He’d revive Price: West Brom could hire “insanely talented” Mason upgrade

Ryan Mason now has only two wins from his last ten games in charge of West Bromwich Albion, as the pressure on his shoulders at the Hawthorns only gets heavier by the match.

Indeed, after falling to a 3-2 defeat to Tonda Eckert’s red-hot Southampton in the Championship in mid-week, the Baggies – who had promotion aspirations coming into the long second-tier season – now sit in an unsatisfactory 16th spot in the competitive division, six points shy of the coveted playoff positions.

Will Mason ultimately have to pay the price with his employment? Only time will tell.

An obvious source of frustration for the under-fire boss will be the continued no-show performances from Isaac Price, who was once one of the former Tottenham Hotspur coach’s first names on the teamsheet, only to now find himself slipping out of his manager’s first team plans on occasion.

Price's drop off at West Brom

Price started the brand new Championship season like a runaway train, with three goals and one assist coming his way from just his opening three clashes.

Of course, there would have to be a slight decline, as it’s unreasonable to expect the Northern Ireland international to be consistently hitting these ridiculous heights over a full campaign.

But, he has been extremely poor, all the same, in recent weeks as West Brom’s form has fallen off a cliff, leading to Mason only handing the ex-Everton youngster 26 minutes of action against Queens Park Rangers at the start of the month.

From the start against the Saints, he wasn’t any better, either, with just one of his six efforts at St. Mary’s being hit on target, alongside the lacklustre 22-year-old only winning two of his seven duels, as his previous tag of being an energetic livewire was nowhere to be found.

Games played

10

Minutes played

754 mins

Games started

9

Goals scored

1

Assists

1

With his last goal for the club coming all the way back in October, amid a barren patch of form that can be seen looking at the table above, it could well fall to a new manager to get the very best out of Price.

Indeed, if Mason is brutally given the axe, there is one rumoured manager target who could be the fresh head coach the Northern Ireland international needs to reignite his failing season.

The Mason upgrade who can revive Price

As is the cruel nature of the beast, whenever a manager is going through a torrid run of form, rumours will circulate in the air that he is soon going to be on the chopping block.

That has begun for Mason, with suggestions that former Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick could soon fill the vacancy if it opens up.

After all, Carrick did manage to guide Boro to one playoff finish during his three seasons at the Riverside helm, which is where West Brom are aspiring to be, leading to 56 league wins being notched up in total by the ex-Manchester United legend on Teesside.

He did eventually get the sack, but he still holds a prestigious reputation in the beautiful game among his peers, having been noted as a figure that “oozes class” by Plymouth Argyle boss Tom Cleverley, whom he played alongside at Old Trafford.

Most importantly for West Brom’s specific predicament, too, he managed to have a positive impact on a litany of attacking midfielders at the Riverside, with Finn Azaz – who operates from the number ten spot much like Price, but can also fill in down the left – amassing a ridiculous 16 goals and 16 assists from 66 games under Carrick.

Carrick even worked alongside Morgan Rogers at Boro before his Aston Villa explosion, with seven goals and nine assists coming his way under the out-of-work boss, before maturing into a Premier League-calibre star.

If Carrick were to be handed the reins after Mason, Price would be praying that he could be transformed into another revelation, having shown glimpses here and there of what he can do.

Price and co would surely relish the opportunity to work with a figure like Carrick, and not just because of his playing career, having been hailed as an “insanely talented coach” by former Boro player Lukas Engel.

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Before anyone gets too carried away, however, Mason does a bumper set of Christmas fixtures ahead to save his skin. Still, the final nail in the coffin would surely come if more and more losses were tallied up.

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