Full Of Promise, Lacking Substance - Is It Time For Ryan Mason To Go?

West Brom have had a rollercoaster start to the season under new boss Ryan Mason.

The Baggies picked up 10 points from their opening four games, including an impressive away win at Stoke, courtesy of Nathaniel Phillips.

This fast start left fans feeling hopeful of a return to the Premier League.

Ryan Masons baggie boys might just be the best team in the midlands 🤪🏃🏻‍♂️

— Tom Garratt (@Tgarratt10) August 31, 2025

Four weeks after their win over Stoke, the Baggies had picked up just four more points, hinting that their hot run of form was coming to an end.

The Championship’s relentless calendar has stripped away early narratives, and uncomfortable questions have begun to surface among West Brom supporters.

Mason’s playing career never reached the heights many expected, and right now his managerial career looks worryingly similar.

Tactical Uncertainty and Stalled Player Development

Perhaps the biggest frustration among West Brom supporters is the lack of a clear, sustainable identity. Mason arrived with the aim of implementing a more modern, possession-based style, but the team has struggled to maintain the balance between structure and freedom.

Too often, Mason has changed his team around, making it hard for players to find any form and momentum. As such, Mason has been criticised online by fans, who disagree with the timings and decisions made for substitutions.

More attacking subs from Ryan… bores the life out of me https://t.co/i9Il2Djbu9

— Ben Hadlington (@Benhadlington1) November 26, 2025

Then there’s the question of player development.

One of Mason’s biggest selling points was, as a young coach, a potential ability to elevate young talent and integrate them into a cohesive structure. But at West Brom, this hasn’t fully materialised.

The arrivals of Samuel Iling-Junior and Toby Collyer had baggies fans excited, but with just 10 starts between them, Mason has failed to help showcase these young talents. The Championship is now a league where youth development is key, providing both on-pitch benefits and financial security, but this has become a genuine concern.

Promotion Ambitions at Risk

West Brom are not a club content with mid-table anonymity; their ambitions are clear: return to the Premier League, or at the very least remain firmly in the race for promotion. Under Mason, the team’s inconsistency has been its defining trait; a strong performance is too often followed by a flat one.

The Baggies have struggled in recent years, reaching the playoffs just once since their relegation back in 2021. In what many believe is the hardest league in the world to get out of, form like West Brom's is simply unacceptable.

Mason's side have picked it up in the last few games, with a win over Oxford and a narrow defeat to top of the league Coventry. These results show a glimmer of hope for Mason at West Brom, with a busy schedule ahead giving him the chance to turn it around.

How Mason Can Rescue His West Brom Tenure

For all the frustrations surrounding Ryan Mason’s reign at West Brom, it isn’t beyond saving. If he’s to hold on to the job and prove he’s more than a manager built on promise alone, Mason needs to make immediate, decisive changes.

He needs to make more impactful and attacking substitutes in the decisive moments of the game - too many times, fans have grown frustrated with the lateness of substitutions and their personnel.

The Championship is unforgiving, and Mason’s ideas, while forward-thinking, often ask too much of a squad still adjusting. A more structured defensive shape and a clearer plan in possession would at least give the team a base to build from. He also needs to settle on a first-choice XI that he can trust to perform and keep their shirt, not change it every week.

Mason still has the tools to steady the ship, but only if he acts decisively.

The time for potential has passed; now he needs to show progress.

The Reality Check West Brom Can't Ignore

As much as this season has exposed Ryan Mason’s shortcomings, it has also exposed something equally important:

West Brom’s margin for error is shrinking. The club is no longer in a position where they can roll the dice on potential or hope a young manager eventually finds his feet. The Championship is a battlefield of organised, disciplined, and experienced coaches, not a proving ground for those still figuring out their managerial identity.

The reality is simple: West Brom cannot keep drifting.

Every week spent waiting for improvements that haven’t arrived is another step further from their ambitions. The squad is built to compete now, not in two seasons’ time.

Supporters demand progress, not promises, and the league table does not care about good intentions or philosophical projects; it only reflects what happens on the pitch. But this isn’t just about whether Mason is “good enough” or “not good enough”; it’s about whether he fits the moment the club is in.

Right now, West Brom needs direction, conviction, and results.

Mason’s ideas may develop with time, and he may go on to thrive elsewhere, but West Brom cannot afford to be the environment where he learns his craft by trial and error.

So the question we are left with is, "Is it time for Ryan Mason to go, or will he turn it around?"