‘No recruitment process’ – Ron Gourlay comments on West Brom manager search
West Brom appointed Steve Bruce as the club’s new manager on Thursday (3 February) after sacking Valerien Ismael following a run of poor results.
Hours after Ismael’s dismissal became public knowledge, Ron Gourlay was announced as the club’s new CEO and he quickly went about hiring a new manager to take on the Baggies.
He found his man very quickly with Bruce being unveiled as the new boss just a day later.
But in today’s press conference (4 February), Gourlay made a surprising admission about the process they went through that culminated in Bruce’s appointment.
“When we made the decision that we had to make the change, there was no recruitment process, to be honest,” Gourlay said.
“We knew straight away who we wanted. We needed experience and the position that we were in, there was one man, he was available but I didn’t know that until the phone call.
“When I made the call to Steve, there was no doubt that he was the right man for the football club.”
Move forward, together
It has been a highly turbulent few weeks for West Brom, its supporters, players, staff and board members.
But the past few days should have now alleviated the majority of the concern and disgruntlement within the club and now is the time for unity.
Whether Bruce would have been the fans number one pick for the new boss or not, now is not the time to get on his back before he’s taken charge of a single game.
Every stakeholder in the club needs to now get on the same page, in synchronicity, to ensure the club stop their slow fall down the Championship ladder and they can begin to look up at promotion again.
That all begins now as Bruce prepares his team for the away trip to Sheffield United on Wednesday (9 February).
The fans will be keen to give him a rousing welcome too and that could be vital as Blackburn Rovers visit The Hawthorns on 14 February.
In other West Brom news, free agents may still offer Bruce a chance to bring in a new face or two.