West Brom sack Eric Ramsay after 44-day reign with James Morrison placed in interim charge
West Brom have dismissed head coach Eric Ramsay after a 44-day tenure that produced no victories, leaving the club perilously close to the Championship drop zone. The change comes after a 1-1 home draw with Charlton and places James Morrison back in interim charge as the club begins another managerial search.
Eric Ramsay's 44-day spell and appointment on 11 January
Ramsay was appointed on 11 January on a two-and-a-half-year deal, replacing Ryan Mason after moving from MLS side Minnesota United. The 34-year-old, who had previously worked with Manchester United in a coaching role, lasted 44 days before being removed from his post.
Results: nine matches in charge, eight in the Championship
In total Ramsay presided over nine first-team matches, eight of them in the Championship. He failed to record a single victory, collecting four points from four draws in the eight league fixtures and drawing four and losing four of his Championship matches. That run left the team with a 0% win percentage under his management.
FA Cup exit and the 5-0 Norwich defeat
The short spell also included a heavy FA Cup exit and the club's heaviest home defeat in the second tier: a 5-0 loss to Norwich City. The defeat at Norwich knocked West Brom out of the cup and was cited among the unwanted records Ramsay leaves behind.
Boardroom decision led by Shilen Patel and departure of Dennis Lawrence
Following the 1-1 draw with Charlton, Ramsay and assistant Dennis Lawrence were summoned to meet chairman Shilen Patel in the boardroom and were informed of their dismissals. A club statement confirmed that the men’s first-team head coach and his assistant had parted company with the club, thanked both coaches and wished them well for the future.
James Morrison returns as interim with 12 games to go
First-team coach James Morrison will oversee first-team affairs on an interim basis. Morrison begins a third spell in interim charge in less than 11 months; he is unbeaten in the three games he has overseen and had declared that West Brom is "in his DNA" after a Swansea City FA Cup victory that came just hours before Ramsay's arrival six weeks earlier. With 12 games to go, he is tasked with keeping the club in the Championship.
Managerial records, tactical shifts and wider consequences
Ramsay’s brief stint set a new club record for the shortest permanent managerial reign in West Bromwich Albion’s history, surpassing a previous mark of 17 games jointly held by Pepe Mel and Tony Mowbray. The 44-day length mirrors another notorious short tenure in English football history, a comparison drawn with Brian Clough’s spell at Leeds in 1974.
During his time at the club Ramsay shifted to a 3-4-3 formation immediately after his appointment; that tactic was abandoned following a loss to Portsmouth. He accepted he was "not blameless" in his final interview and acknowledged the team had created chances but failed to convert them. He had remarked after the Charlton draw that the performance could not be viewed in isolation and that what the situation required were wins rather than draws.
What makes this notable is the layering of factors that prompted the decision: a run of nine matches without victory, an FA Cup elimination, the 5-0 home defeat and a tactical experiment that was quickly reversed all combined to convince the hierarchy action was necessary. Club officials have also pointed to a broader pattern of instability — this is the club’s second sacking of the season and the third managerial departure in less than a year — and players’ failure to take chances was singled out as part of the problem.
With the chairman days away from the second anniversary of his takeover, Shilen Patel will now begin the search for a fourth head coach. The immediate effect is a short-term change in leadership and a longer-term recruitment process to find a permanent replacement while the club battles to stay above the relegation zone, with West Brom currently positioned 21st in the Championship and just one point above the drop.
