West Brom's idea was right - they were just looking in the wrong direction

After the Tony Mowbray appointment, which came around on the back of the failed bid for Raphael Wicky, the specification for their new manager was clear.

Young, up and coming, and British. In Ryan Mason, they believed to have found that.

However, after an impressive start to the season the wheels soon began to fall off.

In January, when some other clubs went for a firefighter, which Leicester City did with Gary Rowatt, Albion stuck to their guns.

Young and up and coming. Up steps Eric Ramsay. On paper, done his time as a coach at a big club, and gone to the MLS to make it as number one.

Some saw it as a risk, others praised Bilkul for sticking to their ways in the hope it would work.

It didn’t. It was a disaster. Too many changes and Albion’s inability to pick up a win meant Ramsay lasted just nine games.

Where to go nexr? Well, Bikul stuck with that above mantra, more by the fact the next man was already in the building.

But James Morrison did fit the model Bilkul were looking for. Young, British and up and coming.

And it has worked, remarkably. Ten unbeaten and steering Albion to safety amid PSR adversity, it has been some job done by Morrison to turn around a side that was hurtling towards League One alongside Leicester.

A back to basics approach, getting Albion working harder than other teams and creating chances covers just the surface of what Morrison has done at West Brom.

He deserves the job, he really does. There was nowhere else to turn to.

In a season of bad managerial decisions, Bilkul have now got one out of three right.

They have come under fire this season, former sporting director Andrew Nestor along with Shilen Patel.

At times quite rightly. Ramsay had credentials and will no doubt return to the game and do well.

But it was maybe a naïve move at the time, looking at it with hindsight.

This latest one is the correct decision. And what it does show is that Bikul, Patel and Nestor’s ideas were right.

The blueprint for who they wanted in charge of the side was correct - but they should have looked inwards before looking out.

Now they have and it could be a master stoke.