Credit: Manh Tung, Breaking Media

James Barker

Tue 12 May 2026 13:23, UK

West Bromwich Albion would love to have their home game against Coventry City and two others back from the 2025-26 season with James Morrison in charge.

Whenever a manager comes in at a football club and turns things around in a short space of time, fans naturally wonder what their season would’ve been like had that individual been in the dug out all year.

That’s precisely what many West Brom supporters will be pondering regarding Morrison, as the Albion hero turned out to be their unlikely saviour in 2025-26.

After the failed appointments of Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay, respectively, ‘Mozza’ was appointed as the Baggies’ interim boss following the sacking of Ramsay in February this year.

Morrison masterminded a 10-game unbeaten run over the final weeks of the season to keep Albion in the Championship, but West Brom News takes a look at three games prior to his appointment that could’ve been so different had he been in charge.

West Brom may have won at Southampton win with Morrison

Starting with a festive away trip, Southampton beat West Brom 3-2 on 9 December 2025.

At the time, Saints weren’t yet the force they would go on to evolve into during the final months of the season, but had won five of their last six league games when welcoming Albion to St Mary’s.

Tonda Eckert’s side raced into a 3-0 lead in the first half, with Leo Scienza opening the scoring on 12 minutes, before an Adam Armstrong brace had the home side seemingly out of sight after 35 minutes.

However, Albion showed resilience and fight in the second half, with a 62nd-minute Karlan Grant goal being followed by an 86th-minute headed goal from Nat Phillips, bringing the score to 3-2.

Unfortunately, the Baggies couldn’t complete a dramatic comeback, losing 3-2, but had Morrison been in charge for that one, he is surely more likely to have set his team up in a way that wouldn’t have leaked three first-half goals.

As per FotMob, actually had 18 shots on goal compared to Southampton’s eight in that game, and took 26 touches in Saints’ box compared to the 11 they took in Albion’s.

Morrison’s Baggies team did take a 1-1 draw against Saints in March, which was so nearly three points as Cyle Larin equalised in added time.

Morrison’s West Brom could’ve avoided Leicester heartbreak

Now to early January this year, and another away game that West Brom would love to have back with Morrison leading the team is the defeat to Leicester City.

This is another game that Albion played so well in, but didn’t get the result they deserved, and it would turn out to be Mason’s last game in charge as well.

Jordan Ayew gave the foxes and 18th-minute lead, before Grant equalised on 34 minutes, and that’s how it would stay until the fourth minute of stoppage time at the end of the match, when Abdul Fatawu won it for City.

That didn’t paint a fair picture of the game, as Albion had 16 shots on goal compared to Leicester’s 11, and remarkably, took 45 touches in the Foxes’ box compared to their 22 in the Baggies’.

As such, it was a night of major regret over their missed opportunities, but with the attacking force that Morrison turned West Brom into in the final weeks of term, there’s surely no way that would’ve ended with Albion only scoring one.

West Brom will still wonder how Derby won at The Hawthorns

For this third and final game that could’ve been so different with Morrison at the helm, we go back all the way to September 2025 for a Hawthorns meeting with Derby County.

This was yet another story of the Mason era in B71, with his Albion team creating so many chances and monopolising the possession, but not being able to convert that dominance into goals.

Indeed, West Brom had 68 per cent possession against the Rams in this one, whilst taking 18 shots on goal and 32 touches in their box compared to their four shots and nine touches in the Albion box respectively.

Andreas Weimann would make the Baggies pay too, scoring an 84th-minute winner for a classic smash and grab job on the road.

Many Albion supporters must still be wondering how on earth Derby won that game, but with Morrison in charge, they most surely wouldn’t have.

His West Brom side would’ve no doubt buried at least a couple of the chances Mason’s men created, and from there, the way in which he was able to improve Albion at the back means you would expect them not to concede in the manner they did that day.