West Brom’s hope renewed as Ryan Mason makes strong start to life at Hawthorns

National World - LocalTV

West Brom are back in Championship action and as the new season begins under Ryan Mason, there’s an acknowledgement that the challenge ahead may not be straightforward. To get more perspective on West Brom’s situation, we spoke to Charlie Haffenden of BirminghamWorld, who explained that while Mason has injected a sense of belief and togetherness.

Transcript

00:00Now West Brom are back in championship action as the new season begins under Ryan Mason as an

00:09acknowledgement that the challenge ahead may not be straightforward. Mason handed the reins after

00:15the baggies fell short through a strong championship campaign now faces the step up to near the gap to

00:22the top flight. Recruitment has been cautious with financial realties meaning the club have had to be

00:28selective in their transfer dealings. That has left some uncertainty over whether Albion possess the

00:34depth and quality to consistently compete throughout the entire season. Supporters are

00:40optimistic about Mason's energy and fresh ideas but there's also an understanding that survival

00:46and stability must be the first objective before anything more ambitious can be considered.

00:53To get more perspective on West Brom's situation we spoke to Charlie Haffenden of Birmingham World

00:58who explained that while Mason has injected a sense of belief and togetherness into the side the

01:04Hawthorns are expecting big ahead of the campaign.

01:10Charlie let's look at West Brom at Charby and in terms of their sort of business over the summer

01:15obviously it's been you know fairly quiet and they are sort of one of those clubs that fall into that

01:21range if you're not really sure how the season's going to go for them it's a bit of an open book but

01:26they do have Ryan Mason in charge we'll get on to him. In terms of West Brom's summer how sort of

01:32pleased disappointed will fans be because there has been another bit of change in terms of the

01:37managerial situation and not much to sort of go from in terms of incomings for them.

01:44Yeah I think it's always going to be quite a challenging summer. Quite a few players leaving

01:48on free contracts. Players that fans I think are quite glad to see the back of which

01:52from an outside perspective you might be confused that they'll be happy to see the likes of Dean

01:57Garner, John Swift go and Semi Ajayi as well. These are players that have played in a Premier League but

02:02the effort levels last season weren't quite there. They're definitely getting on in their years. The

02:06wages were high as well and I think what West Brom lacked a lot last season was the mentality aspect

02:12of things. They needed a bit more leadership and they needed more energy and those players just

02:16unfortunately weren't bringing it. They've not made too many new signings this summer but there have been

02:21some exciting additions. Erna Hegeber coming in from Norway is a striker who's cost him several

02:27million pounds. Someone who can add a bit more depth up top because they struggled so many of

02:31so much of injuries last season like some Daryl Dike and Josh Madger unable to get consistent runs in

02:37a team. We're yet to see Tamir Bani as well. He was signed in the winter. He's hardly played.

02:42A Danish attacking midfielder. He could act like a new signing for them. So a couple of reinforcements

02:47in attack and in defence two big signings needed at centre-back and they've got those. George

02:52Campbell coming in from the MLS and then Nat Phillips as well who's got plenty of championship

02:57experience. So many loans he's had from Liverpool in the past now joining West Brom permanently.

03:03He's heading towards the end of his 20s maybe into his 30s soon but I think that's what West Brom

03:08needed so he's got that experience but isn't too old and isn't quite slowing down just yet.

03:12He should be able to come in and provide a lot of depth. Unfortunately though Torbjorn Hegem

03:17and Tom Fellows, two of West Brom's best players, could be leaving. It's a necessity unfortunately

03:24that West Brom make at least one big sale this summer because of PSR reasons. You're not aware

03:29about PSR, the profit and sustainability rules causing nightmare for teams in the Premier League

03:34but also in the Championship as well. Doesn't look like West Brom are going to get into any

03:38trouble with it but if they can sell someone for a big fee it will certainly help. Hegem

03:43in talks over a £10 million move to Italy and then Tom Fellow is gathering Premier League

03:47interest as well so we could see some big fees but that does mean on the flip side that West

03:52Brom might finally be able to spend a bit more money. Yeah I think we're all hoping and I'm

03:57far from a West Brom fan but I think just everyone in general associate with the football club was

04:01hoping that Tony Mowbray would be the man to bring that fresh energy. Unfortunately he

04:05wasn't. Ryan Mason a lot younger, very early on in his managerial career, never properly had a

04:10permanent manager's job before this one. Was the interim on a couple of occasions for Tottenham and

04:14was heavily involved with Tottenham of course as an assistant coach to Ange Bostokoglu. Of course

04:20involved in the Europa League title as well earlier this year. Pretty difficult, West Brom fans

04:24understandably they've been through quite a lot in the last few years, quite a lot of frustration,

04:28just kind of mid-table mediocrity last season as well. They are expecting a lot from a new manager

04:33that could be difficult but as we saw last season with Chris Davies at Blues it is possible for a

04:38new manager to come in, a young manager to make a difference and hopefully he can do just that.

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