Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox sit down to discuss West Brom's search for a new manager.
Ryan Mason has appeared as the front runner for the Albion job - over five weeks on since Tony Mowbray was axed.
The search has been lengthy but seems to be coming to a conclusion - and Lewis and Jonny discuss Mason, whether it is the right fit and the change in direction from Albion.
Ryan Mason has appeared as the front runner for the Albion job - over five weeks on since Tony Mowbray was axed.
The search has been lengthy but seems to be coming to a conclusion - and Lewis and Jonny discuss Mason, whether it is the right fit and the change in direction from Albion.
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00:00Jason has appeared as the frontrunner for the Albion job. He's been top of the bookies
00:11odds for a number of weeks. Now he's been linked with the job. Coxie, it seems like
00:19things are ramping up, which we've reported, but what's your kind of view on it? I know
00:23a lot of Albion fans have talked about the sporting director, Andrew Nester, talking
00:28about the data and having a really thorough process. If he's looking at data on Ryan
00:34Mason, there's not a great deal in terms of managerial experience you can kind of look
00:38at, but what's your feeling on it? He kind of fits the mould of what they're looking
00:42for. He's a rookie manager. I think most people have got nothing against that. You look at
00:47the rookie manager that they've gone in the championship in recent years that have done
00:49really well. What's your kind of view on the situation? Because I know previously we talked
00:55about potential unknown foreign coaches coming into the fray, but it looks like it's going
01:00to be one a little bit closer to home.
01:01Yeah, I know. Last time we did a couple of videos, I think from a podcast, we spoke about
01:05Mason and Eric Ramsey, two 33-year-olds and their sort of potential. I think the data
01:11thing's got a bit carried away, if I'm honest. Andrew Nester did a podcast a couple of months
01:16ago and spoke about data and how it led them to Tony Mowbray in the end. Now we all know
01:21Mowbray wasn't first choice and wasn't the profile the club wanted to go down. They went
01:25down it and it didn't work, obviously. But yes, and it'll be something for Nester and
01:33Bilko to answer. If that's how you use it and how you determined what you want, how did
01:40it take you to Ryan Mason? Yes, he's managed 13 interim games as Tottenham caretaker boss.
01:46But I think data and the level of data they were using, clubs were used not just
01:51I mean goes so far beyond like win percentage or something basic that, you know, with respect,
01:57we and fans might look at, you know, it will go beyond that one. It will go on the inner
02:02final workings of a coach and things like that players developed into the first team perhaps
02:07because he's had a couple of roles as sort of head of academy, scout, coaching and then
02:13coaching, I think Spurs youngsters between 17 and 21, which he did a lot of when he was
02:18caretaker, promoting youngsters in the side, things like that. So let's see just quickly
02:24on Mason. I mean, we're speaking here in the day after we brought a story yesterday as I'm
02:30speaking about Mason being emerged as the number one target and, as you say, ramping up and moving
02:38forward. My expectation at the moment just before my opinion is that it will be Mason. Now,
02:43hey, formalities are still to be done, you know, approaches. It brought the news that Ryan Mason's
02:49out of contract this summer. So, you know, compensation, if he wasn't out of contract,
02:55it is obviously different. These terms at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are up next month.
03:00I'm not saying that I'll make it easier or, you know, but obviously it'll have a bearing on things.
03:05Yeah. So my information and understanding is that if Ryan Mason thinks now's the time for him to
03:10venture out and take his first senior management job, then the hot seat at the Hawthorns is his.
03:16You know, he's the one that Albion's hierarchy wanted. I've written for some time now that they
03:20had a look at him in January and I think I've heard one or two bits that they've probably had
03:25more than a little look at him. I think they were quite keen on him in January. Obviously,
03:29you know, he opted to stay at Spurs at that time, just as he'd turned down and elect in Belgium
03:34interest prior to that, October. Obviously, Albion were courting Raphael Vicky, the Swiss coach,
03:42and that didn't work and it led them to Mowbray. But I don't know how you look at it, Johnny,
03:48and you mentioned a couple of things there in the sort of question about it. I'm okay with the
03:54untried and untested thing and the young thing. I think, to me, football feels it's a little bit
04:01past that hole. He needs to have had a few jobs in the division. I understand Ryan Mason is going
04:07to be going into a different position entirely. Yes, he's been a caretaker, but different
04:11responsibilities and stuff. But I just think there are so many examples out there. The way the sport
04:18is today, the game is today, there's so many examples out there of rookies, really, rookie
04:23head coaches. You know, it's a data game, isn't it? It's a modern game now. And that's not me saying
04:28that older heads can't succeed. You know, some will, but do I think you need to have had one,
04:34two, three, four championship jobs or League One jobs before this now? To be honest, no. I'm not
04:40saying I think Ryan Mason's an absolute guarantee for success. I don't know that. Everything I hear
04:47about him, I get a good feeling about him. I wrote a couple of things on socials about the kind of
04:51character he is, the kind of the way he carries himself and how disciplined he is. And I think that all
04:57bodes well, to be honest, as well as his style. I've been informed that as a coach, he's more
05:02towards a core brand than the way a Mowbray-style football is. So that's interesting. But for me,
05:10it feels fresh, new, hungry, determined. Everything that Mason is, we all know how his playing career
05:16ended, you know, and I've been doing some reading about it. You know, he almost lost his life on a
05:21pitch. And were it not for emergency surgery an hour later, after a sickening head collision,
05:27you know, he would have, he says that himself. So, yeah, this is a very serious guy. And look,
05:35on the flip side, I've talked to him up there, on the flip side, he's not had a senior job before,
05:39and it's a risk, a gamble. But I think it's too easy to sort of sling mud at the hierarchy at Bill
05:45Cole to say, you know, you can't do this, this is too much of a risk. I think this is the way the game
05:50is. And if they're determined that this is their man, then I'm all for it. And I'm quite enthused
05:55and excited. And look, assuming it happens, if it goes ahead, then I think it's something fresh and
06:03can be an interesting way to kickstart a new era, I think, and a welcome fresh start and the real start
06:09for the hierarchy and, you know, their sort of project of a head coach.