West Brom preview: A look ahead to the 2026/27 Championship season

Only James Morrison’s miraculous saving run in the spring kept Albion away from the clutches of the third tier as, somehow, the Baggies did not pay the price for the Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay missteps.

Even then, the EFL’s late attempt at a sting in the tail via a financial charge ensured the pain of uncertainty continued almost until the bitter end.

With 2026/27 on the horizon, and Morrison now very much the main man, the target is simple - do not endure a repeat of last season’s pain and attempt to be competitive in the right half of the Championship table.

At The Hawthorns, there should be quiet optimism that the Baggies, perhaps unfancied by many owing to last term, can surprise a few.

It is a vastly different gig to the one Morrison was entrusted with as February turned to March this year.

Then, with things extremely bleak after the Oxford failure, there was one task - survival.

This time Morrison is the man to build the foundations, or rather continue the fine work he laid to ensure the club’s Championship status.

There is something poetic about Morrison, who turned 40 over the summer, at the helm as he heads into his 20th year at The Hawthorns in 2027. It really was among the best £1.5million outlays in the club’s proud history.

Supporters would be right to feel optimistic that Morrison can continue the work, and in particular the momentum, that existed in the spring.

It is a different role, with different pressures and expectations, but Morrison is the same man, demanding the same standards and with the same coaching ethos.

Two trump cards up his sleeve this season are two pieces of summer recruitment away from the pitch.

Assistant coaches Matt Gill and Gavin Strachan will lead a lot of Albion’s coaching at the club’s training base in Walsall, with Morrison’s more studious watching brief.

Gill was a huge influence in the Baggies’ sharp upturn in form from March.

His sessions were lively and players loved the possession and tempo aspects to them. Gill’s association with Russell Martin, a free agent who since joined Leicester of League One, meant uncertainty about his movements - but the coach was keen to commit.

That was a huge boost for Morrison, but so too was the backing for the head coach to bring in Strachan from Celtic, as well as long-term associate and close friend Tony McMahon.

Strachan, like Gill, is regarded as a very high-calibre coach and his training sessions have equally gone down a storm so far this summer.

McMahon, best mates with Morrison since their Middlesbrough schooldays, has vast experience at all levels of the game and will be a perfect foil for the head coach. If he needs a trusted opinion or a sounding board, McMahon will be the man.

Morrison and his backroom team are very well set - but any coaching team needs the right tools to succeed.

At the time of writing, the Baggies are still around a handful of recruits short of where the squad must be come the transfer deadline at 11pm on September 1.

Business to date has been encouraging enough, but the squad remains light in key areas.

Director of football operations Ian Pearce and technical director Dominic Price are working on a midfield reinforcement to add options to the existing trio, and the key area to strengthen is out wide.

The squad lacks any true natural width with its wingers. Jed Wallace was released and the out-of-contract Karlan Grant opted for elsewhere. Isaac Price, if used on the left, likes to drift infield and Mikey Johnston is still some way from full fitness after the broken ankle.

It is expected Morrison would ideally demand two options, preferably one for either side, to provide some more natural width.

Otherwise the squad is a striker light despite the additions of Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Barney Stewart. Former Villa youngster Cameron Archer, of Southampton, has been a target this summer.

Morgan, the £1.2million addition from Chelsea, has certainly caught the eye this summer both in training and in friendlies.

His finishing has been of an extremely high level, which the frontman admits is a strength, and he appears to have the game to combine with team-mates, too.

Stewart, also a £1.2m signing, may take more time to work up to Championship speed having arrived from Falkirk. He feels like a wildcard addition. Morgan and Aune Heggebo could need some assistance.

Frenchman Nolan Galves solved the right-back conundrum and looks an exciting addition from second tier Rodez in his homeland as just the fourth senior Frenchman to join Albion after Nicolas Anelka, Morgan Amafitano and Yann M’Vila.

Galves, 23, is an attack-minded right-back and if he can settle and adjust to England, he can get fans off their seats.

The extended Championship play-off positions, down to eighth from sixth, give extra hope of being attained if things go well this season.

There is and should not be pressure internally from owners Bilkul or externally to finish in the play-offs, certainly in what is likely to be a very strong and competitive division at the top end.

But Morrison is a demanding individual and, if recruitment finishes well, the tools could be in place to go well.