Former captain Kyle Bartley backing Ryan Mason to deliver long term success and makes 'perfect' Tammer Bany claim
Departed former Albion captain Kyle Bartley has backed Ryan Mason to deliver long term success at The Hawthorns - and believes Tammer Bany is 'perfect' for English football.
Albion return to Championship action on Saturday as they face Preston North End - who have enjoyed a successful start to the campaign.
Despite recent form, which has seen Albion win just one of their last five outings, the start under rookie head coach Mason has largely been a positive one.
Bartley worked briefly under Mason before calling time on his career back in the summer after failing to fully recovery from a knee injury.
The defender, who spent seven years at The Hawthorns, believes Mason will be given time by the club's owners and he has backed him to deliver long term success.
Speaking to Ladbrokes at the launch of Ladisfaction, Bartley said: "He's got the respect of everyone inside the training ground, and although he’s young, he’s already got so much experience when it comes to coaching; he’s worked with some great names but you can tell he wants to add his own ideas into things.
"It’s important he’s given time in the role, and I know enough about the people in charge at West Brom to say that they will give him time. You know, they see this as a long-term project, and they personally hired him. He was their number one target, and I think he’ll be a real success.
"I don’t know if he’ll want me to say this, but everybody at the club is striving for promotion. You’d probably say that would be via the play-offs, because I’m not quite sure we’ve got the depth to go for an automatic push, so the play-offs is what we’re hoping for.
"Looking at the Championship this year, it does look a lot more open than what it has been over the last few years. You know, it’s hard to identify any team in the division as one that’s capable of running away with the title, which means there’s a real opportunity for us to push on this season.
"Of course you need a bit of luck, and you need to keep your players fit. I think January is going to be important because we’re a little bit light in terms of strength in depth, so I’m sure the club are working behind the scenes and are already identifying players who might come in and give the squad a lift."
One of the stars of Albion's early season form has been Isaac Price - with the Northern Ireland international starting the campaign in goalscoring form for both club and country.
Another player who is working his way back to fitness and is soon hoping to be in contention is January signing Tammer Bany, who is yet to feature this season due to a hamstring injury.
He featured for the under 21s against Exeter in midweek - and Bartley has given an insight into what Albion fans can expect when Bany is given a run of games in the side.
He believes Bany is a similar player to Price - and Albion fans should be exciting about his imminent return.
He said: "You know, he’s been so unlucky with injuries since he came in, but he’s someone I’ve seen a lot of in training, and he’s a really, really exciting one to watch.
"He’s not far off a return to the first-team, and as someone who has played with him a lot, I can say he’s a really tenacious player, he’s not too dissimilar to Price, actually.
"He’ll run all day long, too, and I don’t think fans have seen that side of him yet, but he’s not your typical number 10 in that respect; he wants to get stuck in, he wants to defend, he’s not shy of kicking lumps out of anyone, so I’m sure fans will still see plenty of that this season, because there’s still a long way to go.
"He doesn’t care who he’s up against, he’s technical and physical, and that’s perfect for the English game."
