In some ways, Gareth Southgate’s time in charge of England felt a bit like Chris Hughton’s work with Albion.
Now a huge appointment awaits our national team after the former stepped down.
Whether they come up with the same answer as Albion in 2019 remains to be seen.
The bookies had Graham Potter as their early favourite.
But, contrary to popular belief, the bookies are not always right.
Especially when it comes to new manager odds.
Southgate, like Hughton, is a very good bloke who stepped into a role when a team were struggling.
Both are thought of as being overly cautious but both have overseen some moments of excitement.
They both turned things around, made some tough decisions and took their teams back into the top tier.
To heights where they had not been since, for England, the 1960s, and, for Albion, the early 1980s.
Of course there are differences. Southgate opted to walk away and said the timing felt right.
Hughton was sacked and felt he could have gone on and done more.
But both left their teams in a similar position.
To where they had firmly re-established their teams at a high level and yet it wasn’t quite enough.
Where there now seems scope to kick on again if the right appointment is made.
With echoes of Albion, the FA have spoken of succession planning.
The hope is a new man will be in place as soon as possible.
But we are told there is an interim plan in place if needed.
Southgate was criticised by Albion fans for some time for his reluctance to bring in Lewis Dunk.
But he brought him back in the end, albeit with no playing time at the Euros.
Southgate also played Solly March in the under-21s, including a start at the Amex.
And he was in charge when then Albion midfielder Jake Forster-Caskey played for the 21s.
So do England come up with the same answer as Tony Bloom in 2019?
There is a suspicion Potter has been biding his time since being sacked by Chelsea and is waiting for the right job.
He is close to Dan Ashworth – and Ashworth is heading to a club who were supposed to be sacking their manager after the FA Cup final.
But Erik ten Hag remains in place at Manchester United.
And he is one of not so many English head coaches who have done well in the Premier League, albeit fleetingly.
He may well not answer what seems to be a regular call for England to take off the handbrake and play with attacking flair.
But one wonders whether a rather one-paced England would have been more vulnerable to counter-attacks had they done so at the Euros.
If it were to be Potter, he would be thrust into a publicity glare, which is an area he does not really enjoy.
He would satisfy the wish of many who want an English manager in charge of the national team – albeit, one assumes, with assistants who are Scottish and Catalan.
But the big wish would surely be that he be himself.
No glow-up, no forced swearing, no act.
All of that felt so awkward, so false, when he went up to the circus that was Chelsea.
One suspects he might want time that is not afforded an England manager.
That is time from the media and public as well as time with the players.
The England boss is referred to as a “manager” rather than “head coach”.
When asked about his job title by The Argus during his Albion tenure as head coach, Potter said it was very much that - just a title.
But it feels like the England boss organises and man-manages the squad more than actually coaches them.
So we will see how it goes. I am not sure what Albion fans would make of him getting the call.
Potter is very English but with an open mind.
He is a clear thinker on football and knows how he wants the game to be played.
And he would not need to worry about one part of football he does not enjoy – the transfer window.
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