Steve Madeley notes Steve Bruce is first West Brom ‘manager’ since Tony Mowbray
Steve Bruce is the first man to be named West Brom ‘manager’ since Tony Mowbray after he was announced at the Hawthorns, according to Steve Madeley.
The former Newcastle boss replaces Valerien Ismael on an 18-month contract and has said on the club’s official statement that his “one aim” is to win promotion to the Premier League.
The Athletic’s Steve Madeley noted that the Baggies have announced Bruce as their ‘manager’ rather than ‘head coach’ and believes this is the right move.
Writing on his personal Twitter account Madeley said: “Interesting that Bruce has been named ‘manager’.
“By my reckoning he’s Albion’s first since Tony Mowbray. It’s a style better befitting his approach than ‘head coach’.”
All in on Bruce
The trend in recent years is to move away from the all-powerful ‘manager’ title in the mould of Sir Alex Ferguson to the ‘head coach’ position that has been more standard in Europe for some time.
But with new CEO Ron Gourlay apparently calling on the man who was once Ferguson’s captain at Old Trafford to rescue the club’s faltering promotion bid, it looks like the reigns have been fully handed to him to do that.
And the links to Tony Mowbray’s reign over a decade ago may be prophetic.
The popular former manager was also tasked with returning the club to the top flight following relegation the previous season.
He ultimately lost in the Playoff Final that year, but won the Championship title the following season, and perhaps the 18-month deal that the new boss has been given has something similar in mind.
Current coach James Morrison was one of the men brought in by Mowbray during that reign who ultimately succeeded in returning the Baggies back to the Premier League.
Giving a ‘manager’ full control over different aspects of the club rather than just the coaching is a risk also, and Mowbray was ultimately sacked after finishing bottom of the top division.
The club have become quite a ‘yo-yo’ team in recent years so it is not beyond them to emulate the pattern of the last man named manager under the current one.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips has shared his instant reaction to the announcement.