'Not age but character': West Brom chief explains Ryan Mason decision and outlines key 'pressure' point

The former Tottenham assistant head coach arrives at West Brom - after the club underwent a thorough process to identify their new boss.

Since owners Bilkul Football arrived at the club, there has been a concerted effort to bring down the age of the playing squad.

But in their two searches for new managers it seemed as though they were also looking for young managers, having inherited Carlos Corberan who had a successful spell at the club.

Back in January, they turned to the experience of Tony Mowbray after their quest for Raphael Wicky collapsed.

Now they have again gone for a younger coach, but sporting director Andrew Nestor has explained that the fact Mason is a young coach did not come into their thinking when moving to make the appointment.

But he outlined a host of other reasons why they made the move for Mason.

He said: "No, I wouldn’t say age is an overriding factor. The first factor really is finding a coach who can adapt our squad, our playing philosophy and evolve it into a game model that allows us to win in this division and have sustained success.

"I would say another large factor is alignment around broader sporting department functions and process, so having alignment around analytics and adoption of best practices in sports science and performance, as well as date-led recruitment, and then being able to take all those best practices and what we do with the men’s first team and bring that down to the younger players that we’re developing.

"I would say the other factor, which perhaps is the most important in the end, is character. Ryan has, as I mentioned, developed a very good reputation in the football industry both as a player and a coach. He’s shown very strong and steady character. He’s been under the spotlight, he’s been working at a place where there’s always external pressures and he’s risen above that. We feel like he can hopefully bring that character into our club."

Mason comes in at Albion having had his playing career cut short through injury, which led to him starting his coaching path at a young age.

He worked with the likes of Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and more recent Ange Postecoglou, as he helped Spurs pick up the Europa League trophy.

And Nestor believes having that experience working with the top coaches in the game, can only benefit not just Mason but Albion moving forward.

He added: "I think it’s a huge advantage. He’s played and coached alongside some great football minds and he’s been able to take best practices, see things he’s probably disagreed with and really bring that into his own philosophy. 

"I think what’s most important is that it’s clear that he really has developed his own style and own ideas about how he wants to take the Albion forward. We feel like there’s really good alignment there. I also think there’s an advantage where he’s seen best in class. 

"He’s seen the type of mentality that top managers and top players have. I believe he has that mentality and my hope is that he can instil that mentality within our squad and organisation."