West Bromwich Albion journalist Joe Masi has been sharing some behind the scenes news regarding Baggies boss Valerien Ismael and his current crop of players at the Midlands club.
This comes after Masi co-hosted a recent episode of West Brom-themed podcast Baggies Broadcast, where he spoke about a range of topics concerning the club.
On the subject of Ismael and his relationship with the players since he was appointed as their manager last month, Masi had this to say on the matter.
He said: “I spoke to a couple of people now, we mentioned this on the podcast last week, how he’s made such a really good impression and I spoke to some other people since who have had brief dealings with him or brief dealings with some of the players, and the message is incredible.
“Albion’s players have bought into him so quickly, that’s what I’m really impressed with. I’m really impressed with how together they seem and how behind him they seem.”
Prior to joining West Brom, Ismael had spells in charge of clubs such as fellow Championship side Barnsley, LASK, Wolfsburg, Apollon Smyrnis and FC Nuremberg.
During the 45-year-old’s time at Barnsley, Ismael took charge of 44 matches in total in which they won 25, drew six and lost 13 along the way (per Transfermarkt), leading them to the Championship play-offs.
TIF Thoughts on Joe Masi’s comments on Ismael and his connection with the players…
Taking into account how Ismael has only been at the club for a few weeks, it’s great to hear from Masi that the players are behind the manager and what he wants to do there, as it should be very encouraging for the fans heading into the 2021/22 Championship season.
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Given how the Baggies have managed to win both of their recent pre-season friendly matches under Ismael and kept a clean sheet in both, this is perhaps an early sign that things are going in a positive direction, however, the real test for Ismael and his players will begin when the season kicks off against Bournemouth next month.
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