James Morrison's Calm Rebuild at West Bromwich Albion
James Morrison cuts a relaxed figure as the new season looms, and with good reason. Six signings in the door, a first full campaign as permanent West Bromwich Albion head coach on the horizon, and a squad that, in his words, is “in a good place”.
The work, though, is far from finished.
A calm rebuild, not a trolley dash
West Brom open up at Rotherham in the Carabao Cup on Saturday, a curtain-raiser before the Championship grind begins a week later. Many new managers would be pushing hard for a frantic late splurge. Morrison sounds anything but desperate.
“We're in a good place. As a club now we've got to be patient and find the right ones,” he told BBC Radio WM, underlining a clear shift from impulse to intention.
This is not about grabbing bodies to fill shirts. Morrison wants signings that change the temperature of the place.
“Good players are always going to create that excitement. I want good players to arrive so they create that good feeling around the place and excitement for the fans.”
The message is steady: the bulk of the business is done, the rest will be targeted. Six arrivals already, and a head coach who insists he is “happy with how everything's going”.
A manager learning the market – and himself
Morrison has been around long enough to know what a scattergun window looks like. He is determined this will not be one.
“I understand the market, I've understood myself – I'm not trying to get to want, want, want – I'm thinking about the bigger picture.”
That line matters. It speaks to a rookie permanent boss who has quickly realised that chasing every opportunity is a trap. The Championship punishes short-term thinking. Morrison is leaning into restraint.
Behind the scenes, the dynamic with head of football operations Ian Pearce has become central to that approach. Manager and recruitment chief are often judged on how they handle the first real window together. Morrison sounds content with the partnership.
“It's about working relationships, different opinions, identifying what type of players we need, so I've been really happy with the way we've been working,” he said.
Different opinions, but aligned decisions. Albion have not flooded the squad, but they have moved decisively where Morrison felt the need was clearest.
Horn Myhre: a long-term target, not a late whim
The latest piece of the puzzle is Norway midfielder Felix Horn Myhre, a player Morrison had circled long before pen met paper.
“I picked him out. I liked the way he moved, the way he was with the ball, the way he got forward,” Morrison explained.
This was not a recommendation pushed from above, not a name plucked from a data sheet at the last minute. Horn Myhre has, as Morrison put it, “been on our radar for quite a long time”.
European and international experience adds weight to the signing. The head coach clearly believes he is ready-made for the demands of English football.
“He's used to playing games with Europe and internationally, so he's well equipped and will fit in really well.”
That last sentence is the crux of Morrison’s recruitment plan: players who arrive ready to plug straight into a defined idea, not projects to be parked on the fringes.
The Carabao Cup tie at Rotherham will offer the first glimpse of how these new faces mesh with the old guard and how Morrison’s “bigger picture” looks when the whistle blows. The patience has been deliberate. The question now is whether that calm summer planning can withstand the chaos of a Championship season.
