Albion's Sporting Director Andrew Nestor has sat down with WBA TV to speak about the appointment of Ryan Mason as Head Coach.
Nestor explains in detail why the new boss is the right man for the job, as well as how his career so far should help him succeed at The Hawthorns
Andrew also reveals the "most important" factor which led to choosing Mason - and the 33-year-old's impressive mentality, which they hope will play a big role going forward.
Check out the full interview below!
Andrew, thank you for taking the time to speak to us. We’re pleased to be speaking to you following the appointment of our new men’s Head Coach Ryan Mason. Please can you tell us what it was about Ryan that made him the standout person to take on this role?
We went through a thorough and considerate approach. We wanted to ensure that we gave enough time to really evaluate a short, targeted list of candidates. As a club, we’re constantly evaluating talent, just like we would players. Last year we had developed a short targeted list of potential head coaches in case we would need to make a change, and Ryan has been on that list since the start.
That list really hasn’t changed, the only thing that has changed has been timing and availability. Ryan is relatively young, but in coaching years he’s not. He’s really developed an impressive career during his time at Tottenham Hotspur. He has developed a lot of respect in the football industry and that’s a reason he was on the list to begin with. We feel like, given his experiences, his character and the discussions we’ve had around vision for our club, he’s the right person for the job and I’m pleased to welcome him as the new Head Coach of the Albion.
What was it specifically that impressed you about him and his career to date?
He’s had an incredible football journey. As a player, he worked his way through the football pyramid, he established himself as a Premier League player and played for his country. While he was in the Premier League he played under top managers such as Mauricio Pochettino, who Ryan has told me has really influenced how he sees his coaching philosophy and playing style today.
As a coach throughout his career, he’s worked at different levels. He’s worked in an elite academy, he’s worked on individual player development for young players as well as world-class senior players. He’s really seemed to have taken all those learnings and developed it into his own style. It’s a clear, forward-thinking coaching philosophy that we feel fits very well. We feel all that experience will enable him to be the leader that we need.
At 33 years of age, Ryan will be one of the youngest managers in Europe. Was it always an objective to appoint someone with this kind of profile?
No, I wouldn’t say age is an overriding factor. The first factor really is finding a coach who can adapt our squad, our playing philosophy and evolve it into a game model that allows us to win in this division and have sustained success.
I would say another large factor is alignment around broader sporting department functions and process, so having alignment around analytics and adoption of best practices in sports science and performance, as well as date-led recruitment, and then being able to take all those best practices and what we do with the men’s first team and bring that down to the younger players that we’re developing.
I would say the other factor, which perhaps is the most important in the end, is character. Ryan has, as I mentioned, developed a very good reputation in the football industry both as a player and a coach. He’s shown very strong and steady character. He’s been under the spotlight, he’s been working at a place where there’s always external pressures and he’s risen above that. We feel like he can hopefully bring that character into our club.
He's clearly worked with some of football’s most high-profile managers during his playing and coaching career. How beneficial do you believe this has been for him?
I think it’s a huge advantage. He’s played and coached alongside some great football minds and he’s been able to take best practices, see things he’s probably disagreed with and really bring that into his own philosophy. I think what’s most important is that it’s clear that he really has developed his own style and own ideas about how he wants to take the Albion forward. We feel like there’s really good alignment there. I also think there’s an advantage where he’s seen best in class. He’s seen the type of mentality that top managers and top players have. I believe he has that mentality and my hope is that he can instil that mentality within our squad and organisation.
