West Brom fans wait with baited breath as Ron Gourlay makes another promise
West Brom fans have finally got an answer, sort of, from Ron Gourlay about the money owed to the club and a promise has been publicly made now.
There was fury during the summer as it was revealed that owner Guochuan Lai used £4.95million of the club’s money to help his other failing business, leaving the Baggies strapped for cash during the summer transfer window.
But in the minutes from the latest Albion Assembly meeting, CEO Gourlay addressed concerns from fans about the cash and revealed that he expects £4.95m of that money to be repaid with interest before the turn of the year.
While it’s obviously not all the cash that is owed currently due to a previous loan Lai inherited from Jeremy peace, it would be a great start for fans to start trusting the club’s owners once again and believing that West Brom are moving in the right direction.
Paying back this loan means that the club will be in a far better position when the January transfer window comes around, and with the team struggling on the pitch right now it will likely be needed to bolster the squad.
But more importantly if the money isn’t paid back for whatever reason, or more money decides to find itself in someone else’s pocket then the fans will now have a real reason to riot and go nuts.
Shareholders For Albion (S4A) have already called for the club to explain what is happening, and there have been concerns among the fans about the possibility of the owner trying to sell assets to get himself out of a financial hole.
If the money isn’t paid back in time as has been suggested by Gourlay, then those concerns are likely to escalate and the mood around the club will only worsen.
As if the performances on the pitch weren’t bad enough, with the team sitting in 21st place with just one win so far in the Championship, there is plenty of problems off the pitch that aren’t lending a helping hand to the situation.
With so much concern and mix-up off the pitch, it can’t be helping the morale around the club when fans are constantly questioning things going on and that nobody has been able to provide legitimate answers.
Gourlay has bought the club time until the turn of the year, but should nothing be heard back soon after we enter 2023 about it then this will undoubtedly come back to bite him and the pressure will really ramp up.
In other West Brom news, the club have an “immediate” recall option for one loanee