A Week in Albion's World: Unwanted spotlight on Di Matteo?

06 October 2010 13:22
Sam Moir discusses the downside of success With eleven points in the bag and only just into October, the Baggies’ Head Coach can now claim the accolade of Manager of the Month, but is it unwanted attention for Albion?Roberto Di Matteo’s career to date has been impressive.After taking over from Paul Ince in 2008 at MK Dons he then appointed former Chelsea colleague Eddie Newton as his assistant and Ade Mafe as his fitness coach. All around B71 there is praise for both Newton and Mafe’s impact in the club. Following on from a semi-final defeat against Scunthorpe in the League One play-offs, he left to begin his spell at Albion.A promotion with, arguably, a team that did not have Di Matteo’s stamp on brings us to the second international break of the season with an impressive eleven points in the bag. Chelsea aside, the club’s results speak for themselves.He is in his third year of management and still only young at the age of 40.Furthermore, unlike so many former players breaking into management, he began qualifying for his UEFA coaching licences while still playing and completed his B Licence during his time with Chelsea. With that favourable run of fixtures fast upon B71, Di Matteo still has a lot to prove, and achieve, but there is a realistic chance the club could accumulate at least twenty points come Christmas. That would be a dream for the boys in blue and white.His latest managerial achievement only adds to his reputation.But there's the issue of Jeremy Peace, seemingly, being a hard chairman to work with. Previous managers Gary Megson, Tony Mowbray have both indicated the working relationship was difficult at times. Well, Megson did a bit more than indicate when he said he hates Peace so much he can't even bear to speak his name.Notice that Di Matteo praised Technical Director Dan Ashworth, not the chairman. If Di Matteo experiences the same then come the end of the season, regardless of where the club finish, he may consider moving on to pastures new.It is very early days but pray Di Matteo can keep producing the goods. Should the club go down, there will be plenty of Premier League chairman willing to give him a second chance if his previous two years and start to this season are anything to go by.

Source: FOOTYMAD