mantle.

One of those who may well be in the frame is Russell Martin, who is currently seeking a new opportunity after having a very quick, but dismal spell in charge of Scottish giants Rangers.

Martin ended up being Rangers’ shortest ever permanent manager in charge, lasting just 123 days, but he did guide Southampton to promotion out of the second-tier, so he may want another crack at managing in the Championship after previous success.

With this in mind, FLW’s West Brom fan pundit has discussed whether the 40-year-old would be welcome at B71.

Speaking to Football League World, West Brom fan pundit Callum Burgess does not believe Russell Martin would be the right fit for the Baggies post because his style of play doesn’t suit the current set of players in the squad.

Callum said: “When taking West Brom’s squad into account, I think, personally, the style that Russell Martin wants to implement and play with his teams, if he mixes it with our team, then it’s a recipe for disaster.

“The technical ability in the squad is not at the level to play out from the back consistently and dominate possession, and I really do think it’ll be a bad match.

“Martin would have been someone I’d have been open to taking in the summer before he took the Rangers job, because, of course, he’d have had the ability to get on board with the recruitment team, target players who fit his style of play and see if he can try to create a pathway where everyone’s aligned on the way he wants to play football.

“But especially the way our recruitment has gone, and you look at some of the players in the squad, for example, our only midfielder that would be suited to play that style of play would be Alex Mowatt, so I think it would be something where you wouldn’t want Russell Martin to take on the Albion job this season.”

Russell Martin will certainly be a candidate for the West Brom position given he is out of work, and particularly because he has been successful in this division before.

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.

But after a couple of really low spells at the end of his Southampton tenure, and at Ibrox, there is some doubt over his abilities as a manager, albeit he does need an opportunity to reestablish himself.

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 could be what is needed to help drag the club away from the current position they find themselves in.

But his style of football was a problem on the South Coast, particularly in the Premier League, and it showcased the dangers of playing that way when you don’t have the personnel to do so.

You wouldn’t think West Brom do either. Nat Phillips has already been caught out this season playing out from the back, incidentally against Southampton, while Chris Mepham and Charlie Taylor have hardly played starring roles when partnering alongside him either.

For Martin to come in and make an impact, he would need to be in position at the start of the season, with a better financial backdrop to recruit players that could fit his style of play, so it seems like this job has come up at the wrong time from his point of view.