West Brom appoint Price as technical director

West Bromwich Albion have completed a key piece of off-field business by installing Dominic Price as the club’s new technical director, tasking the 35-year-old with restoring long-term stability at a time when relegation to League One remains a genuine threat.

Price, who quietly began work at The Hawthorns several days ago, arrives from Maccabi Tel-Aviv, where he spent the past three seasons as technical director and helped the Israeli club retain the Premier League title. His remit in the Midlands will be sweeping: oversight of the academy, medical, sports-science and analysis departments, plus responsibility for “further developing strategies for squad planning, player pathways, football technology and football administration”.

The appointment continues a senior-management reshuffle that began in February when American owner Shilen Patel accepted the resignation of sporting director and president Andrew Nestor. Former managing director Mark Miles has since returned as executive director, meaning Price will report directly to Patel with Miles providing day-to-day support.

A former Liverpool youth player who later earned a law degree, Price began coaching inside the Reds’ academy and obtained his UEFA A licence before joining Blackpool in 2020 as head of performance analysis. He was part of Neil Critchley’s promotion-winning staff in 2020-21 and returned to Anfield the following summer to work as a first-team analyst under Jürgen Klopp.

Price said the “history and heritage” of West Bromwich Albion imbue the role with “significant responsibility” and pledged to “build strong foundations, drive standards, and support the continued development and progression” of the club.

While Price’s brief is explicitly long-term, immediate pressure surrounds the first team. The Baggies sit one point above the Championship relegation zone with 11 fixtures remaining and have already dismissed head coaches Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay this season. Interim boss James Morrison will guide the side until May, the club confirmed on Wednesday, but Price’s arrival is viewed as a statement of intent beyond the current survival fight.

Crucially, Price will not handle first-team recruitment; that duty has reverted to eight-year club servant Ian Pearce, the former defender who recommended Carlos Corberán in 2022. Price’s focus will instead rest on academy output—an area that has recently produced England youth international Tom Fellows, goalkeeper Alex Palmer and, most recently, 19-year-old Ollie Bostock, who scored his maiden senior goal last weekend.

Steve Hermon, BBC Radio WM’s West Brom reporter, notes that Price’s English-football experience addresses a gap in the club’s backroom structure and could help moderate an over-reliance on data that some supporters felt characterised the Nestor era.

With 11 cup-style finals ahead on the pitch and a comprehensive rebuild ongoing behind the scenes, Albion supporters will hope Price’s appointment provides the clarity required to avert a historic relegation and lay sustainable foundations for a promotion push in future campaigns.