Steve Bruce speculates why Ron Gourlay quit West Brom in thinly-veiled dig at Guochuan Lai
Steve Bruce has speculated that Ron Gourlay decided to move on from West Brom in 2023 due to his role as chief executive being “so difficult” as he aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Guochuan Lai.
Speaking to BirminghamLive on Friday (22 February), the former Baggies manager said he hopes the club can now move forward after it had been “stuck for a while” before Shilen Patel reached an agreement to acquire Lai’s 87.8 per cent majority shareholding.
He added that it’s difficult for the manager, CEO, chairman and supporters when there is “no leadership at the very top” of a football club.
“I can only imagine that Ron found it so difficult that he eventually walked away,” said Bruce. “I hope now the club can move forward because it seems to have been stuck for a while.
“A lot of clubs, the way they are there’s no leadership at the very top, and then it’s difficult for the manager, CEO, chairman, everybody. The supporters, too, who turn up in their thousands week in, week out.”
West Brom can move forward under Shilen Patel
It must’ve been an incredibly difficult situation for everybody involved with West Brom after there was so much uncertainty around the club’s future for a number of years.
The off-field matters have prevented the Baggies from progressing forward and look to potentially cement a place in the Premier League.
The mismanagement stemmed from the very top as huge debts were wracked up and players were forced to move on just to keep the club ticking over.
This all shows how well Carlos Corberan did in the first half of the campaign to keep everything ticking over nicely before Patel swooped in to complete the takeover.
Albion will now be looking to use the positivity of the past week to help them in their bid for promotion back to the top flight this season.
In other West Brom news, an ex-Baggies favourite has spoken out about his controversial Hawthorns exit.
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