Chinese football expert predicts Guochuan Lai exit from West Brom as next protest planned
Chinese football expert Mark Dreyer has predicted that West Brom controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai could be walking out The Hawthorns exit door soon amid ongoing fan protests.
Baggies fans have been protesting recently for the owner to leave the club as soon as possible, with the money he owes to be paid back to the club plus interest after missing three deadlines to make the payment.
And according to the Daily Mail, (Sports Agenda, pg. 67) a large number of fans are also expected to march from the town to The Hawthorns in the game against Huddersfield on 11 March.
Chinese football expert Dreyer [8 March] took to his personal Twitter account to predict that Lai, one of the last few Chinese owners to represent a football club in the UK, could be the next to leave.
He tweeted: “Remember when about 20 European football clubs had Chinese owners? Looks like WBA’s Lai Guochuan – one of the last few standing – could be the next to go…”
Time is up
Lai is certainly giving rich Chinese businessmen around the world of sport a hugely bad reputation and his time as the club’s controlling shareholder should surely be coming to an end.
Lai has been awful for this football club, draining Albion of funds and leading the club to the Championship, becoming a mediocre yo-yo club.
His lack of authority, transparency and total incompetence is hurting the club as a whole and something has got to be done about these unpaid loans. Is it time the English Football League takes action? The Baggies fans don’t deserve this treatment.
The Baggies are open to offers to take over the club from Lai, according to The Athletic [6 March] and the club fans will be desperately hoping that any process of a sale can swiftly be wrapped up so they can finally be rid of such an incompetent and torrid ownership.
In other West Brom news, a defender may never feature for the club again after what happened and may even leave for free.