West Brom have already been warned against ‘big risk’ as surprise managerial target emerges

West Brom are one of a handful of Championship clubs still searching for a new manager heading into the summer, but one name they’ve been linked with this week has already been written off previously.

A promising season for the Baggies descended into disappointment under Tony Mowbray, with a poor run of form in the back end of the campaign leaving the play-offs out of reach for West Brom.

Mowbray was dismissed almost a month ago now, so clearly, the West Brom hierarchy are taking their time to make the right appointment next.

With promotion from the Championship high on the agenda for next season, that makes sense, but recent links to a relatively untested 33-year-old coach have not gone down well.

• READ MORE: West Brom star Tom Fellows offers hilarious response to career change question, ‘I always look…’

Lee Hendrie warned clubs against hiring Eric Ramsay

Eric Ramsay, previously of Chelsea, Man Utd, and the Welsh national team in coaching roles, is now the manager at Minnesota United in the MLS.

The 33-year-old was touted as an option for the vacancy at Southampton and has now emerged as a contender for the West Brom job.

But, speaking to Football League World back at the start of the month, Lee Hendrie discussed the idea of Eric Ramsay taking over at Southampton when those links arose, and the former Aston Villa man had more than a few concerns.

He said: “I’ve touched on the Norwich situation by taking [Jack] Wilshere in there. We’ve seen so many good coaches and people who’ve been at big football clubs working below the first-team or with the first-team taking that step up.

“I think it would be a big risk because Southampton will be one of the teams that are expected to bounce back into the Premier League. So yes, [it is] a massive gamble with the lack of EFL experience, but if there’s an investment plan there.

“I’m not saying we haven’t seen anyone do so, we’ve seen Leicester do it, [Enzo] Maresca did a great job there.

“So yes for me, not having experience, but when you have investment, I think you’ve got every chance. There’s a bit of both there for me.”

It remains to be seen whether the Ramsay links have any substance to them, but we’re sure plenty of West Brom fans would share the sentiment Hendrie has put forward. Indeed, a tried and tested name is surely needed now to get the Baggies back in the top flight next season.

• READ MORE: West Brom flop played his part in historic Bayern Munich moment, Tony Pulis said he ‘wasn’t at that level’ in 2015

Who else have West Brom been linked with?

As with any managerial vacancy, there have been plenty of names put forward for the West Brom role already over the last month.

We hear Dave Challinor is on the shortlist for West Brom after his impressive work at Stockport County, but there’s a chance he will be taking his team to the second tier this season via the play-offs anyway.

Ryan Mason is thought to be at the top of the list, but he is still involved with Tottenham Hotspur amid their run to the Europa League final.

Meanwhile, Marti Cifuentes was ruled out, despite being put on gardening leave at QPR after expressing an interest in the job at The Hawthorns.

West Brom star Tom Fellows offers hilarious response to career change question, ‘I always look…’

Everyone wants to know what the future holds for Tom Fellows at West Brom, and the impressive Baggies starlet has finally discussed his career prospects… sort of.

West Brom had a mixed season this year, with early promise under Tony Mowbray making way for disappointment in the end.

Mowbray was sacked and the Baggies ended the season in ninth place, four points off the Championship play-offs, leaving fans to lament another missed opportunity.

While West Brom search for a new manager over the summer — with Dave Challinor the latest to be linked — we turn our attention today to how Tom Fellows feels about his career.

• READ MORE: West Brom flop played his part in historic Bayern Munich moment, Tony Pulis said he ‘wasn’t at that level’ in 2015

What Tom Fellows said about his career

Fellows was West Brom’s shining light throughout the 2024/25 campaign, bagging four goals and a division-high 14 assists to become the club’s Young Player of the Year.

It goes without saying, then, that Fellows is one of the best players in the Championship at the moment, but what if he wasn’t a footballer at all?

The 21-year-old was asked exactly that by a student in a recent visit to Blackwood Primary School, and his response was rather funny, to say the least.

He said: “I always look at the postman’s job and I think, seriously, they start in the morning and then they’re done pretty early.”

It was then suggested that would be “pretty similar” to his current working schedule, to which Fellows replied, “Exactly, there wouldn’t be much change.”

With the way Fellows has been delivering assists all season, he would probably be pretty good at being a postman, too.

• READ MORE: West Brom forced to wait for top managerial target as potential Tony Mowbray replacement is busy in Europe

Will Tom Fellows leave West Brom this summer?

In all seriousness now, the future is unclear for West Brom when it comes to holding onto their star man this summer.

Reports suggested Fellows was close to joining Everton in January, but nothing came of that and he stuck with his boyhood club for the remainder of the campaign.

The one plus side to any potential Fellows deal in the summer is that West Brom would have significant funds to recruit new talent of their own.

Of course, the first and most important task for the club at the moment is to find their next manager. Then they can worry about what players will or will not be around next season. Either way, losing Fellows would be a real blow for the Baggies.