West Bromwich Albion appear to be on the right track to avoid relegation to League One after winning back-to-back Championships for the first time in 2026.
Manager James Morrison took over the job until the end of the season after Eric Ramsey was sacked and has won two wins and drawn two in his last four games.
The Baggies have decided to part ways with their final head coach after failing to win in nine games as head coach after he left Minnesota United to replace Ryan Mason.
Morrison has done a fantastic job as caretaker manager, winning their last two games against Hull and Bristol City, and looks set to lead the team into staying.
Isaac Price’s return to form has played a key role in the team’s turnaround, with one goal and 11 chances created from attackers in the last three games.
How James Morrison unraveled Isaac Price
During Ramsey’s time in charge of the Baggies, Price played as a right-sided wing-back in a back-five and at times as a regular right-back in a back-four.
Playing him as a wing-back or full-back negates his attacking threat and forces him into the odd cross from rare overlapping situations, which makes him look less effective than before.
However, Morrison moved him into a left-sided midfield role in a 4-4-2, giving him license to roam the infield or stay wide to act as full-back, which unleashed his attacking potential, scoring for the first time in his last 11 games against Hull.
No player has created more chances than Price (11) in the Baggies’ last three league games, but it shows that the creativity hidden in Ramsey’s system is finally shining through.
The Northern Ireland international has finally shown why he is the club’s most valuable player in the transfer market at £8.6m, and Morrison deserves credit for giving him the right platform to shine.
Price is in good form and has impressed in West Brom’s side, but there are former Baggies left-wingers who are better than the Northern Irishman.
Former West Brom forward better than Isaac Price
The Hawthorns have had some great talent over the years, one of whom has just been called up to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.
Harvey Barnes was called up to the Three Lions this month and spent the first half of the 2018/19 season on loan from Leicester City to West Brom.
During his time with the Baggies, the English forward had nine goals and seven assists in 26 Championship games before the Foxes called him up over seven years ago in January 2019.
The left-sided winger’s time at the Hawthorns was short but productive, as he regularly scored and assisted as a young player looking to make his mark.
Barnes played 187 games for Leicester, scoring 45 goals and assisting 32 goals, until Newcastle rushed to sign him for £38 million after the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League in 2023.
The 28-year-old star has made 113 appearances for the Magpies, scoring 28 goals and providing 13 assists, and has also featured in the team’s Champions League campaign this season.
25/26 Champions League | harvey burns |
|---|---|
Appearance | 12 |
begins | 9 |
xG | 4.14 |
the goal | 6 |
A big opportunity has arisen | 7 |
assist | 4 |
Barnes has contributed more goals in his 39 games (11) than Price did for West Brom in the Champions League (9), which speaks to the difference in quality between the two attackers.
At the time of writing, the Newcastle star is valued at around £28m by Transfermarkt. This is significantly higher than Price’s £8.6m valuation, making Barnes worth more than every player in the Baggies squad.
It’s a shame that West Brom supporters only got to enjoy his talent for half the season. That’s because he showed real promise during his loan spell and was good enough to earn a call-up to the England squad.
Hopefully, the Baggies can find more young talent with the same potential as Barnes and keep them for the whole season, or even sign them permanently in future transfer windows.
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