Simon Jordan speaks out on West Brom sack decision as finger pointed at Shilen Patel
West Brom are bracing themselves for the possibility of relegation from the Championship.
Eric Ramsay’s second game in charge saw West Brom lose 5-0 to Norwich City at The Hawthorns on Tuesday, and now only three points separate them with 22nd-placed Portsmouth, who have games in hand.
Ramsay was brought in to steady the ship, but two consecutive defeats already have already left supporters feeling hopeless about the club’s future.
Shilen Patel completed the takeover of the Baggies in February 2024, acquiring an 87.8 per cent shareholding in the club via his company Bilkul Football WBA.
West Brom fans are beginning to turn on Patel, and Simon Jordan believes that their struggles in the second tier were inevitable under the chairman’s stewardship.
Simon Jordan never had faith in Ryan Mason as West Brom manager
Ryan Mason was sacked by Albion on 6 January following West Brom’s 2-1 defeat to Leicester City at the King Power Stadium the night before.
The former Baggies head coach only had prior experience leading a team when he was appointed as the caretaker manager by Tottenham in 2021.
Mason clearly never had the acumen to lead the team forward, and Patel’s huge lapse in judgement could prove to be incredibly costly.
| Stat | Mason |
| Games managed | 13 |
| Wins | 6 |
| Draws | 1 |
| Losses | 6 |
Speaking on talkSPORT on 21 January, Jordan believes that West Brom‘s problems stem from deep-lying issues over the last two years, and the appointment of Mason was a huge catalyst for their decline.
He said: “The problem lies in their recent appointments, one of them being Mason. With all due respect to how nice a guy he may be, a manager he appears not to be.
“Why they find themselves at the bottom of the table is not to do with Ramsay. It’s to do with the decisions they’ve made over the past two years.
“I don’t feel Mason is a leader, and I wasn’t surprised to see the challenges they faced. And here they are, on the receiving end of a whooping from Norwich.”
Patel has to shoulder a lot of the blame, and it would be unforgivable for the Baggies to drop down into League One.
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Tuesday night’s loss was the heaviest defeat West Brom have suffered at home outside of the top flight in their history.
Patel would have been hoping for a new manager bounce with Ramsay, but unfortunately, the players haven’t responded well to his tactical changes.
At the start of the season, the Baggies were tipped as a side that could finish in the playoff positions, and the addition of experienced defenders Chris Mepham and Nat Phillips was promising.
However, West Brom have been anything but defensively consistent, and the prospect of dropping down to the third tier of English football for the first time since 1993 is feeling far too realistic.
The Baggies travel to Derby on Friday with the aim of ending their 10-game losing run on the road in the league.
If they extend this record, then it could get ugly for Patel pretty quickly, and it’s up to the players to prove that they are indeed capable of fighting for the badge.