West Brom suddenly in enviable position as promotion blueprint there to follow

West Brom are now less than two weeks away from kicking off their pre-season programme, with the squad already starting to take shape.

Nobody of an Albion persuasion needs reminding of just how bad the 2025-26 campaign panned out.

After Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay both failed in The Hawthorns hotseat, James Morrison managed to steady the boat.

Morrison's reward was landing the job on a full-time basis as the Baggies look ahead to - hopefully - a brighter future.

Four new faces have so far been recruited, while one - Josh Griffiths - has so far officially departed.

While it may not seem like it right now, there is an argument to be made that West Brom are the envy of plenty of clubs.

West Brom on similar trajectory to Hull City

Not a massive amount is known about Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Carter Pinnington, but both appear to have been signed for the first team.

Morgan in particular should slot into Morrison's starting line-up given he was not exactly cheap - even if reports of a £4million are misleading.

Matt Ingram will provide goalkeeping cover, meanwhile, and Barney Stewart looks an exciting option in attacker after joining from Falkirk.

Morgan is believed to have cost West Brom £1m upfront, with the rest only being paid if various add-ons are met.

That means around £2.5m has so far been spent, which is in the region of how much Hull City had spent this time 12 months ago.

Why is that pertinent? Well, Hull also narrowly avoided relegation from the Championship last year before remarkably earning promotion last time out.

It shows there is a blueprint there to be followed, and the Baggies are on a very similar path right now.

Indeed, the Tigers had made four new signings this time 12 months ago - the same number as West Brom.

Only free agents followed from that point on, which is a market the Baggies could shop from in time.

At a time when other teams are either adapting to shopping in a new market - such as the six combined promoted and relegated clubs - Albion are very settled.

There is still confusion as to whether Karlan Grant and Josh Maja will sign the contracts offered to them, but otherwise Morrison's squad looks stable.

And the real hope now is that Shilen Patel & Co. are ready to back Morrison with further funds.

Shilen Patel holds up hands over West Brom failings

Had Morrison not turned things around a couple of months back, Albion would be a third-tier club right now.

But turn it around he did, and Patel is eager to avoid any sort of repeat at West Brom going forward.

For that to happen, Morrison needs to be backed. The four signings made so far is promising, but a couple more would be handy.

With pre-season beginning in under two weeks' time, and the real business six weeks away, supporters can finally begin to get excited again.

And as Hull showed last summer, quietly going about your business and adding to what you have is no bad thing if you want to go up.