After 439 appearances spanning across all competitions, James Morrison made the decision to retire from football at the age of 33.

West Bromwich Albion lost a true veteran on his retirement, after the midfielder made 341 appearances, scored 39 goals and provided 37 assists during a 12-year spell in the Midlands.

As reward for his incredible club form, Morrison was capped 49 times by Scotland.

Even so, the fan favourite couldn’t bring himself to depart the club for good. On retiring, he went straight into a coaching role with club’s academy.

He was pictured watching over the West Brom Under-18s training session.

His role at the club has been welcomed by many supporters who see the move as a good fit for both sides. One man who seemingly doesn’t agree with Morrison’s decision, though, is another former player Jonathan Greening.

Like Morrison, Greening enjoyed spells at both Middlesbrough and West Brom during his career. For the latter, he made just shy of 200 appearances.

The central midfielder scored seven goals in his six-year stint at the club and played alongside Morrison at the Hawthorns in the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons.

Perhaps, then, that this is exactly why the midfielder believes that his former teammate shouldn’t have retired and should still be playing regular football.

He responded to the Tweet with this.

The response received 20 likes, indicating that a fair few supporters are of the same opinion.

Only the player himself will ever know when the right time to retire is. At 33, though, you can’t help but feel like his departure from English football was a little premature.

You have a 34-year-old Ben Watson performing about as well as he has ever performed at Nottingham Forest this season. The position of central midfielder can often compliment ageing players.

But there is no question just how much of an impact his introduction to the academy coaching staff will have on their already impressive youth development. To have a man as experienced as Morrison coaching young midfielders sets Albion in good stead for the future.