QPR fans read this and weep. West Brom’s outgoing technical director Dan Ashworth outlines his club’s forward planning and philosophy, which couldn’t be more different to the shambles currently playing out at Loftus Road.
West Bromwich Albion means different things to QPR fans of different generations. A defeated League Cup final opponent from 1967 to some; a beaten FA Cup semi final opponent from 1982 to others; and to those of us born at entirely the wrong time and therefore relying on video footage for happier memories they’re that lot who tried to kill the travelling QPR fans back in 1998 for daring to steal Ray Harford from them.
I never really had a lot of time for West Brom after that day. I mean, it wasn’t as if the QPR fans were responsible for the Harford poaching, and he turned out to be one of the worst Rangers managers of all time in any case, so it felt a bit much to come after us so vehemently that day. Perhaps there was a degree of that hanging over when I spent most of the summer predicting that Albion would be relegated this season.
My logic was that replacing Roy Hodgson – one of the top coaching talents in the country – with Steve Clarke could really prove to be a difficult transition for them. I’ve never really bought into this idea that Clarke was some sort of all conquering assistant manager, given that he was number two to Kenny Dalglish during a very poor season for Liverpool last year, and sat alongside Avram Grant the year before as West Ham were relegated.
I changed my mind as the season approached and Romelu Lukaku was added to the attack – laughably tipping Swansea to finish bottom instead – and since then my attitude to West Brom has become more admiration and jealousy. How foolish it was to consider the Baggies – currently pushing for Europe – relegation fodder on the basis of a managerial appointment when the club is built around a sound system in which the manager is actually more of a coach and is only a small part of the machinery.
While QPR were preparing to hand Mark Hughes and Kia Joorabchian the keys to the Loftus Road safe this summer, and add a series of under committed big name players on colossal wages, West Brom were also preparing for the future but in quite a different way. There follows extracts from a lengthy article in the excellent West Brom matchday programme for our fixture there in April where the club’s technical director Dan Ashworth. Imagine anybody at QPR ever saying anything like this…
Ashworth said: “I think where we are as a club are strong is in our long term planning. About two and a half years ago I did one of these interviews for the programme just after Roberto Di Matteo had joined us and I said that we were looking at other managers and studying them so that in the vent of Robbie leaving for whatever reason we would have a number of candidates in mind. I remember taking a lot of stick for that, saying it was undermining the head coach. Well he was so undermined he got us promoted. But the following year when Robbie left us we had options in mind. We were fortunate tha Roy had left Liverpool otherwise he wouldn’t have been on the radar, but we were prepared for the various possibilities and I think you have to be.
“Looking at what might happen next is not undermining anyone, nor disrespecting anyone. When Robbie was here we were never approaching any other coaches, we were simply looking at who might be a good fit here should a change be needed if he went to another club, got sacked or fell under a bus. It’s precisely the same thing we do in terms of footballers. If we weren’t looking at other centre halves, goalkeepers, full backs, strikers, midfielders for the future people would be horrified and it’s just the same in terms of a head coach. You don’t want a decision to suddenly drop out of the sky and you be sitting there twiddling you thumbs thinking ‘what do I do now?’ You need to have some form of succession planning. That’s the same right the way through the organisation be it scouts, doctors, coaches, sporting and technical directors as well I’m sure.
“You have to have options. Isn’t that just common sense? Yet in the football industry that hasn’t been part of the culture. Traditionally things have been done on the fly but when you are dealing with a multimillion pound industry, leaving things to chance is insane. You have to be as prepared for all eventualities as you can be. On the field bits and pieces of luck can completely turn things upsie down: an injury, a bad decision, a deflection, a shot that hits the post and goes in or comes out. Those things, the human element, you can’t control.
“Who could ever have imagined that Fernando Torres would go through such a nightmare spell? If ever there was a proven world class goal scorer it was him. And then he’s just had a year where he’s scored four goals. You can’t legislate for that. You can never be 100% sure on any signing because you are dealing with human beings. But away from that we have tried to take as much chance out of things as we can and I think that’s the key reason why we’ve moved forward over the last few years.
“My job goes across first team, recruitment, the academy, the medical side and part of the remit is to organise those elements so that when some unpredictable event occurs, as happens all the time, it doesn’t throw us into crisis. We have a process whereby we can respond to it, we are as ready as we possibly can be. My role is so common in Europe all the clubs are set up in this way because they have recognised that football is, by its nature, a volatile business. Change is happening all the time and in the middle of that, if you want to succeed, you need some form of stability and forward planning.
“We talk about what success looks like for a club such as our own and it might well be that it’s a Preier League tea full of home grown footballers who have come through our academy, have our DNA running through them, and are capable of establishing our position in this division. Our academy is really starting to click in terms of having a visible end product. The groundwork put in over the last six years is now coming good.
“The club is fully committed to the Elite Player Performance Plan, to getting category one status, and I believe that with the investment we recently announced we should be able to do that. We’ve got some good players, and I think had we been relegated last season you’d have seen four or five of our boys in the Championship – boys like Chris Wood, George Thorne, Sam Mantom, jame Hurst and Saido Berahino might well have been in there and other boys might have had an opportunity too. But every year we stay in the top division the bar rises for the young players, it becomes a little bit harder to get in – but that’s the challenge. We’re not here to develop Championship footballers. The academy’s job is to produce Premier League players because that is where this club wants to be.
“Football is in a difficult position, especially beyond the Premier League. The fact that we are doing things the right way and succeeding as we do it is something the club should be proud of I think. I know there can be frustrations about that at times because fans always want to see a £20m player turn up, we all understand that, but if you do that the risks you run are immense.”
This summer Dan Ashworth will leave West Brom to take up a technical director position with the FA – the single best appointment that organisation has made since Terry Venables was appointed national team coach. You get the impression they probably know who’s going to replace him already.
QPR appointed a technical director of their own last season – Mike Rigg – but he was done so on the recommendation of the man he should have been overseeing, Mark Hughes, and left last week after Hughes was sacked. QPR are now without a technical director at all, with Harry Redknapp saying Mike Rigg left because he was one of “Mark’s people” and now he was here he would be bringing in his own people and that’s “just how football works.”
Sorry Harry, not any more it’s not.
Christmas or not, LFW regular Dr Matt Graham took time out to give us the latest on his high flying West Bromwich Albion team ahead of the Boxing Day clash. Thanks and Merry Christmas to The Good Doctor, always one of our more popular contributors.
A fantastic start to the season for Albion, with imperious home form. What have been the key factors in it? Can it be continued?
It has been a quite incredible start at fortress Hawthorns this season and as it stands we have the third best home record in the league, which is no mean feat. It also stands in stark contrast to last season when we struggled badly for form at home. This has been built upon a solid defensive base and the ability to counter attack against teams swiftly and effectively. There has been an element of luck too - Chelsea could easily have notched a few if their players hadn’t left their shooting boots in London for example. Can it be continued? Who knows? I hope so, as it will define whether we have a good season or a great season. The two recent home games against Stoke and West Ham were very poor, and we never really got into our stride; consequently the atmosphere has been quite subdued compared to the highs of the Chelsea game when the stadium was rocking.
What changes has Steve Clarke made from Roy Hodgson?
I know whenever you ask me about the Albion that I talk about the evolution of this and that, but this is what happens at the club. Clarke has used the defensive structure of the team as a platform – a solid back four, and two holding midfielders – but broken away from the rigidity of the Hodgson formation, by allowing the wingers/attacking midfielders/strikers more freedom of expression. Hence the devastating counter-attacks and lots of goals at the start of the season. Clarke has also added a few players to the squad - most notably Goran Popov, Claudio Yacob and Romelu Lukaku - all of whom have fitted in very well to the ethos and style of play. Hodgson was averse to making many substitutions during games (often leaving them until the last few minutes), whilst Clarke is the polar opposite and frequently makes bold and attacking changes if things aren’t going right. Furthermore, he hasn’t been scared to change the formation (or the personnel) depending on the opposition and most notably against Wigan he reverted to a 442, to pressurise their 352, which resulted in a good away win.
Three defeats and a draw lately. Has anything changed? Did you over-perform to start with and you're just settling back to a truer level?
West Brom most certainly over-performed at the start of the season. No doubt about that. I think (or at least hope) we are now at top ten team, so currently lying in seventh and two points off third is a magnificent achievement at this stage of the season, and is probably a better indicator of the ‘natural’ order of things. It has been a disappointing run of recent results, but it had to happen sometime. I know it is a cliché, but it really does depend on how the team and Clarke react to it. Swansea we caught on a bad day and they rightly thrashed us; Stoke, was well, Stoke and in a soul destroying game of fouling and dirty tackling, we threw away the game with one mistake; and the Arsenal game we were never in it, although two extremely dodgy penalties changed the nature of the match. We are also experiencing a run of injuries and suspensions, in particular Ben Foster (his command of the area and distribution compared to Myhill is enormous); Liam Ridgewell (miss his attacking contributions from fullback) and Yacob who has a hamstring injury have been a huge loss to the team and the way we play. Furthermore, I think that teams have started to work out how to play against us – pressurising the defenders and stifling the midfield area has meant the team has been unable to play in the way we did at the start.
Any hint to the January transfer window plans? Albion have never really been a side to go mad but what names are you being linked with and what does the team need?
It is all quiet on that front. The January transfer window is referred to by the club as a time to ‘top up’ the squad through free transfers or loans, so understandably no names have been bandied around yet. The club hasn’t signed anyone for money for a considerable amount of time in this period and unless someone special becomes available, it probably won’t happen this time around. It all depends on how things develop and whether Lukaku gets recalled by Chelsea – if this does occur then I’d expect us to at least inquire about another striker. We still need a right back and maybe cover for central midfield, but otherwise we are in good shape.
I can't say the FA Cup draw thrilled QPR fans greatly and I'm sure you guys are the same. Where does the FA Cup stand on the priority list now, given that you're pretty much assured of Premier League football next season?
It isn’t the most inspiring draw is it!? I have to say I’d love a cup a run and our journey to the semi-finals in 2008 was really exciting. In reality, it is the best chance of winning a proper trophy and as you point out, bar any major catastrophe then our league status is secure. Taking the FA Cup seriously was something that Clarke made quite a big thing about when he was appointed, so I’d like to see him stay true to his word.
There is nothing more thrilling in football than watching a swift counter attack perfectly executed, and that means West Brom have been one of the most entertaining Premier League clubs to watch this season. Without the ball there isn’t a team in the country working harder at the moment, and once it’s won back the subsequent attacks are always swift and often deadly. I said all this before the league game at The Hawthorns but Mark Hughes picked up on none of it in his own “meticulous” preparations and Rangers conceded twice in the first 22 minutes from quick counter attacks.
Thing have gone a little awry of late and the win against Norwich at the weekend was the first in five attempts. The reason for that is probably a budgetary one – West Brom cannot afford to carry like-for-like replacements in every position of a very impressive starting 11. They lost Ben Foster – a wonderful goalkeeper – to injury and could only replace him with Bo Myhill who’s just a very decent Championship keeper (both are better bets and a whole lot cheaper than Robert Green mind) but he returned for the win at the weekend.
More problematic, at least when I saw their dire 0-0 draw with West Ham recently, was the absence from the two man holding midfield positions of Claudio Yacob who hasn’t played since December 1. Earlier in the season his deep lying partnership with Youssuf Mulumbu was magnificent and laid a sound base for everything West Brom did well. Without him Clarke has dropped James Morrison back into his position which not only puts a player into Yacob’s position who doesn’t play it as well, but also removes Morrison from wide in the three man attacking midfield positions where he ripped QPR apart earlier this season. Against West Ham they played Zoltan Gera, Chris Brunt and Peter Odemwingie in support of Shane Long the lone striker, then against Norwich they started with Lukaku instead of Long and Graham Dorrans instead of Gera. There’s something missing without Morrison though.
There other inconsistent selection area has been at full back where Billy Jones, Liam Ridgewell, Steven Reid and Goran Popov have all rotated through right and left back due to injury. The centre backs Gareth McAuley and particularly Jonas Olsson also pose a big threat at attacking set pieces – watch out for Gera blocking the goalkeeper as McAuley and Olsson attack out swinging deliveries. Popov also got great traction attacking down the left side when I saw them at Villa earlier this season.
Up front in the lone striker role is Shane Long, who was later changed for the totally different Romelu Lukaku – so the Baggies can go from craft and guile to brute strength and raw pace with one second half substitution.
They’ve been well drilled, well coached and well settled whenever I‘ve seen them this season.
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