West Brom comment: Just who is left to fight for Albion now?
It will take some time to digest the bombshell that Ron Gourlay has resigned as Albion chief executive.
His departure 15 months into the role does not just ring alarm bells, but it removes what feels like the final layer of security during the biggest period of uncertainty and upheaval in the history of this great Football League founder.
Gourlay, when asked in an interview in January – less than a year into the job – when he would say ‘enough is enough’ and move on, answered: “Good question! I’m not a quitter. I’m not at that stage at the moment.
“I think, in my view, I think and it’d be supported internally by my peers, the club is in better position with me here than me not here.”
The bottom line and biggest question when the Scot departs the training ground in Walsall for the final time on Wednesday, June 14, is – who is going to fight for Albion, the football club, and their fans now?
This latest development, albeit one Gourlay triggered more than two months ago with his notice, could very well be a devastating one for Albion. There is no sugar-coating it.
Gourlay, 60, had his critics and that was fair enough. Some calls, mostly centred around Steve Bruce’s hiring and delayed firing, were miscalculated. To counter that, on the football side, he recruited the club’s best asset – Carlos Corberan – and added security with a new deal amid Leeds interest.
