West Brom lead the Championship table after game week nine and remain unbeaten under Slaven Bilic, but one player in particular is drawing attention.
Many Baggies were excited for the new season when it was announced that the Croatian Slaven Bilic would be their new manager. Now nine games into the season and their excitement is being justified - a point clear at the top of the Championship and maintaining their unbeaten start to the season.
Bilic’s West Brom continued their good form on the road on Saturday when they travelled to QPR. Mark Warburton’s side were expected to give Bilic a headache having sat fifth before the start of the match, but they were no match for West Brom in what Bilic dubbed their ‘best performance’ of the season.
Having fallen short in the play-off semis last year, there’s a lot of hope and expectation at The Hawthorns this time round. Bilic has got his team playing how they should and one player who’s been a revelation since the Croat’s arrival is 18-year-old Nathan Ferguson.
Ferguson made his debut on the opening day of the season in a 2-1 victory at Nottingham Forest, and since then has started all but one league game under Bilic, who has a lot of time and admiration for the full-back. He told BBC West Midlands after Saturday’s victory:
"Nathan has a mentality that reminds me of Declan Rice," said Bilic, who managed Rice in his last job in English football at West Ham.
"He's only 18 on paper, but his mind is 25 or 27 - he's not a kid. He's only a kid in a positive way in that he's not afraid to take the ball forward and have a shot. It's our job to keep him humble but there's no doubt that he has an extremely bright future and a great career in front of him.”
Bilic came into West Brom with a reputation for offering young players the chance to play in his first team, like with Rice at West Ham. He looks like he’s unearthed a diamond in Ferguson and has already said how fond he is of his abilities. The task now for Ferguson is to maintain focus ahead of 19th birthday next week, and to carry on working hard for Bilic who is clearly a huge fan of his.