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Post by FullerMagic on May 31, 2023 17:16:06 GMT
Their Chief Exec has resigned amidst their continuing financial struggles with the owner not repaying a £5m loan. Their fans already seem worried that the situation is spinning out of control and will make it more likely Corberan, who they see as only thing they've got going for them, is more likely to depart if someone like Leeds come calling this summer www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/west-bromwich-albion/2023/05/31/west-brom-chief-executive-ron-gourlay-to-depart-the-hawthorns/The Scot offered his resignation in March and, having served some of his notice period, it has been confirmed he will leave and begin gardening leave from June 14. Gourlay has been solely running the football operations at The Hawthorns and the club's training ground since his appointment as chief executive in February 2022. The news comes as Albion face financial and operational uncertainty under controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai. Recently-published accounts to June 2022 confirmed, due to a lack of investment, Albion must sell players this summer to continue as a going concern. More recently, as turbulence and uncertainty continued to grow at The Hawthorns, Gourlay met with pressure group Action for Albion – with whom he engaged in healthy dialogue – and maintained strong relations with minority shareholder representatives Shareholders for Albion. Gourlay, who was based at the club's Walsall training ground, was repeatedly promised by chairman Lai that the controversial £5million Wisdom Smart Corporation loan would be repaid – but deadlines continued to be missed.
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Post by stokefc on May 31, 2023 17:27:40 GMT
I'm so glad we've got overseas owners...Oh wait
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Post by march4 on May 31, 2023 17:53:30 GMT
Thank goodness for the Coates family.
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Post by Goonie on May 31, 2023 17:56:00 GMT
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Post by LGH87 on May 31, 2023 17:57:08 GMT
I'm so glad we've got overseas owners...Oh wait Because all overseas owners are like this?
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Post by thevoid on May 31, 2023 18:05:10 GMT
I'm so glad we've got overseas owners...Oh wait Strange comment. Do you want to compare Ryan Reynolds with the British bloke who owned Wrexham and tried to sell their stadium to a property developer?
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Post by thehartshillbadger on May 31, 2023 18:07:17 GMT
I'm so glad we've got overseas owners...Oh wait Strange comment. Do you want to compare Ryan Reynolds with the British bloke who owned Wrexham and tried to sell their stadium to a property developer? It’s weird, I couldn’t care less if they’re British or foreign as long as they know how to run a nogger club. Foreign this and that does my head in
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Post by sportsman on May 31, 2023 18:22:51 GMT
Pisser
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Post by theonlooker on May 31, 2023 18:23:00 GMT
Ay up, here we go. A club in trouble and it means our owners are the best thing since sliced bread again.
Nope.
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Post by sportsman on May 31, 2023 18:24:15 GMT
Ay up, here we go. A club in trouble and it means our owners are the best thing since sliced bread again. Nope. They're certainly good for me. Wouldn't swap them for any other
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Post by thevoid on May 31, 2023 18:42:21 GMT
Ay up, here we go. A club in trouble and it means our owners are the best thing since sliced bread again. Nope. "My landlord's brilliant. He hasn't sorted out the mould problem in my bathroom which is affecting my health, but at least I haven't got an outside toilet like that bloke down the road"
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Post by stokefc on May 31, 2023 18:47:47 GMT
I'm so glad we've got overseas owners...Oh wait Strange comment. Do you want to compare Ryan Reynolds with the British bloke who owned Wrexham and tried to sell their stadium to a property developer? I just like the fact The Coates won't send us to ruin even though we've been shit for a few years . The not knowing . if we get overseas owners is what i find problematic yeah some might be good but who knows , owning a football club is a money pit and while we have The Coates we won't have that problem , i agree they need to buck their ideas and get with the future with running the club it's not good enough with the wealth they've got but nah stick with the family ,they'll get it right eventually
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Post by FullerMagic on May 31, 2023 18:50:37 GMT
www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ron-gourlay-exit-leaves-west-27031569Ron Gourlay exit leaves West Brom with countless questions and nobody to answer them The statement released by West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday evening to confirm that Ron Gourlay would be leaving his role as chief executive next month has only brought more questions.
Irrespective of what you think of Gourlay and the job he has carried out in that period, it's a worrying development indeed and does nothing to put the minds of supporters at ease. Not that they were fully at ease anyway, but this breaking news only casts more uncertainty over the long-term security of the club.
Small bridges were being built with the fanbase in the most difficult of circumstances, in the darkest era the club has lived through - is living through - for many a year. By the end, though, it's proven to be even too much for Gourlay to try and maintain. He's decided, as he is entitled to, to take himself out of the firing line, not in need of the stress and headaches such a senior role at the club in its current guise would surely bring.
The timing of Gourlay's departure is more worrying still. To keep it under wraps these past months is his prerogative, but it points to more concerning developments ahead. He's already publicly said before now that he wouldn't be at the club if Guochuan Lai attempted to withdraw any more money from the club. Having resigned as a director of West Brom Group well before now, he had already been tasked with chasing the owner of the club for the money he owes. Imagine that, in any other industry, at any other business.
Now, unless the existing hierarchy have any unforeseen aces up their sleeve as far as a replacement is concerned - and we have absolutely no reason to substantiate that hope - then the club will slink back to what it was before - faceless, uncommunicative and wholly detached once more from their fanbase who, by the way, only a few weeks ago were asked to put their hands in the pockets again.
And where, dare we ask, might this leave Carlos? It's no secret that the pair got on very well and worked alongside one another to good effect in these last seven or eight months. If Leeds United come sniffing with an offer to buy him out of the contract he signed only in February to ward off any interest from elsewhere, you'd imagine that he'll be left to question his own future and how the club he is trying to guide back to the Premier League is going to look.
As for Gourlay, who can at least say that he tried to improve a hopeless situation and took decisions for the betterment of the club, he takes his leave in the near future when he can unwind and remove himself from the Albion pressure cooker entirely. His efforts, in the grand scheme of things, have largely been like putting a plaster on a bullet wound - fruitless. The bigger, badder issues remain and they're now free to go unchecked and unchallenged.
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Post by generationex on May 31, 2023 18:54:55 GMT
My Albion supporting pals described promotion this year as shit or bust.
They’ve got genuine fears for the future of the club as an on-going concern.
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Post by lordb on May 31, 2023 19:00:31 GMT
Time to buy an Albion player or two? Value to be had?
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Post by george2again on May 31, 2023 19:45:19 GMT
Time to buy an Albion player or two? Value to be had? Swift and Wallace would be more than decent.
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Post by maninasuitcase on May 31, 2023 19:55:13 GMT
Boing boing boing boing boing pop.....
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Post by thehartshillbadger on May 31, 2023 20:53:46 GMT
Time to buy an Albion player or two? Value to be had? Swift and Wallace would be more than decent. Oh ah….
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Post by benjaminbiscuit on May 31, 2023 20:53:54 GMT
Boing boing boing boing boing pop..... Post if the month right there in the dying minutes last gasp winner and no response
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Post by independent on May 31, 2023 21:01:29 GMT
My Albion supporting pals described promotion this year as shit or bust. They’ve got genuine fears for the future of the club as an on-going concern. They've got to gamble on going up. Something like we did when we came down and I'd say with the same result. Unfortunately for them they don't have an owner who will take a 200m hit, just one who won't repay a 5m loan. This was predictable,and was forecast last season. Leicester are another one of many, who could be in trouble.
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Post by lordb on May 31, 2023 21:31:42 GMT
My Albion supporting pals described promotion this year as shit or bust. They’ve got genuine fears for the future of the club as an on-going concern. They've got to gamble on going up. Something like we did when we came down and I'd say with the same result. Unfortunately for them they don't have an owner who will take a 200m hit, just one who won't repay a 5m loan. This was predictable,and was forecast last season. Leicester are another one of many, who could be in trouble. Think 'this year' meant 2022/23 season Albion in deep shit, looks like going to get horrible for them Take the point re foreign owners, some good some bad (same as British), Albion have definitely got shit owners Always had time for Albion personally
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Post by tommycarlsberg on May 31, 2023 21:33:23 GMT
Was speaking to a Baggies fan recently who seemed to think they were rate up shit creek. Be careful what you wish for an all that, as frustrating as it might be.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2023 3:01:21 GMT
I love that the Coates family support and love the club, that their backing means we simply don’t have to worry about financial ruin, and that John Coates would provide whatever funds he could in an attempt to make us successful.
I hate the mountain of mistakes they’ve made from their failure to say thankyou and goodbye to Hughes at the end of his 4th season onwards, and suspect that their oldschool “philosophy” of giving a manager free reigns and having no structure in place like modern successful clubs all do is a model that is dooming us to obscurity for the foreseeable future, and don’t have faith that they will ever deviate.
These two paragraphs aren’t mutually exclusive. You can both love and savour the security that the family gives us, as well as being critical of their approach.
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Post by Caerwrangonpotter on Jun 1, 2023 5:48:20 GMT
A genuine whiff of a points deduction in the air & also a good chance of needing a new manager
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Post by Bagwash on Jun 1, 2023 6:20:13 GMT
I love that the Coates family support and love the club, that their backing means we simply don’t have to worry about financial ruin, and that John Coates would provide whatever funds he could in an attempt to make us successful. I hate the mountain of mistakes they’ve made from their failure to say thankyou and goodbye to Hughes at the end of his 4th season onwards, and suspect that their oldschool “philosophy” of giving a manager free reigns and having no structure in place like modern successful clubs all do is a model that is dooming us to obscurity for the foreseeable future, and don’t have faith that they will ever deviate. These two paragraphs aren’t mutually exclusive. You can both love and savour the security that the family gives us, as well as being critical of their approach. Excellent post,very similar to my opinion. The 'Family' have made mistakes,the main one being,as you say giving managers carte blanche to do what they want without any interference from them. It's not right and it is due to their bad management but how many football clubs can have 120 mill wiped off a debt by the owners? I personally love that the Coates' own us but just wish that they would apply the same business principles to the football club as they do to Bet 365.
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Post by robrigo on Jun 1, 2023 6:38:45 GMT
West Brom. A proper, traditional football club with a rich history. Similar to us. Some great clashes against them. I personally take no pleasure in seeing any club in crisis. None at all.
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Post by LGH87 on Jun 1, 2023 6:53:56 GMT
I genuinely believe the 14/1 available on both Stoke & West Brom for relegation is great value on both parts.
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Post by benjaminbiscuit on Jun 1, 2023 7:23:12 GMT
I genuinely believe the 14/1 available on both Stoke & West Brom for relegation is great value on both parts. Think that’s a very decent shout got to be the clubs in tge biggest disarray of the 24 in the league
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Post by femark on Jun 1, 2023 7:25:19 GMT
Strange comment. Do you want to compare Ryan Reynolds with the British bloke who owned Wrexham and tried to sell their stadium to a property developer? It’s weird, I couldn’t care less if they’re British or foreign as long as they know how to run a nogger club. Foreign this and that does my head in Nah sorry, it's all them bloody foreigners fault. The brits are all true upstanding gentlemen and anyone else is not to be trusted.
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Post by clarkeda on Jun 1, 2023 7:27:48 GMT
I love that the Coates family support and love the club, that their backing means we simply don’t have to worry about financial ruin, and that John Coates would provide whatever funds he could in an attempt to make us successful. I hate the mountain of mistakes they’ve made from their failure to say thankyou and goodbye to Hughes at the end of his 4th season onwards, and suspect that their oldschool “philosophy” of giving a manager free reigns and having no structure in place like modern successful clubs all do is a model that is dooming us to obscurity for the foreseeable future, and don’t have faith that they will ever deviate. These two paragraphs aren’t mutually exclusive. You can both love and savour the security that the family gives us, as well as being critical of their approach. I agree with this. I just wish he was strong enough to hire a technical director and a DOF in his vision (high press/ possession based/ long ball) whatever it is, and task them with building the philosophy through club, instead of giving it to a manager then ripping it up whenever it’s sacked.
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