West Bromwich Albion and Tottenham Hotspur - A Match Made In Heaven?

After forty-two days and a lacklustre end to the season, Albion finally have a new Head Coach at the helm, and it's one of their youngest in the club's storied history. Former Spurs coach Ryan Mason has moved into full-time management for the first time, signing a three-year deal at the young age of thirty-three (the youngest Coach/Manager in the Championship). Mason spent eight years as a player at White Heart Lane, scoring two fifty-three league games, and in that time, earned a solo cap for England. He then moved on to Hull City, but after a head injury in a game against Chelsea, he suffered a career-ending injury. He then turned to coaching and served his apprenticeship at Spurs, working with a who's who of top coaches: Poch, Mourinho, Nuno, Conte, and Ange. This has allowed him to pick the brains of all of them, and this should hopefully have given him food for thought on how he wants his Albion side to be set up.

He's not the first Tottenham alumnus to take the reins at The Hawthorns; in fact, four other Spurs alumni (whether that be on the field or off it) have stood in the home dugout. In this post, we are going to take a look at these four men and a brief look at how their Albion tenures got on.

Osvaldo Ardiles & Keith Burkinshaw

It feels easy to put these men into the same section, as their time at Spurs and Albion both intertwine. In 1974, Keith Burkinshaw became the manager of Tottenham Hotspur. His first season ended badly as they finished bottom of the First Division, but they made up for it by winning promotion at the first time of asking the following year. Back in the top flight again, Burkinshaw snapped up two members of the 1978 World Cup-winning Argentina side to bolster Spurs' chances of survival and more: Ricardo Villa and Osvaldo Ardiles. The signing of these two proved to be a highly successful move, as the club were about to embark on one of their greatest periods in the club's history. In a period of four seasons, Spurs won back-to-back FA Cups and a UEFA Cup in 1984, which turned out to be Burkinshaw's last game in charge of the club. He went on to manage in Bahrain, Portugal and Malaysia. Ardiles would be on the books at Spurs for ten years (with a couple of loans away from the country during the height of the Falklands War) before eventually ending his playing career in 1991 at Swindon Town. There he would become Player/Manager for two years before moving on to Newcastle United.

But in the summer of 1992, the pair were reunited in a whole new arrangement, as Ossie became West Brom's new manager after the departure of Bobby Gould. This was going to be Albion's second season in the third tier of English football. To prepare for life in the Albion dugout, Ardiles brought in his former manager, Burkinshaw, to be his assistant. The football was exciting and with a frontline including Simon Garner, Kevin Donovan, Andy Hunt, and the league's top goalscorer Bob Taylor, Albion finished the season with the most goals but finished five points behind the automatic promotion spots. The Play-Off beckoned, and one hundred and eighty minutes against Swansea City. The Jacks struck in the first leg with a 2-1 victory, but back at The Hawthorns, goals from Andy Hunt and Ian Hamilton sealed a return to Wembley for Albion, and the chance to return back to the second tier. On May 30th, 1993, over 40,000 Albion fans descended onto the hallowed grounds of Wembley Stadium with the anticipation of Play-Off glory against Port Vale. Their wish came true. The first half was goalless, but when Vale's Peter Swan received his marching orders on the hour mark, Albion struck not once but three times. Andy Hunt after sixty-six minutes, right-back Nicky Reid with less than ten minutes left, and then Kevin Donovan in the ninetieth minute to give Albion a famous day at the home of football. Ossie had done it, Albion were back at a level that they should never have left.

His time at The Hawthorns had come to an end, Spurs were without a manager, and Osvaldo was their man. This left Albion in a predicament: where do they go next? Their new man was already working at the club: Keith Burkinshaw. It had been two years since the former Workington and Scunthorpe United defender had managed a team, and that was when he was out in Malaysia. The season was a struggle, and the club only completed back-to-back wins once all season. Highlights included doing the double against the Wolves, including that fantastic goal from Darren Bradley at The Hawthorns, but Albion went into the final game of the season needing a win to avoid getting relegated at the first time of asking. The stage was set, Fratton Park, the home of Portsmouth Football Club. Albion were well supported that day, with 10,000 fans outnumbering the home support. With the backing of so many fans, Burkinshaw's big signing Lee Ashcroft, who'd joined from Preston North End for a quarter of a million pounds, scored the only goal of the game to give Albion a vital 1-0 win. This meant, despite winning their own game, local rivals Birmingham City were relegated from the First Division on goal difference. A cruel blow to the Bluenoses but Albion, it was pure adulation. However, the following season started badly and Albion had only won one league game, and on the 17th of October, Burkinshaw's tenure had come to an end. The cruel twist of fate was that Albion won their next league the very next day, against Sheffield United.

John Gorman

This one feels like an absolute cop-out, but former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder John Gorman was announced as co-caretaker manager of the Albion in late July '99 with club legend Cyrille Regis. Five days later, former Villa manager Brian Little was appointed the new manager without the previous duo taking control of a single game. But they are on the club's history, so it counts (just about!). All of this came after Gorman left his position as England's Assistant Coach in the wake of Glenn Hoddle getting sacked by The FA for let's just say, inappropriate comments.

His time at Spurs was a frustrating affair, joining in 1976 but picking up an injury which caused him to miss the best part of a season and a half. He would go on to make thirty league appearances before moving to the United States.

Post-Albion, he would have short spells in charge of Gillingham, Wycombe Wanderers, Northampton Town, and Southampton before retiring from the sport altogether in 2010.

Alan Pardew

This piece is going to finish on a low note because we have to take ourselves back to 2017 and to "Mr. Chocolate" himself, Alan Pardew. The former Newcastle and West Ham manager took over from a recently departing Tony Pulis, and let's be honest, his time was a disaster. Twenty-one games in charge, three wins, a lot of losses, a disastrous trip to Barcelona before an important FA Cup tie, a stolen taxi, and a club on the brink of their first relegation in nearly a decade. After four months, Pardew walked; Darren Moore nearly did the unthinkable and kept the Albion up, but it was all too late.

Pardew's time at Spurs was just as short, playing just four games in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1995. He was in the match day squad, which featured future Premier League regulars Stephen Carr and Jamie Clapham, that got hammered 8-0 by 1. FC Köln. But at least they beat the Slovenian side Rudar Velenje!

Pardew would embark on a European tour after leaving B71, disappointing at ADO Den Haag in the Netherlands, CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria, and finally Aris in Greece. Who knows where we'll see him next? The Middle East? The A-League in Australia? Maybe he'll join Andy Carroll in the lower leagues in France? Maybe he's got a five-month stint as Watford's Head Coach. Only time will tell.

All in all, Spurs alumni have taken charge of 140 West Bromwich Albion games, which is equal to the first spell in charge of Mason's predecessor, Tony Mowbray. Here's hoping that we see a long and fruitful time for Mason at The Hawthorns, more akin to Ardiles than to Pardew.