West Brom interim boss Richard Beale expects return to U21 post
Richard Beale is expecting to return to being the West Brom Under-21 manager soon rather than taking the first-team post, according to The Athletic.
The interim head coach took charge of his first senior game on Saturday (15 October) as the Baggies won 2-0 away at high-flying Reading, who were without manager Paul Ince due to a virus.
The promising performance and utilising of younger players got many fans excited that Beale could be the man to take the reins after Steve Bruce was sacked on Monday (10 October).
The Athletic’s Elias Burke, however, suggested that the Under-21s boss would be very happy to return to his usual post and for another person to come and take charge at The Hawthorns.
“Wins change everything, but he is very much focused on his job as the U21s manager,” Burke said. “He spoke about it as a short-term gig yesterday and fully expects to return to the role he’s done so well in.”
Honeymoon
It happens so often in football that a caretaker manager starts really well, only to then flop after a month or two as they begin t be found out on and off the pitch once they sign a proper contract.
Beale can do as well as he likes in the role while Ron Gourlay searches for a new manager but he is ultimately best when taking charge of the Baggies’ youth side.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Reyes Cleary both made appearances at the Select Car Leasing Stadium with the former starting for the first time in ages because he knew he could trust them.
That doesn’t mean, however, that he should take the job full-time when there will be a lot of potential managers with much higher reputations and abilities that could lead the club to great things.
The sooner a new boss can be found the better but Beale can do himself no harm in the games in between.
In other West Brom news, this Albion star admitted that he missed two days of training in the week after an incident with a prawn linguini.