Cedric Kipre taking his West Brom chance

Snapped up from Wigan in a £900,000 deal last year, Kipre made just three appearances for the Baggies in his first season with the club.

After impressing Ismael during pre-season, the centre-back started Albion’s first game of the 2021/22 campaign at Bournemouth.

But he then featured in just one of the Baggies next 14 matches – with it starting to look as though his career at The Hawthorns would never get off the ground.

After watching his side lose 3-0 at Fulham last month, though, Ismael decided he needed to make changes to his defence.

And Kipre was the big beneficiary with the former Leicester man replacing Semi Ajayi in the side.

Since then he has gone on to impress having started the last six games – with the 24-year-old particularly impressive during Saturday’s win at Coventry.

And his recent performances have earned praise from Ismael.

“After the Fulham game when we lost 3-0, I said to the players you cannot expect that we carry on like that without giving a chance to someone,” the boss said. “Cedric needed to take his chance and I think he is playing well now.

“We need everyone. Everyone will be important for us.

“Semi came into the team from the bench at Coventry, he came in to help.

“It’s all about us, the players need to stay focused on their performances, what it means to play for us and their chance will come.”

Albion’s second goal at Coventry had an element of good fortune about it with Kipre handling the ball just before it crossed the line.

In the Premier League, it’s likely it would have been ruled out by VAR.

Throughout his time as a manager, though, Ismael has never been critical of referees – even when poor decisions have gone against his team.

And that’s because he believes – over the course of a season – good and bad decisions tend to balance each other out.

“Throughout the season there is always a balance,” Ismael said. “On one side, you will have decisions go against you, on the other side it will sometimes go for you. At the end it will be a good balance.”

Meanwhile, Ismael admits he is looking forward to seeing how Ralf Rangnick gets on at Manchester United.

The Red Devils interim head coach is someone Ismael knows well from his playing days in Germany.

The duo also share a similar philosophy that is based around intensity and high pressing.

“I know him very well and I know his philosophy – I played many times against teams he trained or was in charge of,” the Frenchman said when asked about Rangnick. “Normally, he plays with intensity, with a high press.

“The question is time now, will he have the time to implement that philosophy or will it be about managing the squad to get results.

“I think it will be interesting. But I think long-term, you will see after the caretaker situation he will be involved in the club.

“And this is exactly his strength, to develop a club, to develop a way, to develop a philosophy. It’s a massive challenge but if it works with Manchester United, they will be very unpleasant to play against.”