This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
West Brom have entered the international break sitting top of the Championship table as their new-look side has taken the league by storm.
It wasn’t too long ago that the Baggies were left reeling from playoff defeat, going into the summer without a manager and with a rather uncertain future.
But Slaven Bilic has since come in and turned things around by building an exciting young squad that at one stage was the league’s only unbeaten side.
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The Croatian will take most of the plaudits for doing so, being the manager and all that, but those around him should certainly be recognised too.
His right-hand man is relatively unknown, especially alongside West Ham legend Julian Dicks, although he is probably the most influential member of backroom staff next to Bilic himself.
Danilo Butorovic is his name – he’s the guy with the iPad and an earpiece in on the substitutes bench each game.
The 35-year-old has had dreams of being a football coach since the age of 14 and now holds a UEFA Pro licence, which is the highest coaching accolade one can achieve.
He is widely regarded as an expert in data analysis and computer programmes and has followed Bilic ever since their first meeting in east London.
The pair were together over in Saudi Arabia for a brief spell at Al-Ittihad and are now working up a treat at the Hawthorns.
It is the use of technology that has assisted many critical decisions before a match, but also during it too.
Butorovic has described how it all works in a recent interview with Express & Star, he said:
“Very often I see something during the game which is interesting, or the guys [the analysts] upstairs see something.
“They send it down to the iPad and I see it. Most of the time, because I’ve been doing it for quite a while now, I can see stuff.
“Whenever I see something, I’ll come up to Slaven and just tell him that I think it’s important.”
One instance of this could be seen in Grady Diangana’s impact on two occasions.
Against Luton Town on debut, the 21-year-old single-handedly won them the game after coming on as a half-time substitute to score twice.
Then in Albion’s match versus Huddersfield Town, Diangana repeated his exploits but with two assists instead.
These sorts of decisions would have been made with the assistance of technology, which has been brought to the club by Butorovic.
Therefore, it would be reasonable to suggest that it is playing a considerable part towards them being top of the league.
