Revealed: The mystery man masterminding West Brom's stunning Premier League success

By James Nursey

Published 11:52 21/10/10

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Promoted West Brom proudly sit sixth in the Premier League after a magnificent point at Old Trafford.

And one man behind the scenes at The Hawthorns should rightly be feeling particularly pleased with himself.

Head coach Roberto Di Matteo and the club's stars like Peter Odemwingie and Chris Brunt have got most of Albion's plaudits this term.

But the contribution of Baggies' sporting and technical director Dan Ashworth should not be underestimated.

For Albion are one of the few English clubs that have successfully appointed a hands-on football director who can work in tandem with a manager.

Other examples when the likes of Damien Comolli and Velimir Zajec have gone into Tottenham and Portsmouth respectively as director of football with a similar brief haven't worked.

But Ashworth has been given the funds and freedom by Hawthorns chairman Jeremy Peace to scour the globe for value-for-money signings.

And I firmly believe Albion's excellent recruitment on a comparatively modest budget has been the main factor behind their impressive start to the season.

So low-profile Ashworth, appointed in December 2007 after previously serving Albion as academy director, deserves a lot of the credit after a string of astute purchases this summer.

And whereas Albion have struggled to retain their best players in the past, actually hanging on to Ashworth this season could be a good achievement.

Several people in the game I know speak extremely highly of Ashworth, who is regarded as one of the best in the business at scouting players and compiling information on them, including background checks.

The team that drew 2-2 at Manchester United last weekend included several little-known foreign players that Ashworth has brought to the club on the cheap like Odemwingie, Gonzalo Jara, Gabriel Tamas, Youssuf Mulumbu, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Jonas Olsson.

And Ashworth should rightly take a huge amount of satisfaction at seeing players he plucked from relative obscurity abroad now thriving in the Premier League.

Indeed, on Ashworth's advice, Albion have deliberately changed their entire recruitment policy from when they were last promoted.

This summer they have targeted more experienced proven performers with a physical stature like Somen Tchoyi, Paul Scharner and Steven Reid.

Last time the club came up under Tony Mowbray they were too naive and concentrated mainly on attractive football.

They were lightweight and leaked goals and finished bottom despite blowing the rest of the Championship away to win the title en-route to the Premier League.

But Ashworth has learnt from Albion's mistakes and their recent buys have added some much-needed steel and resolve to their first team.

The results have been extremely impressive after just two defeats in eight games away at Chelsea and Liverpool under Di Matteo.

Di Matteo's men also beat Man City in the Carling Cup to progress.

And Ashworth again deserves respect for bringing in the rookie Italian in the first place.

He was a key figure in drawing up the club's short-list of candidates to replace Mowbray when he quit for Celtic in June 2009.

Ashworth astutely spotted Di Matteo's potential as a coach after just one season at MK Dons in League One when he personally sounded out the candidates.

The pair now seem to be working well together with Ashworth providing a vital buffer between the manager and chairman to ensure cordial relations.

Previously Mowbray, Bryan Robson and Gary Megson have all quit The Hawthorns moaning a lot about Peace.

But Peace now appears to have made a conscience decision to retreat a little from his involvement at the club and give even more responsibility to Ashworth.

It is another vote of confidence in the former Norwich City player who later moved into non-league football before working his way up the youth coaching ladder via Peterborough, Cambridge and Norwich.

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