Time to 'announce Mozza'? You bet it is

You might have noticed there are a series of plinths inside the East Stand at The Hawthorns, just to the right as you walk through the main reception doors.

One of those details the list of managers and head coaches. Some managers good, some very good, some bad, some very bad, some indifferent. One entry even says: 'Alan Pardew'.

I will be amazed if Albion’s hierarchy aren’t putting a call into the in-house artist to etch James Morrison’s name onto the board of ‘managers’ during the coming period.

He deserves it, doesn't he?

(pic by Laurie Rampling)

But, first, let’s chat about how have we got to this point.

Let's start with a test: You are a rookie manager, whose side has just won 3-0 against Hull City, and you have a week until the next game, a tricky looking away game at Bristol City.

So, what next?

Do you give the players a day off or two as a reward for the victory? Is it business as usual, knowing that a break to the schedule might upset the routine? Or do you make training even more intense, hoping that tapping into the feel-good factor might bring even further improvement? What do you choose? Personally, I haven't a clue.

This was the predicament facing James Morrison back in March after Albion had taken their first victory under the interim boss following two draws to Sheffield United and Southampton.

Most men in Morrison’s position might have taken a gamble on the above – assumed they were making the correct decision, and stuck to it. You could call that confidence; some might call it arrogance.

Morrison unlocked his phone and scrolled down a list of names. He sought advice.

He had already spoken to Tony Pulis by this point about organisation, team shape 101, and how to tighten those loose screws within the shaky Baggies defence. Pulis openly spoke about this in a talkSPORT interview a few days later, claiming that while he had wished Morrison all the best, it was clearly going to be a tall order, given Albion's awful form. He didn't say so as much, but such was his tone that it felt like Pulis was effectively getting ready to remove his cap and bow his head as a mark of respect to his former club, given Albion’s gloomy prospect of survival.

It was after that Hull victory that Morrison spoke to Tony Mowbray about how to steer through the training schedule after the Hull victory. What would Mowbray have done in those circumstances? What would any manager do?

And this is where Morrison wants to find out. Every conversation and insight is being treated as a learning experience.

Pulis and Mowbray are two very different managers, extremely opposing characters, with two different sets of philosophies, but, importantly, they share some two thousand games between them as managers. One strand of counsel was about the rebuild from damage, the other was more about guidance on how to build on a win. I dare say the conversations were much more nuanced than this but the key takeaway is Morrison making decisions informed by those who have experienced these scenarios.

More so, this is also about a transfer of knowledge - Morrison arming himself with insight about good practice, as part of his managerial education, and also his own professional development.

The coaches and influencers who shaped Morrison as a player may now be even more important to him as a manager. It’s a damn good roll call of bosses Morrison has played for. They include: Steve McClaren, Gareth Southgate, Robbie Di Matteo, Roy Hodgson, Steve Clarke, Alan Pardew, Gordon Strachan, Craig Levein and Alex McLeish, as well as the two Tonys. And that’s before we get onto the many experienced coaches working alongside those men.

I gather Pulis and Mowbray aren’t the only two managers, coaches or peers that Morrison has approached in his quest to navigate the highs and lows of managing a team.

Not that there have been many lows since that dreadful 2-1 defeat to Oxford, when players’ suitability to wearing the blue and white stripes was robustly questioned by supporters, before Morrison went further by calling out individual players. Would any of his former coaches have done that? Maybe. Maybe that’s why he did it.

Since Oxford, it has been nine games played, 17 points (33% of Albion’s total this season so far), with his Albion side conceding in just one of the seven most recent games (two goals vs Wrexham). Six clean sheets in seven games; four on the bounce. What we have seen in this sample of games is the kind of form that, over the course of the season, wins clubs promotion.

Credit must also go to Morrison’s backroom staff, and the players. It hasn’t been his own doing. Equally, we haven’t yet seen how Morrison shapes up as a manager during a bad run of form. That will inevitably be a test. Perhaps he will put in another call to a former mentor when that time comes. And that time will one day come, because there is surely no scenario now where Albion don’t offer Morrison the permanent job?

Importantly, Morrison has done something that didn’t seem possible six weeks ago: he has restored pride and a sense of belief. For that alone, and while his name is above the door - albeit as an interim - he deserves immense credit.

I’ll leave you with this: I began writing this on the 24^th anniversary of Albion’s first-ever promotion to the Premier League. I am not comparing Gary Megson to Morrison; that would be ridiculous. But it is true that Baggies supporters love a manager they can invest in emotionally: Megson did it back then, Morrison is doing it now.

Dare I say, Albion's hierarchy could do a lot worse than troubling the plinth engraver to add a new name to that roll call of Baggies managers.

I think we might have ourselves a good one here...