West Brom confirm Ryan Mason appointment as head coach on three-year deal
Ryan Mason has been appointed new Albion head coach.
The 33-year-old has moved from Tottenham Hotspur, where he was assistant head coach to Ange Postecoglou, and has penned a three-year deal at The Hawthorns.
His appointment has seen Albion owners Bilkul land their man after showing interest in Mason, the former Spurs midfielder who had to retire aged 26 due to a head injury, in January.
The deal has been confirmed after formalities were agreed between all parties over the weekend, including two coaches Mason has brought with him to the Black Country.
Mason has appointed two members of backroom staff, Nigel Gibbs as assistant head coach, checking in from League One outfit Reading.
Also moving as part of the new head coach's team is Sam Pooley from Rangers. He will be first-team coach and head of performance. Both Gibbs and Pooley worked with Mason in north London.
Experienced coach Gibbs, 59, has a host of coaching experience domestically and abroad including with Millwall, Watford, Leeds and Asteras Tripolis in Greece. He was head of player development at Spurs and Mason's assistant in the latter's two spells as caretaker.
Pooley, 35, moved to Rangers as head of performance in January this year after departing Spurs, where he spent nine years and was latterly head of sports science.
The staff will join existing coaches James Morrison, Boaz Myhill and Damia Abella as Mason's backroom staff.
Mason said: "This is a huge club with fantastic infrastructure and an incredible fan base and I am excited about what we can achieve together."
Albion had also showed an interest in English coach Eric Ramsay during the hunt for Tony Mowbray's successor.
One-cap England midfielder Mason credits his former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino as a big influence behind his style of coaching and how he sees the game.
Albion owner and chairman Shilen Patel, for whom this is a second head coach appointment after Mowbray, added: “We have undertaken a thoughtful and expansive search and Ryan always stood out to us among an incredibly strong group of candidates.
“We are excited to have someone whose skillset means he has the aptitude to help us further establish elite standards in both preparation and player development for the first team and across all our team programmes.
“His experiences as both a first team player and coach under some of the game’s most respected minds, along with his time leading academy sides, will be instrumental as we shape a clear philosophy and unified identity at all levels at the Albion.”
