Aston Villa agree appointment for ex-West Brom manager
Aston Villa have regularly plucked talent from West Brom in recent years.
It’s not just been young players who’ve crossed the border between the Black Country and Birmingham, too, with Villa hiring plenty of staff from their local rivals.
From Stephen Hopcroft to Mark Harrison and from Ryan Maye to Mark Naylor, Villa have deprived West Brom of top academy coaches and used them to fix their own shortcomings at Bodymoor Heath.
James Shan appointed new Aston Villa Under-21s head coach
From taking charge of the Under-7s at West Brom to becoming the interim first-team boss, James Shan was at The Hawthorns for 13 years before he joined the other side of the divide.
Aston Villa announced via X on Thursday (12 June) that Shan will become their new Under-21s head coach.
This news comes with Josep Gombau set to leave Villa Park.
Shan joined the first team coaching staff at West Brom at the end of the 2017-18 season.
The Englishman worked his way up the West Brom ranks, starting with the Under-7s, then managed the Under-18s and Under-21s/23s.
In March 2019, Shan was appointed caretaker manager following the sacking of Darren Moore.
He won his first game in charge 3-0 against Swansea City.
Shan stayed as caretaker manager until the end of the 2018/19 season and then left West Brom in June 2019 after they appointed Slaven Bilic in charge.
In the summer of 2024, Shan switched sides and joined Aston Villa where he became the under-18s Head Coach.
Last season, ex-West Brom manager Shan led Villa Under-18s to a treble win.
Shan’s managerial statistics
Shan started out at West Brom in 2006 and then worked his way up the ranks as a manager.
After his time at The Hawthorns, he then went on to manage in the National League.
Although he has identified himself as an academy manager, he has impressive statistics as a first team manager.
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| West Brom (caretaker) | 9 March 2019 | 28 June 2019 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 58.33 | |
| Kidderminster Harriers (interim) | 6 December 2019 | 11 February 2020 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 27.27 | |
| Solihull Moors | 12 February 2020 | 10 March 2021 | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 37.50 | |
| Career total | 55 | 22 | 10 | 23 | 40.00 | |||
Last season, Shan won the under-18 Premier League southern section, the under-18 Premier League national title and lifted the FA Youth Cup with Aston Villa.