West Bromwich Albion head coach Eric Ramsay is already on the ropes in the early days of his tenure in the dugout after replacing Ryan Mason last month.
The English tactician arrived from MLS side Minnesota, with no experience of managing a first-team in England, and has endured a difficult start to his time at the club.
Ramsay has lost three and drawn two of his first five matches in charge of the Baggies, including a 5-0 loss at home to Norwich and a 3-0 loss away at Portsmouth – two of the teams around them in the Championship relegation battle.
West Brom are one point above the relegation zone ahead of Tuesday night’s clash with Birmingham City, who are fourth in the home table and have only lost one of their 15 games at St. Andrew’s.
If the ex-MLS boss wants to avoid relegation and a sacking in his first few months at the club, Ramsay will have to make some bold selection decisions, including dropping Isaac Price.
Why Isaac Price should be dropped
The Northern Ireland international seemed prime for a huge season after he started the campaign with a return of five goals and two assists in his first 12 matches in all competitions for the Baggies.
However, he has only scored one goal and provided one assist in 21 matches since that fantastic opening month or so, which shows that it was just a flash in the pan.
Price has registered one goal and zero assists in his last 16 appearances in the Championship for the Baggies, scoring a free-kick in the defeat to Middlesbrough, and Ramsay simply needs more from his attacking midfielders.
If West Brom are going to pull themselves away from the relegation battle, the manager needs players who can contribute with goals and assists on a regular basis in that area of the pitch.
Therefore, Ramsay could save his job at The Hawthorns by finally binning Price from the starting line-up to unleash a new signing who could be the club’s new Matheus Pereira.
The West Brom star who may be Matheus Pereira 2.0
The Brazilian attacking midfielder was a constant threat at the top end of the pitch during his time with the Baggies, scoring 20 goals and providing 26 assists in 77 appearances in all competitions.
Pereira delivered eight goals and 20 assists in 42 matches in the Championship in his debut season with the club, as an electric dribbler and creative force who provided goals and assists on a regular basis.
Now, West Brom have signed a young talent who has the potential to be the club’s next version of the Brazilian maestro, after they brought in Hindolo Mustapha on loan from Crystal Palace.
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder joined the club on loan from Palace on deadline day and was not involved in the 0-0 draw with Stoke City last time out in the league, as he had signed so late in the day last Monday.
With more time to train and get to know his new teammates in the last seven days, though, Mustapha may be available to make his debut against Birmingham, which is why Ramsay should ditch Price from the side to unleash the teenage whiz as his attacking midfielder.
|
Hindolo Mustapha’s youth career |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Games |
Goals + assists |
|
25/26 |
5 |
1 + 0 |
|
24/25 |
26 |
11 + 6 |
|
23/24 |
19 |
4 + 6 |
|
22/23 |
16 |
2 + 6 |
The Sierra Leone international, who has scored one goal in three caps for his country, scored 18 goals and provided 18 assists during his time at U18 and U21 level with Palace, which shows that he can provide a threat as both a scorer and a creator of goals.
This suggests that the 19-year-old ace, who was described as a “frightening” talent by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has the potential to be a Pereira-esque figure for the Baggies if he can carry his form at youth level over to first-team football.
Whilst there is no guarantee that he will start scoring and assisting goals every week as he did at U18 and U21 level, but West Brom picked him out and signed him for a reason, so they must believe that he has the capability to play at Championship level.
Therefore, Ramsay must unleash him from the start and provide the youngster with a chance to show that he has what it takes to be Pereira 2.0, in a move that could end up saving the manager’s job in the long run if Mustapha’s goals and assists fire the Baggies up the league table.
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