James Morrison was asked about his future after Albion’s Championship safety was confirmed. Club legend James Morrison insists talk on his future as Albion head coach can wait until the season is done after he completed a remarkable survival job.
Morrison, who marks 20 years at the Baggies next year, was toast of The Hawthorns as Saturday’s goalless draw against promotion-pushing Ipswich saved the club’s Championship status. It did so less than 24 hours after Albion were hit with a two-point deduction having been found guilty for breaching profit and sustainability regulations.
There are deafening calls for Morrison to be rewarded with a permanent appointment, but the former midfielder is mindful of rubber-stamping the season first.
“All I'm concentrating on is getting to the end of the season,” Morrison told the Express & Star. “Realistically, there's going to be a lot of conversation. I'll give my thoughts and I'm sure the club will have their opinions. Let's just get to the end of the season and have a discussion.”
Saturday’s backdrop provided one of the great Hawthorns atmosphere of recent years as supporters willed the Baggies over the line. Fans aired their ire at the EFL for the points deduction and Morrison reckons the sanction galvanised the fanbase. The head coach insisted he barely had to give a team talk as he had full faith in his in-form troops. He said Albion players were not deterred by the deduction.
“Yeah,” Morrison agreed. “It's probably everything else that was going on as well (with the points deduction), it galvanised the fanbase and us. I felt it as well, it was great.”
Albion were well on top against the high-flying Tractor Boys for more than an hour. “We're there, we're competing,” added the club legend. “I said to the players it'll be a good test to see how far we've come and where we're at. We showed that we're in and around it, we're in good form. I'm happy for the players, just for the effort again really. When we lost the ball or there's a break on, we all run back as fast as we can. It's good to watch at times.”
