West Bromwich Albion defender Steven Reid will one day become a football coach.

Or Steven Reid will one day become a media pundit.

We still don’t yet know which.

In any case, West Bromwich Albion’s joint assistant head coach Kevin Keen has urged the former Republic of Ireland man to put those plans on hold.

Reid turned 32 earlier this month but question marks follow him around.

His season has been fragmented – a fractured leg suffered against Arsenal, coupled with niggles either side of that particular injury.

Reid is potentially contracted until 2014 but he needs to play a certain number of games this season to trigger a 2013/14 campaign.

If he doesn’t play enough matches then Albion have the final choice.

Keen feels Reid has every chance of extending his playing career. And that could mean the defender’s coaching career – he recently passed his UEFA B licence – being put on hold.

And the media ambitions might also be put on the back burner. Reid has already appeared on Match Of The Day 2 and has an occasional slot on Radio 5 Live.

For now, Reid has been urged to wait.

“In my opinion the next month is not going to make or break whether Steven stays at the club next season,” said Keen.

“He’s a fantastic senior professional. He’s appeared in quite a few games for us this season – and in quite a few winning teams. So, I don’t think whether or not he’s fit for the next two or three weeks will have a massive effect on any decision that’s being made.

“We hope for the squad he is fit and giving Billy a bit of a push because in the last few games Billy has been fantastic.

“The supporters and press, to a certain extent, see his contribution over 90 minutes on a Saturday, but as a coaching staff and Steve Clarke as head coach I think you’d say his contribution around the club is much more than that.

“He’s got great experience, he’s very vocal and has a lot of common sense when it comes to talking about football.

“He is a fantastic person to have around the place – and we have two or three of those.”

Speaking about Reid’s coaching and media ambitions, Keen added: “I think he’s got the football knowledge and intelligence to go and do it if he wants to.

“I think he’s also doing a bit with the media so he is keeping the two options open.

“For a professional footballer finishing, I would say the easier option and less stressful one is to go into the media.

“That option is the less time-consuming if you want to spend more time with your family.

“It’s definitely more time-consuming being a coach, being in training in the morning, watching videos all afternoon then going to watch games in the evening.

“I know that from experience but that is something he will have to decide.

“I would like to see him go into coaching. I think he’s got enough about him to do that well.”