West Bromwich Albion will hold no relegation nerves heading into their final game of the Championship season at Sheffield Wednesday.
Instead, Baggies fans will be descending onto Sheffield full to the brim with pride for their side, as survival was confirmed with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Ipswich Town on Saturday.
It has been a seriously draining season to be a West Brom supporter, with James Morrison the third manager to take up a space in the Hawthorns dug-out, with both Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay’s tenure crashing and burning.
Morrison could well be handed the permanent reins shortly, as he has transformed the West Midlands side into a well-drilled unit, ever since he was given the temporary job, post-Ramsay.
How Morrison has engineered the transformation of West Brom
Safe to say, when the ex-Minnesota United head coach was at the helm, West Brom looked doomed to drop to League One, with no wins collected from his dire nine games in charge.
Conceding 18 goals and only scoring five, the 34-year-old looked completely out of his depth in charge of the Championship giants. In stark contrast, Morrison looks like a great fit.
Already a firm club legend, with 341 appearances as a Baggies player under his belt, he is now proving himself to be a very astute presence on the sidelines, with just one defeat next to his name from 11 games in charge.
Powering home 14 goals under his tenure, with four wins and six draws collected, Morrison has managed to get a tune out of the likes of Daryl Dike and Josh Maja again, who were struggling under the previous regimes.
He has also transformed the club’s fortunes defensively, with no goals leaked across West Brom’s last five Championship encounters, making survival feel like a breeze, instead of a torturous slog.
There is one defensive warrior who has stood out the most, when looking back at this patch of resilient performances, and he could be West Brom’s brand-new Kyle Bartley…
West Brom have found their new Bartley
Bartley hanging up his boots at West Brom at the close of the 2024/25 season would have been a very sad moment for die-hard Baggies supporters everywhere.
The one-time Arsenal centre-back was a nomad bouncing between various EFL clubs before he became a well-established brute in the heart of the West Brom defence, going on to amass 232 appearances at the Hawthorns subsequently.
Scoring 14 goals and winning a mighty 4.8 duels during his swansong Championship campaign, the 6-foot-1 colossus had found a cherished home in West Brom, with Nat Phillips slowly but surely the second-tier club’s next iteration of Bartley, based on his heroic performances this season.
|
Phillips’ league performances under Morrison |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Phillips |
|
Games played |
8 |
|
Minutes played |
720 mins |
|
Goals conceded |
1 |
|
Clean sheets |
7 |
|
Clearances |
64 |
|
Duels won |
50 |
Having much the same career trajectory as Bartley before joining West Brom last summer, with several loan spells away from Liverpool, never really taking off, the £3m warrior will hope he has found a long-lasting residence at the Hawthorns, with Phillips now guaranteed to be on Morrison’s teamsheet.
The Bolton-born defender has been a brick wall ever since Morrison stepped into the dug-out, with a stunning 34 duels won across April alone, ensuring his relegation-threatened team picked up the wins they desired, to move away from the bottom three.
Chipping in with three goals, too, across the entire season, to show off a Bartley-like prowess in front of goal, Phillips will be hoping he can continue to be a dependable leader figure for the West Midlands club next campaign, as promotion is possibly in their sights, as opposed to another basement battle.
With 19 Premier League appearances under his belt already, the “incredible” 29-year-old – as he was once labelled by manager Jurgen Klopp – will be envisaging a return there in the near future, with the defence potentially built around him, like it was when Bartley was a first-team staple, over seven bruising seasons at the Hawthorns.
£5m West Brom star just showed why he won’t be starting next season
West Bromwich Albion secured Championship safety, after an unwanted points deduction, with a 0-0 draw against Ipswich Town.
