'Huge appointment' - ex-West Brom star drops next manager verdict amid Ryan Mason and Martí Cifuentes links

West Bromwich Albion’s search for their next manager continues, the club with a crucial decision to make ahead of what will be a fifth consecutive season in the Championship.

Carlos Corberán led the Baggies to the play-offs in 2023/24 before departing for La Liga and Valencia in December, and his successor Tony Mowbray could not maintain a play-off push this campaign with just five victories in 17 matches before he was sacked.

Former player James Morrison took over on an interim basis to see out the season, giving the club hierarchy the whole summer to decide on who should be the man to fire the club back to where they feel they belong. Martí Cifuentes, Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay have been linked with the vacancy, though Portsmouth boss John Mousinho ruled himself out by pledging his future to Portsmouth.

Interestingly, claims by EFL journalist John Percy suggested that Cifuentes is not on the list of candidates for the Albion vacancy, despite being placed on gardening leave by current club QPR amidst rumours of contact with the Baggies.

Former Baggies star gives his verdict on Cifuentes

Former West Brom striker and pundit Don Goodman recently opened up to Football League World about his view on the club’s managerial search, suggesting that Cifuentes may not have been the right fit.

“I say this often when I’m answering questions about players and managers, it’s really not for me to say whether Martí Cifuentes is somebody that West Bromwich Albion should be considering”, Goodman said.

“It’s one of those scenarios, isn’t it really? I always compare the parallels of Martí Cifuentes’ arrival in the Championship at QPR to Danny Rohl’s arrival at Sheffield Wednesday. They were both in a massive, massive hole and the two head coaches dug their respective clubs out of it. But then obviously this season it’s been very, very disappointing to say the least, from Queens Park Rangers particularly.”

But he emphasised that the Baggies must get the appointment right: “It’s a difficult one, really, but like most clubs that are searching for managers in the Championship, West Brom, it’s a huge appointment that they simply have to get right.”

Cifuentes has had an inconsistent time at QPR

What Cifuentes is most known for during his time in England is how quickly and sharply he turned things around in W12 when he first arrived to replace Gareth Ainsworth in October 2023. The club had been on a vicious slide towards what appeared a nailed-on relegation under Ainsworth. Cifuentes steadied the ship and slowly dragged his side out of the mire, eventually finishing 18th and surviving with games to spare.

Investment followed and expectations changed for the following campaign, but yet Rangers found themselves back at the bottom of the table in late November. Another outstanding period of form followed in the new year, before a late slump meant a finish in the mediocrity of 15th.

What all this suggests is that there has been very little stability of form under Cifuentes at QPR, and considering the issues that West Brom themselves have faced since relegation from the Premier League in 2021, the 42-year-old Spaniard may not be viewed as the reliable pair of hands needed to return the Baggies to the promised land.