New West Brom boss eyeing 'something special' as play-off claim made
New boss Ryan Mason will not put a timeframe on 'achieving something special' at Albion - as sporting director Andrew Nestor outlined a 'play-off minimum' target.
The Baggies will enter a fifth consecutive campaign in the second tier, once again without the benefit of parachute payments, for the 2025/26 campaign.
They do so under the stewardship of new head coach Mason, who at 34 is the club's youngest manager or head coach appointment in more than a century.
Mason, who cut a steely determined and focused figure at his press unveiling this week, would not be drawn into when there is an expectation he can bring success to The Hawthorns.
"We want to achieve something here, I've not come here just to enjoy management," said former Tottenham midfielder and assistant Mason. "I've come here because I'm ambitious, I know the club's ambitious, I want to try and achieve something special.
"We're not going to put a time frame on that. We just know that every day we're going to need to work together to be consistent and try to build something.
"The most important thing is coming in with that mindset every single day, take each day, each game as it comes, and then then we'll see from there."
Albion slipped to a finish of ninth in the second tier last season having fought in or around the play-offs positions for most of the campaign until the final month collapse, which saw former boss Tony Mowbray dismissed after fewer than 100 days in charge.
Prior to that Carlos Corberan delivered a finish of fifth in his sole full season in charge, before a play-off semi-final defeat to Southampton, who won promotion in the play-offs.
Prior to that were Championship finishes of ninth in the season beginning with Steve Bruce at the helm and 10th when the Baggies went into the campaign under the newly-appointed Valerien Ismael following Premier League relegation in 2021.
Asked about expectation from an ownership perspective, Nestor replied: "Yeah, I think that club, like our we should expect to be a minimum of playoff team.
"It's not always going to happen. We can't really predict the future, but that is a goal of ours."
