Shilen Patel makes West Brom admission v Sunderland after first defeat since his takeover
Shilen Patel has hailed West Brom players and fans for not giving up in their 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at The Hawthorns on Saturday.
Pierre Ewkah’s goal in first-half stoppage time – minutes after Brandon Thomas-Asante’s red card – was enough for Sunderland to grab all three points and end Albion’s 10-match unbeaten run in the Championship.
Patel took to social media after the game to admit that it was hard to see West Brom lose for the first time since his takeover at the end of February but he was happy with the effort he saw from Carlos Corberan’s players.
“Tough way for the unbeaten streak to end, but the players and fans didn’t give up or let up,” said Patel via his personal X account on Saturday (13 April).
“Great atmosphere at The Hawthorns today and better results ahead.”
Week of firsts for Shilen Patel at West Brom
Patel has done a great job at endearing himself to the West Brom fans since he bought the Black Country club from Guochuan Lai in February.
Admittedly, the bar was set very low by the Albion’s former Chinese ownership with Patel now attending more fixtures in person than Lai ever did within just a month and a half.
The Florida-based businessman had to wait a while to see his first win in the flesh when he attended West Brom’s 2-0 midweek win over Rotherham at The Hawthorns but he’s now also experienced his first defeat as the club’s owner and chairman.
West Brom fans know more than most that it’s a feeling you never really get used to but it’s good to see some positivity from the top when there are sections of the Albion fanbase in absolute meltdown mode on social media after the team suffered their first defeat in 10 Championship matches.
Albion are still in a commanding position in fifth place.
Norwich are just one point behind in sixth but there’s a seven-point gap to Hull in seventh so just two more wins will do it for the Baggies.
In other West Brom news, Boiler Man has been axed as his mystery disappearance is finally explained on social media.
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