West Brom sweat over late Sherwood hitch

Albion today hit a major snag in their talks with Tim Sherwood as they considered potential alternatives to the ex-Spurs boss.

The Baggies are happy to allow Sherwood to choose two of his own coaches with both Les Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey in line to join him at The Hawthorns.

But the former Tottenham man was today believed to be holding out for better terms for the pair after agreeing a deal in principle on his own contract.

Baggies sources then insisted that other candidates remain in the background.

Ramsey has already met the Hawthorns hierarchy along with Sherwood while former England striker Ferdinand, who is currently on holiday, is also being lined up for a role on the Albion staff.

The trio worked together at Tottenham and look set to be reunited if the parties can overcome the stumbling block, which is thought to centre on wages.

Club sources insisted today they remained hopeful of making an announcement soon, but they were adamant other contenders were still being considered.

The decision to allow Sherwood two of his own favoured lieutenants is a break with recent tradition for Albion and will inevitably raise doubts over the role of Keith Downing, although the former caretaker boss is expected to be named as Sherwood's No.2.

Albion's last two bosses, Steve Clarke and Pepe Mel, were allowed to add just one of their own coaches to the staff and Mel had to wait almost a month before being joined by David Gomez, although he was later offered the chance to appoint Roberto Rios.

The Baggies have already lost one coach after U21 boss David Oldfield left the club yesterday to take charge of MK Dons' academy.