Lewis Cox brings you all the latest from James Morrison's pre-match press conference ahead of Albion's final game of the campaign.
Albion welcome relegation threatened Luton to The Hawthorns tomorrow, as they bring the curtain down on an underwhelming end to the season.
Lewis discusses the latest in terms of injury news, provides an update on Josh Maja, and whether Daryl Dike could be in line for a start.
Albion welcome relegation threatened Luton to The Hawthorns tomorrow, as they bring the curtain down on an underwhelming end to the season.
Lewis discusses the latest in terms of injury news, provides an update on Josh Maja, and whether Daryl Dike could be in line for a start.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Baggies fans, it's the final press conference of Albion's season with the championship finale at the Hawthorne against Luton tomorrow lunchtime.
00:11The final one of these of the season, certainly in terms of after a regular press conference, we of course hope that the club, you know, obviously down the line, be it in a few weeks, at some point in May, later in the month, will appoint a head coach, will appoint Tony Mulberry's successor here.
00:27And obviously when that happens, you know, we're hopeful, optimistic for a press conference unveiling, whether it's here at the training ground, whether it's at the Hawthorne's, and hopefully the chance to obviously speak to the new man, maybe speak to Andrew Nesta or somebody representing Bilko.
00:42Obviously a huge appointment decision from the owners, and that will be good, hopefully before summer kicks in and the quiet weeks of June to speak to the new man, while that process at the moment, as we know, is ongoing.
00:54We have been down here this morning speaking to James Morrison, the interim boss, who will take charge, of course, of his second and final game of his caretaker spell tomorrow against the Hatters, who, as we know, come to the Hawthorns with everything on the line.
01:08They're one place, one point clear of the bottom three, scrapping for their lives, huge occasion for them to survive in the second tier, less so for the Baggies, who are, as we know, 10th.
01:17They can finish as high as 9th and as low as 11th, so very little on the line. I don't think it will be full to the Rafters tomorrow, I think that's fair to say.
01:25But look, final day of the season, you know, hopefully weather will be decent, and people, you know, I'm not saying it will be far from it, but people will come out of routine, out of loyalty,
01:35just to see what's served up, really, on the final day, that we know about the form, lack of form, lack of momentum.
01:42What is it now? It's one winning, 9-10.
01:45Obviously, the collapse has been dramatic, and all of that, you know, we'll bring all of that when we're chewing the fat over the season review in the next week or so.
01:53But look, James Morrison was good company there, you know, obviously, you know, none of this is on him, and he's just helping the club out at the moment, and he spoke well,
02:01and he gave us a lot of sort of more time-sensitive answers, things we'll be writing up in the weeks to come, in the summer, things, you know, changes he expects here,
02:10and what he believes maybe the owners and the recruitment people need to do to bring success to this club.
02:15You know, hopefully, in the long run, the type of success he had when he was a player here as a midfielder.
02:21So, some snippets to bring you ahead of the early kick-off, the lunchtime game against Luton tomorrow.
02:28Obviously, the whole championship plays together tomorrow at the same time, 12.30 kick-off.
02:32Maybe the headline news is that Josh Madger won't play.
02:35We've kind of wondered over the last few weeks, I think Tony Mowgli said at one point, look, if it was on the line, if we needed him,
02:41we'd sort of rush Madger through and get him involved, you know, if it was on the line and we needed his goals.
02:46But he's not going to play, he's going to have pre-season to get back fit and firing.
02:49So, that's, you know, he's been out since early January.
02:52Obviously, your sort of thoughts got out to him, really, because of the first half of the season he's had.
02:55But hopefully, he can come back fit and firing.
02:58Do you get the vibe that we might see a bit of Daladique tomorrow?
03:01Perhaps he'll start and it's been a long time coming, isn't it?
03:04And if he does, I hope he can grasp it.
03:06And I hope that can be a real shining light for tomorrow, to be honest, and a real occasion.
03:10You know, it's not going to be an occasion, is it? Let's be honest.
03:12But maybe if Daladique starts and gets on the end of something, it will be, you know, it'll be a good day for him, really.
03:17And hopefully a nod to next season. Let's see in that regard.
03:22What else have we got? Jason Molumby is back from illness.
03:25Missed Cardiff last week for that, the 0-0 there.
03:27Jed Wallace is sort of 50-50. He's got a little calf thing going on.
03:31But Tamo Bani's trained, so I expect to see a bit of him, maybe from the bench. Not sure.
03:36Certainly, the starting line-up won't be flooded with youngsters.
03:39You know, I think, you know, Maslow's suggested there, and I think it's sensible in that with everything on the line for Luton,
03:44it could be a bit like throwing them to the wolves, to be honest.
03:46If you're including three, four, five, you know, under-21's prospects in a game like that, it could go sour.
03:52And it wouldn't be good for their development, in my opinion, certainly.
03:55And I think James Morrison's gone along with that there.
03:57But certainly Harry Whitwell has been training the young midfielder.
04:00He'll be among the subs tomorrow.
04:03Yeah, who knows whether the likes of maybe a defender, Jamal Mohamed, Michael Parker,
04:07someone like that might be among the substitutes as well.
04:11That would be good to see.
04:12Look, if they can get a final 20 minutes, half hour, that could be good for their development.
04:16And we hope that is the case.
04:18And yeah, other than that, in the next sort of day or two after Luton,
04:24it could well be Sunday, to be honest.
04:26It could well be Sunday that the players finish up here and pack away from their holidays.
04:29There are senior pros, first-team players, long-serving players, and just a few of them out of contract,
04:34as we know when it comes to John Swift, Grady Diangana, and Shemi Ajayi.
04:37A few Albion appearances between those.
04:39We know when it comes to Swift and Diangana that Mowbray sort of made it a worst-kept secret, really,
04:46in his final press conference.
04:48He sort of spelled out in his final press that their futures are elsewhere,
04:52certainly with Diangana and Swift.
04:54So no great surprises there.
04:55Shemi Ajayi, I sort of expect the same, to be honest.
04:58But we'll wait for that confirmation when it comes to Sunday, maybe Monday.
05:01On news of that, we'll get news of the futures of young players who are out of contract as well.
05:06But obviously, loanees will leave, and Albion needs to do better in that department.
05:11But yeah, the bulk of the squad is under contract, really.
05:14And certainly most of them, big puzzles for the ownership about what to do.
05:18But we'll revisit that next week, certainly in terms of podcasts, in terms of written content.
05:25So keep an eye out.
05:25I'll bring you some build-up today and tomorrow before the looting game,
05:29and obviously all the coverage tomorrow as well.
05:31So keep an eye out.
05:32ExpressionStar.com