James Morrison will begin his third stint as interim West Brom boss when they travel to Oxford United on Saturday.
Morrison has been a clear favourite for the role since Eric Ramsay was sacked after just nine games following the draw with Charlton on Tuesday.
It is understood the West Brom board will allow Morrison to put his case forward for the permanent role starting with Saturday’s fixture but another West Brom hero is now the favourite for the job.
Darren Moore favourite to replace Eric Ramsay
Odds have been slashed on former West Brom defender and manager Darren Moore to return to The Hawthorns.
‘Big Dave’ was an outsider in the wake of Ramsay’s sacking but is now odds on favourite to help the club survive in the Championship over the 12 remaining games.
The club are aware James Morrison is another manager with limited experience, they are also aware coaching numbers are light if Mozza stepped up given Dennis Lawrence followed Ramsay out of the door this week.
Morrison would be a third head coach taking on his first proper role, Moore does at least offer more experience.
He almost did the impossible by keeping West Brom in the Premier League after Alan Pardew’s sacking in 2018. West Brom went unbeaten in April that year which included a 1-0 win over Manchester United and earned him the Premier League Manager of the Month award.
When Darren Moore first left West Brom as manager, he said to The Times: “It consumed me. When I took charge the squad were lower than a snake’s belly and don’t forget I knew them for years.
“We stopped the rot. The atmosphere switched and I thought we dealth with adjusting to dropping leagues and steered them through the Championship, which was hard.”
Darren Moore and James Morrison to the rescue?
Ok, a lot has changed since Moore left, the club has new owners and the playing squad has moved on but the situation is eerily similar.
Perhaps allowing Darren Moore to help James Morrison until the end of the season and reassessing in the summer is the sensible approach? The club has gone back before and it didn’t work with Tony Mowbray, but now is not the time for a complete overhaul.
This squad is good enough to survive on paper, it is a team of players who have spent their careers playing at a higher level than a Championship relegation scrap. This is about man management, instilling pride to don the blue and white stripes back into a team of players who seemingly can’t wait for this season to be over.