Fans view: New boss Eric Ramsay will bring much-needed clarity to West Brom

It is the eternal question for young managers – when are you ready for a job in the unforgiving environment of the top two leagues of English football?

Most feel that some level of apprenticeship in the lower divisions is required or a natural progression with one club.

Very few jump straight into a job in the Championship with no experience and succeed, no matter how big their profile as a player was.

Ryan Mason was a prime example of this.

He arrived at The Hawthorns with solid coaching credentials, but Albion proved too big a challenge for someone making their first foray into senior management.

Yet a man a few months his junior seems much better prepared for the challenge as he steps into the Albion dugout for the first time on Friday night to face high-flying Middlesbrough.

While Eric Ramsay may be younger than Ryan Mason, he is more experienced.

The former Manchester United and Chelsea coach has gained an apprenticeship in management, spending two years at Minnesota United and leading them to their best ever season in Major League Soccer.

Moreover, he developed a very clear, if slightly unusual, approach in the USA.

A stick many Albion fans often used to beat Mason with was that they did not see a defined style of play or ethos to his Baggies team.

Similarly, the players often did not seem to understand what was required of them with Albion, until recently, topping the Championship chart for errors leading to opposition shots on goal.

Many of these mistakes came from hesitancy in possession and players seemingly not knowing what their next move should be.

Expect that all to change under Ramsay.

Speaking in his first press conference on Wednesday, “clarity” was a word he used numerous times. The Welshman said he was determined to spell out his style of play and expectations to the players.

He spoke of being clear about the information he was giving them, rather than overwhelming them with a lot of information in a short period of time.

This was echoed by defender Chris Mepham, someone who had worked with Ramsay before in the Welsh set-up, who said that the players came out of their first meeting with the new boss with a clear idea of how he wants them to play.

Undoubtedly this was the case at Minnesota United too.

While Minnesota had the lowest possession numbers in the entire MLS, they were organised and hard working without the ball and lightning fast on the counter-attack when they got it.

They were also the best dead-ball team in the league and were outstanding at keeping cleared set-pieces alive, returning the ball back into the box more frequently than anyone else in the league.

In short, every player knew exactly what was expected of them and executed that game plan to a level which allowed Minnesota to achieve a league position that belied their lowly budget.

Whether Ramsay can get his messages across in just five days and achieve a positive first result on Friday night, we shall have to wait and see.