Calm and calculated – West Brom’s success is well deserved
Dreadfully fraught as the finish might have been, perhaps it was fitting Albion were the team to emerge from the nerve-shredding Championship promotion run-in still intact.
After all, theirs is a triumph built on strength of character and the ability to make calm, reasoned decisions under pressure, whether that be on pitch, in the dugout or the boardroom, writes Matt Maher.
Admittedly, the final steps on their journey back to the Premier League were anything but smooth. Albion rather staggered over the line. But this was a promotion earned after more than 11 months of graft, in a season unlike any other.
A lack of finesse in the closing weeks should not distract from an achievement made all the more impressive when you consider the position the Baggies found themselves in at the beginning, in the weeks which immediately followed play-off defeat to Villa last May.
Without a manager and with their playing squad requiring a significant overhaul, it was tempting to question whether the Baggies were a club lacking direction and leadership as the days and weeks ticked by.
Instead, the opposite was true. Despite the outside clamour to make an appointment, chief executive Mark Jenkins and technical director Luke Dowling never wavered in their determination to find the right man for the job.
Several candidates were considered and spoken to, from Chris Hughton to Bruno Labbadia. Albion even kept tabs on Chris Wilder’s situation at Sheffield United during a boardroom battle at Bramall Lane.
But Jenkins and Dowling knew what they wanted and were prepared to wait as long as reasonably possible to get it. When Slaven Bilic was appointed on June 13, it was more than three months after Darren Moore had been sacked.
We will never know how the 2018/19 season might have panned out if the latter decision had not been taken. Yet no-one can argue Albion’s patience in finding his replacement has not now been rewarded.
And in Bilic, Albion found the perfect fit for a club looking to press the reset button.
It was patience, that rarest of virtues in the modern game, which would also prove pivotal in the weeks following the head coach’s appointment as the Baggies looked to add a younger, hungrier edge to their playing staff.
Other clubs might have walked away when Sporting Lisbon kept insisting Matheus Pereira could only be signed on a permanent deal. Albion stuck to their guns, the Brazilian becoming one of four deadline day signings. Hugely talented but also possessing the grit needed to flourish in the Championship, Pereira epitomises the qualities of Bilic’s team.
So too have Grady Diangana and Filip Krovinovic, while the acquisitions of Semi Ajayi and Romaine Sawyers successfully refreshed the spine of the side.
The January additions of Kamil Grosicki and Callum Robinson, also done late in the window, provided extra thrust for the run-in.
Albion’s mentality, though, is perhaps best summed up by their captain. For some time Jake Livermore’s career at the club risked being most remembered for an unfortunate night in Barcelona. Now he is a promotion-winning skipper.
Still, no-one has altered perceptions quite like Jenkins, the cartoon villain of the Jeremy Peace years who has shown his true qualities since returning in 2018 with the Baggies already almost doomed to relegation.
First steadying the ship, he has skilfully set it back on the right course both on and off the field. His decision to take a full pay cut during the coronavirus, meanwhile, demonstrated a deep understanding of the fanbase.
In Dowling and Bilic, he has appointed men with values that mirror his own, both ambitious and hungry for success, yet never reckless.
Celebrations for the trio have been short. The seven-week turnaround between seasons does promoted clubs few favours. Neither can the messy finale, which further highlighted the scale of the task ahead, be completely ignored.
Yet Albion are returning to the Premier League with a clear understanding of who they are and where they want to go. Though that alone never guarantees success, it can help build the foundations.
