Madeley: West Brom should guard against Enzo Maresca move as Big Sam replacement
Steve Madeley has attempted to put the stoppers on emotional ties linking Enzo Maresca with the West Brom job.
With Sam Allardyce’s job as Baggies boss hanging by a thread after a dismal start to life at The Hawthorns, exacerbated by a 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace on Saturday, attention is starting to turn to who his successor might be.
This gathered pace on Friday when Chris Wilder was sacked as Sheffield United manager and Madeley said on his personal Twitter profile that Albion were ‘known admirers’ of the 53-year-old.
In the same thread Maresca’s name was mentioned to which Madeley replied that would make for an “interesting appointment” before offering a stronger verdict on the former Albion ace taking over as top dog.
He said: “It would be a huge risk. Obvious emotional pull but hard to make a logical case for him.”
Maresca is the current manager of the Manchester City Elite Development Squad team but started his senior playing career at The Hawthorns before moving back to his native Italy and later finding success with Sevilla in Spain.
Necessary risk?
Maresca would certainly represent a riskier move than someone like Wilder who would appear to be a safer pair of hands but maybe Albion need to change tack on their approach.
Slaven Bilic came to the club and was solid enough without ever offering too much inspiration and tactical brilliance while under Big Sam the team has lurched from relegation candidates to Championship certainties.
Could we do worse than handing a chance to someone hungry with an innovative approach?
Darren Moore certainly showed flashes of promise in his first spell as a manager while James Shan showed experience is not necessary to provide an instant return.
This is not to say Maresca is as much of a novice as this pair, either.
He has worked as an assistant at Sevilla and West Ham where he gained Premier League experience and in his current role he will be well versed in developing some of the most prodigious talents in the country.
That could be something that piques the interest of the Albion hierarchy – the potential to hire someone with knowledge of younger players that can be brought in for relatively low transfer fees and wages or on loan deals.
A move for Maresca may not be as illogical as Madeley makes out, and he certainly knows the club inside out.
In other West Brom news, Jermaine Jenas takes aim at Albion.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.