GettyImagesWest Brom's Dan Ashworth will follow Roy Hodgson (r) and head to the FA.

With a statement from the club expected any day now, it has finally come to pass that we will lose another key member of our football club to this country's governing body, the FA. Whilst the loss of Roy Hodgson was disappointing, losing sporting and technical director Dan Ashworth could have a much bigger impact on the club.

West Brom are a rare breed in English Football in that they employ a sporting and technical director, who in old fashioned terms would probably be described as a director of football, to work above a head coach rather than a manager, who traditionally would have control over all aspects of the club. And in an even rarer occurence, this model has proven to be hugely successful.

Ashworth is/was arguably the key pivot in Albion's development as a football club since he came into the role 2007. Dan was one of the main reasons why Albion were able to progress seamlessly from Tony Mowbray to Roberto Di Matteo to Roy Hodgson and finally the current incumbent Steve Clarke, who has already put on record how much easier the job of head coach has been for him working alongside Dan Ashworth.

Ashworth has over seen our club developing from the ground upwards, starting with the youth academy where he has set in place policies and coaching remits that ensure young Albion players have the best development possible. This is no suprise considering Ashworth started at Albion as a youth team coach, and his work with the youth section of the club has led to us being granted category 1 EPPP status. I'm no expert on this but only a handful of clubs have been granted this status which is a measure of how far Ashworth, and others, have taken this area of the club.

The contribution made by Ashworth which will be most easily recognised by the fans is the success we have had in the transfer market during his tenure. There has of course been the odd poor signing, Reuben Reid springs to mind instantly whilst Pablo Ibanez didn't work out either. However most of the signings made in the era of Ashworth have proven to be shrewd acquistions for a club such as ourselves. The Baggies rely upon digging out these gems, or taking calculated risks on players other clubs wouldn't look at, due to our prudent approach in the transfer market.

Of the side that started and defeated Everton, only four players cost over £1 million. Key performers in the Albion side that day were Claudio Yacob (Free), Gareth McAuley (Free), Youssuff Mulumbu (£175k) and Jonas Olsson (£800k) which goes to show some of the great work undertaken done during Ashworth's reign.

Reading this blog up until this point, you probably think this is the end of the world for Albion, how will we recover from losing someone who has done such a fantastic job throughout the whole club? Well there are some important things to consider.

Ashworth has taken a lot of credit for Albion's work in the transfer market, but we must not forget he isn't doing all this single-handedly. Albion have a vast, knowledgeable very impressive scouting netowrk covering all areas of the world on the lookout for the next bargain or castaway, it is not just Ashworth who scouts players he is just the man at the top of the chain so to speak.

Additionally, reports are suggesting Ashworth will stay on at the club either until January or the end of the season. This will aid in the process I mentioned earlier that Ashworth was so important in, "transition". Clarke will be able to continue focus on the coaching with Ashworth over-seeing one final transfer window. And further to that, Ashworth will head the search for his own replacement. Who better to find a replacement than the man himself? The man who knows the skills required for such a job.

I'm not really in a position to speculate on who will replace Ashworth, as it is such an uncommon role in English Football. The only other club I know who employ such a strategy is Reading with Nick Hammond, who may well be an option. Another potential option is to promote from within, or Albion may go left-field in their search for a successor.

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