Ask Mozza.

So many games early in last season’s tumult of an opening few months, we had Messers Mason and Ramsay, with their ranks of wise men and lap tops on The Albion sideline, striving for answers, but seemingly marginalizing the character who probably had the solution..

Mozza often was on the periphery, never one called for advice, but still there..

Seemingly never asked.

But through those dead pan poker eyes, other things were going on.

Observing.

Informing.

In all probability how not to coach…

When the caretaker role was offered to Mozza, it was fascinating hearing him speak of in his earliest days, seeking what wasn’t asked of him.

Advice..

And advice can come from opposite stylists and opposite sources..

It’s hard to imagine two more opposite Albion teams built during the relative Tony’s reigns..

Mowbray and Pulis both see ‘the beautiful sport’ through very different lenses, but the best of both can be admired and delved into..

No doubt their respective wisdoms were different and that is THE WHOLE POINT….

Take on board different takes.

STRENGTHEN your own…

This is clearly how Mozza has moved in his formative and on reflection, deeply impressive Albion days, when life was again breathed into a club hellbent on reverse…

And the answer was staring at us..

Like Mason and Ramsay were seemingly not so keen on, you simply had to ask…

It’s early season of course, but to be at the top of the 24 club race, that is The Championship is just a start, but the message is clear…

A club in transition, but a club definitely moving in the right direction…

One thing Mozza may well have seen last season was an ineptness of a coaching core, and for sure, he wasn’t going to fall into the same trap..

Right hand men, from Big Ron's Colin Addison to Cloughie's Peter Taylor, have always been key, and the early recruitment of Matt Gill and even more importantly the later retention of this trusted lieutenant has been a masterstroke…

And for Matt, a bullet dodged.

After all, he could be floundering with Russell Martin at the Foxes, such is the consequence of making the right or wrong decision..

Add in the highly rated Gavin Strachan and a trusted friend and team mate for a quarter of a century, Tony McMahon, and you have a quartet to consolidate and move the club forward.

Tonight, in this early incarnation of the division, The Albion are sitting pretty on top, 6 months and 16 days since Mozza took on the caretaker role at The Hawthorns..

Tonight may have been his best coaching performance so far, down to ten men for over an hour, what impressed me most was the organization, vision and calmness the four key coaches showed today..

There was zero panic.

Adjustments had to be made and the hallmark of a very good manager is creative thinking to solve problems..

Full backs can be like buses, and to a red card and an injury, we’d lost two, in the guise's of Brayann Pereria’s reckless red, and Nolan Galves’s injury..

Perceived wisdom would say, move your best player, inspirational in the previous games clean sheet and win v Watford, Chris Mepham, from the bench, to central defence, and put George Campbell at right back, a position he knows well, but in all honesty, played with mixed effect last season..

But no..

When you have a player as talented and flexible as Callum Styles as left back, supplant him to the opposite flank and bring on the honest endeavor of the experienced Conor Townsend..

I truly defy any Baggies fan watching the game to say,\

‘Yes, Mozza, I was thinking exactly the same!!’

But from the inner sanctum of intelligence now on the Albion sideline, this was a plan, and my word, did it work!!

Plan is something Albion have really worked on this season, moving away from the experienced in downward curves of careers or serially injured, to young, exciting talent with energy and potential, but no guarantees..

Some of these players were bound to settle in quicker than others, if they were obvious talents, there’s a fair chance the competition to sign for other clubs would have stymied our chances..

But for the most part, unknown to many, unheralded talents converged to be Baggies.

Some will do brilliantly.

Some we may well sell..

Some will struggle.

To think otherwise would be folly..

Six goal contributions by our most expensive new signing JJ Morgan, clearly is an excellent return, a striker with a confident air is never a bad thing, it’s the role where self confidence is such a vital pre requisite.

As long as you have the ability to back it..

Morgan is a stylish finisher, who, if he stays fit will, [with the confidence of a Jimmy-Jay, in my eyes] will be our top scorer since we started this current five year sojourn in The Championship.

The great thing about Morgan is he seems to stay extremely calm when the penalty box pressure is at its highest, whether dispatching a sharp finish, or supplying the most inviting of passes for a team mate to finish.

A rare talent and trait.

The Morgan/Heggebo connection for the winner v Derby was a sight unseen for us over recent seasons, but an absolute necessity if we are to make the play offs.

Forward partnerships should dovetail and that winner was beautifully synchronized.

It has to be noted, by far Morgan’s most ineffectual game was when Aune Heggebo was unavailable with injury.

And when you really analyze it, its partnerships all over the field..

Selling the aging Alex Mowatt was a must, if we were to really progress, the growing maturity of Ousmane Diakite as a leader rather than being a bench player, ‘perhaps’ making an impact has been a revelation and one the ever more confident Oussie's career is only going in one direction now.

[I'm creating a very detailed article on Oussie's career so far that will be published during Sept/October International Window, you'll find it at Baggiebard.com.]

The notion of opposites attracting is clearly seen with how Diakite and Jayson Molumby have taken on their developing partnership into a higher level this season.

The bond is obviously tight and Molomby, as spirited as they come, also described as previously perhaps, a loose cannon in peril of a yellow card on a regular basis, is truly LIBERATED under Mozza..

The passing of time doesn’t completely extinguish the red mist, but for sure filters it into a responsible shade, the midfielder for the most part is still capable of the physicality, when used correctly can be so effective, from the pitch or the bench as his late cameo against Charlton was so needed and truly enjoyable to watch..

Jayson will always be in someone's head...

The pair though, simply work….

Add in Toby Collyer, someone Mozza rates incredibly highly, instrumental in maintaining his links regardless of TC moving to Hull City on loan late last season.

Faith and belief in a player counts, and we are all hoping that X Factor of staying fit is the pivotal factor in Collyer’s success as a Baggie.

Mozza loves him.

Isaac Price, from the travails of last season, [and I’m sure the frustrations on so many levels on his part], looks such a different player, the balance and interchanging with another similarly intelligent player in Harry Whitwell, are key reasons we have been so easy on the eye.

Fluidity and comfort on the ball are Mozza pre-requisites, you can imagine training being such a fun place to be, with skill and flexible formations being sacrosanct, the movement of the ball and player, everything.

Whitwell, from a rangy, teenage loanee at Forest Green, exhibits the traits of a more mature person and player, smooth in possession, he just fits in perfectly with the Mozza masterplan.

From very trusted sources, Whitwell is about to sign a long term contract at the club, rightly rewarding his progress and giving us all a healthy sign of relief..

If we are to move on, we need next level players, and Whitwell is that player.

In central defence, oddly enough, it’s the skipper who hasn’t quite performed to the levels of last season, but it’s not defending but the distribution at times of George Campbell that is a worry, but his partnership with the outstanding Nat Phillips has been the Albion rock to depend on.

Both had a lot on their proverbial plate in 2025, Campbell just got married and the first born of the Phillips/Gallagher occurred, born in September and parenthood can be a time of adjustment..

When we signed Nat, he spoke about ‘at last finding his home’, after being a loanee at five clubs over six seasons…

We were simply not going to concede on Nat’s watch v Derby, an inspirational performance against his former club, one of that core of leaders, the type all successful clubs need..

Nat has now played more games for us than at any spell in his career, a brilliant signing.

The same can be attributed to Callum Styles, deserved Player of the Year and under Mozza, the perfect platform to literally pop up in any position on the pitch, allying such high fitness levels with solid technique.

Between the sticks, Max O’Leary looks to me more Osborne than Foster, an unconventional but very effective shot stopper, certainly from his debut thrown without due preparation in the deep end, has settled down very well, conceding in his two dozen Baggies appearances, just over one goal per game [1.09].

O’Leary was an unheralded signing, but looks like our best keeper since Alex Palmer left for Portman Rd.

New signings will take time, and patience will have to be a virtue if we are to get the most out of players from overseas, getting to grips with a new environment and a different pace to the game…

Rabby Nzingoula looks like he has been schooled by our academy, returned raring to go from a loan move and is as natural a 20 year old signing as I can recall. 

Nzingoula belies his age with physicality and has the early heads up vision of an experienced player.

But Rabby is no ordinary 20 year old.

16 caps at the France U20 level, where competition is at its absolute fiercest and 76 first team appearances before joining West Brom.

Rabby’s ‘signing for the Albion introduction film' wasn’t like many I’ve seen, he was eloquent, clear eyed and resolute in a justifiably way.

‘I’m ready’ was his message.

Nzingoula’s debut v Norwich City, off the bench, struck a note of ‘Why am I not starting’, putting questions into the coaching staff’s mind from the off, and the fact he has played across all areas of the midfield in just four games says everything about his range of ability.

There’s no question, we have a terrace hero in the making, I’m beyond delighted our scouting department recognized this brilliant young talent and sold him the vision that West Brom would be a great stay for Rabby.

And of course, as the ‘lad from Lille’ reflected over the reasons he signed, Mozza being 'a fellow midfielder and someone he felt he could learn from', was key.

Rabby has to start soon…

Of course everything is not settled when new players arrive and there have been some mixed performances and inevitable outcomes.

Nolan Galves hasn’t quite hit the levels needed to completely convince, Bryann Pereira’s very physical and at times rash half hour led to a red, and hopefully he can learn from the experience.

Offering the impressive Alex Williams a future with Hibernian to get regular game time was a calculated move to develop his career, but was he perhaps better than the two incumbents now battling for the right back slot?

Only the future will tell?

Felix Horn Myhre has yet to find the position suited to his strengths, but the days are early and from all accounts, the talent is there.

Tammer Bany is now fit, but will he impact, and a similarly exotic talent in Kareem Tunde, who on a four year contract is here for the long run, but it’s very early days.

For the first time in many a moon, it feels good to be a Baggie..

Recruitment is everything.

From top to bottom of the club.

To traverse from almost the bottom to the top of the division in less than six months is outstanding work on so many fronts..

The progress is amazing but the answer was already there.

All we had to do was...

Ask Mozza.