Why West Brom chose Eric Ramsay: Record points totals, his set-piece magic touch, Cristiano Ronaldo's seal of approval, outsmarting Lionel Messi, developing academy talent and what Manchester United players loved about him

Many West Bromwich Albion fans had never previously heard of their new head coach yet Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford are among those who know all about Eric Ramsay.

These days, learning your trade at Manchester United does not carry quite the cachet it once did. Watching one of the world’s greatest clubs fret and fuss before appointing Michael Carrick as interim manager proves how far they have fallen.

The allure remains the same, though, and those in high places at United have their eye on Ramsay. First of all, he must prove he can set one of the Football League's founder members back on the right track.

Albion have not been the same since Carlos Corberan left them for Valencia midway through last season. The appointments of Tony Mowbray and Ryan Mason did not work and indicated a club hierarchy unsure where it was going.

For the first time since the current owners Bilkul Football rescued Albion from an existential crisis under Guochuan Lai in February 2024, significant numbers of supporters were starting to turn.

Ramsay, 34, has arrived with the club 18th in the Championship and despite his impressive background, he represents a gamble. It is one Bilkul need to pay off.

Eric Ramsay has been appointed West Bromwich Albion's new manager - this is what to expect

Those in high places at Manchester United have their eyes keenly on Ramsay (second right), after his three years there as a player development coach

He then spent two years with Minnesota United in MLS, achieving a record points total last year

Why Ramsay?

During his time as head coach of Minnesota United, Ramsay was able to switch between English, Spanish and French effortlessly – ideal in a multilingual dressing room.

He took Minnesota to the MLS play-offs and it will require something similarly impressive to guide West Brom to the Championship version. Currently 10 points adrift of the top six, Albion are only seven above the relegation zone.

Though Minnesota was his first experience of being the main man on a permanent basis, Ramsay had proved his coaching ability on some of the most demanding stages. If a coach is trying to bluff it, players like Ronaldo and Fernandes will work them out pretty quickly, and their days will be numbered.

Yet at Old Trafford, Ramsay thrived. Recommended to United in 2021 by Kieran McKenna, who was leaving to take charge of Ipswich, Ramsay became Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-team coach and quickly impressed the players.

They liked his clear communication, the sharp sessions and his ability to tweak his plans to reflect United’s next opponents. He was particularly effective at finding ways to play out from the back and outsmart the opposition press.

As with all the smartest coaches, the exercises he implemented were directly responsible for success in upcoming matches. Not just training for training’s sake, in other words – a surprisingly common complaint from many players about many coaches.

By the time Ramsay arrived at United, he had been coaching for eight years. After spells with Swansea and Shrewsbury, Ramsay coached Chelsea’s Under 23s side before linking up with Solskjaer. While at United, Ramsay also worked with then-Wales boss Rob Page as they missed out narrowly on qualifying for Euro 2024.

If a coach is trying to bluff it, players like Ronaldo and Fernandes will work them out pretty quickly, and their days will be numbered. Yet at Old Trafford, Ramsay thrived

As with all the smartest coaches, the exercises he implemented were directly responsible for success in upcoming matches. Not just training for training’s sake

He took Minnesota to the MLS play-offs and it will require something similarly impressive to guide West Brom to the Championship version

Few who have left Old Trafford in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era have done so with their reputation enhanced but McKenna and Ramsay are rare exceptions.

The pair knew each other from Loughborough University and on McKenna’s recommendation, Ramsay was kept on board by both Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag.

Say what you like about United’s decline but the coaching pedigree of Rangnick and Ten Hag is substantial. That they opted to hang on to Ramsay, rather than replace him with someone they knew and trusted, is to his credit.

What can Albion fans expect?

Not only has Ramsay earned Ronaldo's seal of approval, he has also managed to get the better of Lionel Messi. Even though Messi was on the scoresheet, his Inter Miami side were humbled 4-1 by Minnesota last May and during his time in the States, Ramsay was pushing a trend that has now taken over the Premier League.

By November, Minnesota had scored 22 times from set-pieces in the MLS season – more than any club in a major league during the same period. Minnesota had a pragmatic style but as the youngest head coach in MLS history, Ramsay knew he had to adapt to what was available.

He set a club-record points total in the 2025 season and it was thanks to his work that Minnesota were able to sell striker Tani Oluwaseyi to Villarreal for a club record £7million last summer.

Albion players used to marvel at Corberan’s tactical foresight and the level of detail in his plans. They can anticipate something similar from Ramsay, who also understands and trusts young players thanks to his long work as an academy coach.

That should be music to the ears of Albion, who have a strong track record of producing young footballers.

Even though Messi was on the scoresheet, his Inter Miami side were humbled 4-1 by Ramsay's Minnesota last May

He set a club-record points total in 2025 and it was thanks to his work that Minnesota were able to sell striker Tani Oluwaseyi (left) to Villarreal for a club record £7million last summer

Where are the risks?

In an interview last year, Ramsay was asked about working in MLS and his response was telling.

‘I’ve always felt here that I’ve had a real sense of stability and project and there wasn’t any prospect of me finding myself in really sticky territory just around the corner,’ he told The Sun .

If Ramsay is expecting similarly calm waters at West Brom, he needs to wake up pretty quickly.

Like it or not, the level of scrutiny in English football far outweighs that in MLS and though Albion are not front-page news like Manchester United, their supporters are no less demanding.

Anger was rising long before Mason was sacked as fans struggled to understand the rationale behind appointing someone with so little experience.

Even though Ramsay has many more miles on the clock than Mason, coaching across the Atlantic or working behind the scenes in the Premier League will cut little ice with supporters if he cannot make an impact quickly.

As with many clubs in the second tier, Albion have limited room for manoeuvre in the market and Ramsay will largely have to work with what he has

As with many clubs in the second tier, Albion have limited room for manoeuvre in the market and Ramsay will largely have to work with what he has. West Brom know, too, that if Ramsay makes it work, he might not be around for too long.

This is the catch-22 for clubs like Albion: if they take a risk on a young coach and it pays off, he may leave before he can see the job through – as was the case with Corberan. If he flounders, he will leave with the club still struggling and the owners under even more pressure than when he was appointed.

One thing is certain, though. They will be watching closely at Old Trafford - just like they watched Michael Carrick at Middlesbrough.

If Ramsay does succeed, he might find himself back there sooner than he could ever have imagined.