Shilen Patel should be taking flak for West Brom situation more than Eric Ramsay
West Brom are in a real mess at the moment that they can’t seem to snap out of.
Norwich City ran out 3-1 winners on Saturday to knock West Brom out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage, with sole focus now switching back to their Championship survival bid.
It’s now seven games as Albion head coach without a win for Eric Ramsay, who has already lost favour with the majority of Baggies supporters, with talk of him being sacked already mounting.
However, whilst the 34-year-old shouldn’t be immune from criticism, as he has so far failed to get any real improvement out of this group of players, most of the blame should lie at Shilen Patel‘s door.
Shilen Patel has a lot to answer for with recent appointments
Since completing his takeover of West Brom in February 2024, Patel has appointed three permanent managers at The Hawthorns.
The first of those was Tony Mowbray in January 2025, which was a popular decision at the time given his previous Albion stint and relationship with the supporters.
However, Mowbray would last just 94 days in the job, winning five of his 17 games in charge and was sacked in April last year, not even making the end of the season.
Then came Ryan Mason, who was appointed in June 2025. A first-time head coach, it was a major gamble by Patel and the Baggies hierarchy, and it certainly didn’t work.
The 34-year-old won just nine of his 27 matches in the post, and his inability to implement a successful tactical philosophy and get results on a consistent basis saw him axed in January.
Replacing him was Ramsay, perhaps the biggest gamble of them all by Patel, with the Welshman having zero senior managerial experience in English football and is tasked with keeping Albion in the Championship.
Still incredibly young, Ramsay evidently requires more time to cut his teeth in English football management, something that he was never going to be afforded given the situation he’s walked into with West Brom.
Now was not the time for Patel to be taking a risk with an appointment such as Ramsay, that could’ve waited until the summer after an experienced interim boss steadied the ship and secured their Championship status.
Why Ramsay probably won’t be sacked this season
What’s worse for Patel is that he likely won’t be able to axe a third-straight head coach just months into the job before the end of this season, even if he wanted to.
Mowbray signed a two-and-a-half-year contract in January last year, whilst Mason penned a three-year deal when he became West Brom head coach.
As such, both of them will have required significant compensatory fees when Patel ripped up their contracts, and Ramsay would also demand the same having signed a two-and-a-half-year deal.
Couple that with the well-known fact that West Brom are struggling financially, and have been for a number of years now, and that would mean that Patel surely can’t afford to sack yet another head coach right now.
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