Samuel Iling-Junior has already told West Brom why they must hire Man United legend after Ryan Mason sack
West Brom star Samuel Iling-Junior has spoken highly of Michael Carrick in the past as he emerges as the favourite to take over at The Hawthorns following Ryan Mason’s dismissal.
Mason has been sacked by West Brom after a late 2-1 defeat to Leicester City on Monday saw them record a fourth loss in their last five Championship games.
Football Insider recently revealed that West Brom were set to rethink Mason’s position if they were dragged into a relegation battle over the Christmas period.
They are seven points off the drop right now, and calls for him to be sacked have grown stronger and have been impossible to ignore in recent weeks.
Man United hero Carrick is the bookies’ favourite to take over at The Hawthorns right now, and one Baggies star in particular would be very pleased to see him appointed as their new boss soon.
Iling-Junior loved playing under Carrick during their time together at Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough sacked Carrick in June, and he has been out of a job ever since, after they finished 10th in the Championship despite being in the race for a top-six finish.
He led Boro to a fourth-placed finish in his first season in charge after taking over while they were in a relegation battle, but they were beaten by Coventry City in the play-off semi-finals.
They came eighth in the Championship in his second campaign at the helm before falling to 10th last season, but despite that downfall, Iling-Junior has insisted that he enjoyed playing under him while on loan at the Riverside Stadium last term.
Speaking to The Northern Echo in April, the Aston Villa loanee spoke highly of Carrick, and how he felt he had helped develop his game, saying: “I can only look at my time with Middlesbrough as a positive.
“I’ve only got good things to say about Michael Carrick, who’s a good gaffer and man-manager.
“Tactically, he could work with players one-to-one and helped me develop. He gave me trust and I was able to show that on the pitch.
“I definitely settled into the left-back role and going up and down the pitch. I enjoyed that, bringing my parts into the team with assists, tricks and being creative. There’s definitely been a lot of lessons learned this season. A lot of things that I can bring into my game and that’s something that I’ll take forward.”
Who else is in the running to take over at West Brom?
Football Insider recently revealed that West Brom and Birmingham City are interested in hiring Carrick, and the former now holds the upper hand, with Mason gone while Chris Davies remains at St Andrew’s.
He remains the bookies’ favourite for the job, with odds of 11/4, but is closely followed by former Baggies manager Carlos Corberan, who is the second favourite at odds of 9/2.
Russell Martin and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are also in the running at 6/1 respectively, with ex-Wolves manager Gary O’Neil priced at 10/1 and David Wagner next up at 11/1.
Albion need a new manager through the door soon, regardless of who that is, with a very tough task at hand to turn their season around and get them into play-off contention before May.