Report: West Brom now in talks with 43-year-old who Sunderland spoke to earlier in 2022

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According to talkSPORT, West Brom are now in talks with Jody Morris – who spoke to Sunderland before they hired Alex Neil earlier in 2022.

West Brom interview Jody Morris

Well, this would be a shock appointment from the Baggies, as their quest to replace Steve Bruce continues.

The 43-year-old has been unemployed since January 2021 after Frank Lampard was sacked by Chelsea, where Morris worked as the 44-year-old’s assistant.

Interestingly, the Hammersmith-born coach has never actually held a senior position of his own, having also worked as No.2 to Lampard at Derby, although he did come close to joining Sunderland.

The Daily Mail believe Morris was spoken to by the Black Cats in February, although they eventually appointed Neil.

Morris did manage the Chelsea Academy from 2014 to 2018, although in terms of first-team football, he has no experience in management.

Nevertheless, those at the Hawthorns believe he is still capable of replacing Bruce – not that it will require a lot to improve on the 61-year-old’s dreadful time in charge at West Brom.

According to iNews, Rob Edwards is also in contention after Watford sacked him in September.

Elsewhere, the Mirror believe Carlos Corberan is a potential option, while the Northern Echo have claimed that Michael Carrick is also under consideration.

West Brom must avoid Jody Morris

In our view, West Brom would be taking a huge gamble by appointing Morris to replace Bruce.

As aforesaid, he has no previous experience as a manager in senior football, and with the Baggies sat 22nd in the Championship – just three points from the bottom – risks cannot afford to be taken.

If Ron Gourlay gets this next appointment wrong, it could see West Brom drop into League One, which would be utterly catastrophic for the Baggies.

In our view, West Brom need to hire someone who at least has a bit of experience managing in the Championship, or else their season could get even worse.

Of course, it would be nice to see fresh faces such as Morris given opportunities in management, but West Brom simply aren’t in the position to experiment at this stage.