DEON Burton is relishing the opportunity to get his teeth into two new roles at West Bromwich Albion.
The former Portsmouth, Derby County, and Sheffield Wednesday forward, who has been working with the Club’s Academy for the past year, will assist Jamie Smith in the running of the U23 group as well as overseeing the loan system.
The position of handling the loan process was previously held by Head Coach Darren Moore, a man Deon knows extremely well having played international football together for Jamaica.
Burton made over 600 senior appearances in a career spanning over 20 years and he is hoping this new opportunity will give him the chance to pass on valuable experience and knowledge to several Baggies youngsters.
He said: “It’s an exciting opportunity and one that I would have been silly to turn down.
“It’s a combined role. I’ll be assisting Jamie Smith with the U23 group and I’m really looking forward to getting out on the grass and helping out there.
“I’ll also be making sure all the players who go out on loan are looked after and everything is right there.
“I’ll be the connection between both clubs, both managers and the player himself.
“I’ll be trying to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible for the player making the move.
“The gaffer is someone who I have known for a long time. We played together for Jamaica and we had long chats about the position before I took the role.
“He said what would be expected and obviously having first-hand info from the person who had the job before is always helpful.
“He gave me a great insight into what the role involves and what will be expected. There’s nothing that will stumble me because Darren has already filled me in with the details.
“Being back in full-time football is great because it’s been what I have been used to for 20 years.
“I’m hoping to pass on as much experience from my playing career as I can.
“I played for plenty of teams during my career so I already know a lot of the managers throughout the leagues. That helps because I can pick up the phone and speak to them one-on-one about players."