[baggiejohn]

You'd hope they did some sort of due diligence, but everything points to SB being the only interviewee. Or otehrwise they managed to hide it very well from the journos.

Straight off the top this, I haven't checked, but could it be that Ron Gourlay knew Steve Bruce from his days at ManU?

[AlbionFan]

Straight off the top this, I haven't checked, but could it be that Ron Gourlay knew Steve Bruce from his days at ManU?

I think in football, nearly everybody knows nearly everybody and paths have crossed no doubt

[baggies_24]

Worries me that he’s Lai’s appointment & Lai is becoming more involved, his history of choosing top brass is an absolute disaster, John Williams as chairman, Terrano dof, Luke Dowling, Ken as CEO, Rejecting Wilder I guess the law of averages means he’l get one right eventually, hopefully it’s Gourley but the similarities to the current state of the club & Reading at the time Gourley turned up seem strikingly similar.

[AlbionFan]

Worries me that he’s Lai’s appointment & Lai is becoming more involved, his history of choosing top brass is an absolute disaster, John Williams as chairman, Terrano dof, Luke Dowling, Ken as CEO, Rejecting Wilder I guess the law of averages means he’l get one right eventually, hopefully it’s Gourley but the similarities to the current state of the club & Reading at the time Gourley turned up seem strikingly similar.

I believe JRP had involvement in that appointment when stayed on as an advisor to the owner, and may have been involved in other appointments also

[LiamTheBaggie]

Nothing wrong with Gourlays initial opening remarks - he’s already identified the issues that the majority of this forum have highlighted.

The real test comes in fixing them.

[paulosull]

Have to give the bloke a chance but who ever spotted that kid we missed out on who played for Celtic tonight I like his eye.

[Standaman]

Ron Gourlay is a football man he has over 20 years in executive positions as Chelsea and Man United. Both clubs are awash with money and their many failures have been fixed by throwing money at the problem and eventually the sheer weight of money tells. His only role with a club of more limited means, Reading was an unmitigated disaster.

Albion are a lot closer to Reading than they are to Chelsea so the Reading experience is both more recent and more relevant than his previous roles. This is worrying. Equally I am a little concerned that he has been lurking in the background during a period when the club made a number of missteps and I am not sure what his role was in those decisions. So he does not start with a completely clean slate

All that said his opening comments on the website seem to offer some hope of a more communitive approach which in itself would not be bad thing. He also said that he will strengthen the staff at board level which must mean a DoF, again this is to be welcomed but making a managerial appointment on the hoof before the DoF arrives smacks of the short sightedness that has blighted the club for years.

It would be wrong to judge him solely on the next Head Coach appointment but Steve Bruce is not a good look . I view the appointment with a certain amount of trepidation but if the walks the talk I will be more than happy.

 

 

[zippyandbungle]

Li Piyue gone completely.

"Joseph Masi
@JosephMasi_Star
Understand Xu Ke has been moved aside but remains at the club as a non-executive director. Li Piyue, who was chairman but has been replaced in that role by Lai, has left completely. Looks like those two men are carrying the can for Ismael and his four year deal... #wba"

So after 7 months in, the board make the correct decision and sack the manager and the chairman….
Can we please stop any posts about “he won’t do anything because the chines don’t like to lose face”, no one likes to lose face but credit people with enough sense to know when to make a decision.

[baggiejohn]

So after 7 months in, the board make the correct decision and sack the manager and the chairman….
Can we please stop any posts about “he won’t do anything because the chines don’t like to lose face”, no one likes to lose face but credit people with enough sense to know when to make a decision.

Only speaking for myself, but I can't ever remember saying "he won't do anything because the Chinese don't like to lose face".
It is a factor in their decision making process, but they're also not fools, & if things are going badly wrong they will act.

[iwastherein68]

Gourlay should have gone too. He was implicit in the recruitment of Ismael, and whilst apparently did an OK job at Man Utd and Chelsea, he totally wrecked Reading with there Albion style spending constraints.
Would not be surprised if Bruce turns us down if he does his research

[baggiejohn]

Ron Gourlay is a football man he has over 20 years in executive positions as Chelsea and Man United. Both clubs are awash with money and their many failures have been fixed by throwing money at the problem and eventually the sheer weight of money tells. His only role with a club of more limited means, Reading was an unmitigated disaster.

Albion are a lot closer to Reading than they are to Chelsea so the Reading experience is both more recent and more relevant than his previous roles. This is worrying. Equally I am a little concerned that he has been lurking in the background during a period when the club made a number of missteps and I am not sure what his role was in those decisions. So he does not start with a completely clean slate

All that said his opening comments on the website seem to offer some hope of a more communitive approach which in itself would not be bad thing. He also said that he will strengthen the staff at board level which must mean a DoF, again this is to be welcomed but making a managerial appointment on the hoof before the DoF arrives smacks of the short sightedness that has blighted the club for years.

It would be wrong to judge him solely on the next Head Coach appointment but Steve Bruce is not a good look . I view the appointment with a certain amount of trepidation but if the walks the talk I will be more than happy.

Hello Stan,
Hope you're OK & it's good to read your opinions again.

I agree with most of your comments, but I have some severe reservations about the paragraph I've highlighted in bold.

I'm not sure why we need more directors, it makes no sense to me to appoint administrators when we can barely afford footballers.

I wouldn't want to see a hierarchy where a DoF is in a more elevated position than the head coach. That structure elevates the DoF & degrades the Head Coach position.
As things stand we have around £40 to £50 million of intangible assets which account for around 70% of the value of the football club. It's the Head Coaches job to maximise those assets.

As I understood it, we had a structure up until yesterday where Head Coach, Recruitment Manager & Head of the Academy all reported in to the the CEO, add to that, heads of, Finance, Operations & Company secretary/legal, the CEO would be managing 6 people.

There might be an argument to improve the incumbents, but the structure/mechanism is already in place.
Not sure we need more, we just need better.

[SmethDan]

Ron Gourlay is a football man he has over 20 years in executive positions as Chelsea and Man United. Both clubs are awash with money and their many failures have been fixed by throwing money at the problem and eventually the sheer weight of money tells. His only role with a club of more limited means, Reading was an unmitigated disaster.

Albion are a lot closer to Reading than they are to Chelsea so the Reading experience is both more recent and more relevant than his previous roles. This is worrying. Equally I am a little concerned that he has been lurking in the background during a period when the club made a number of missteps and I am not sure what his role was in those decisions. So he does not start with a completely clean slate

All that said his opening comments on the website seem to offer some hope of a more communitive approach which in itself would not be bad thing. He also said that he will strengthen the staff at board level which must mean a DoF, again this is to be welcomed but making a managerial appointment on the hoof before the DoF arrives smacks of the short sightedness that has blighted the club for years.

It would be wrong to judge him solely on the next Head Coach appointment but Steve Bruce is not a good look . I view the appointment with a certain amount of trepidation but if the walks the talk I will be more than happy.

I'm very aligned with much of your post Stan. As for his press release I read through and took it as formulaic football speak. This is what people want to hear so this is what I'm going to say. It will be interesting to see who these new board members are going to be and exactly what it is they're going to do.

[Albionic]

I'm very aligned with much of your post Stan. As for his press release I read through and took it as formulaic football speak. This is what people want to hear so this is what I'm going to say. It will be interesting to see who these new board members are going to be and exactly what it is they're going to do.

Exactly this, in fsact read Kens introductory message, more of the same.

Now if Mr Gourlay said,
"In order to improve comms, I guarantee to post a summary of events upon the Club website on the 1st of each month covering point 1 to point 5. I shall also ensure all incoming emails are categorised, pareto done and top 3 issues addressed in same comms monthly"  then I would sit up and take notice.

[baggie82]

Gourlay should have gone too. He was implicit in the recruitment of Ismael, and whilst apparently did an OK job at Man Utd and Chelsea, he totally wrecked Reading with there Albion style spending constraints.
Would not be surprised if Bruce turns us down if he does his research

So you have sacked the CEO (Ken) and contracted DOF (Gourlay) along with the manager and his coaching staff in February and left us with Lai who lives in China and doesn't speak any English to mastermind the rest of the season. It's all very well calling for X, Y & Z to be sacked all the time but I'm not sure you have thought this through. Real world is a bit more difficult.

[baggie82]

Exactly this, in fsact read Kens introductory message, more of the same.

Now if Mr Gourlay said,
"In order to improve comms, I guarantee to post a summary of events upon the Club website on the 1st of each month covering point 1 to point 5. I shall also ensure all incoming emails are categorised, pareto done and top 3 issues addressed in same comms monthly"  then I would sit up and take notice.

I really don't get this, what exactly are we expecting the club to update us on monthly of any note? They are a football club. The aim is to win games. The time to sign players is limited to two windows and the club can't tell us how much money they have to spend or give any detail on transfers without tipping their hand to the football world. It is not a business that lends itself to a running commentary. Hence, the updates you do get tend to bland going through the motions tick box stuff.

[Albionic]

I really don't get this, what exactly are we expecting the club to update us on monthly of any note? They are a football club. The aim is to win games. The time to sign players is limited to two windows and the club can't tell us how much money they have to spend or give any detail on transfers without tipping their hand to the football world. It is not a business that lends itself to a running commentary. Hence, the updates you do get tend to bland going through the motions tick box stuff.

so you think WBAFC communicate effectively with the fanbase? or That they should not communicate with the fanbase, except at end of season?

[baggie82]

so you think WBAFC communicate effectively with the fanbase? or That they should not communicate with the fanbase, except at end of season?

Specifically what are you expecting them to say or update us on? It is easy to ask for more communication or better communication but that doesn't mean anything. What specifically should the club be telling us and when?

[tambag]

https://www.wba.co.uk/news/gourlay-meet-supporters



Chief Executive Officer Ron Gourlay will attend a meeting of the Albion Assembly at The Hawthorns on Monday (February 7).

The former Manchester United, Reading and Chelsea executive, who was appointed CEO on Wednesday, has committed to open dialogue with supporters.

Gourlay said: “Meeting with supporters will give me the opportunity to outline my initial plans for the club, but first and foremost I would like to hear the concerns of our loyal and dedicated fans.

“Rebuilding trust is essential to moving the club forward and it will take time, but I am here to listen. Only if we learn from past mistakes, addressing issues as we go, will we be able to strengthen that relationship.”

[Baggies]

Specifically what are you expecting them to say or update us on? It is easy to ask for more communication or better communication but that doesn't mean anything. What specifically should the club be telling us and when?

In general, it would be good to hear from the CEO on a more regular basis, even if that wasn't every month. We never heard from Xu Ke, even if SFA did occasionally. The CEO could update the fans on the boards view of our progress, their aims and ambitions and reasons for any decisions undertaken. It would also allow for more honesty about what we are looking to do and how we hope to achieve the goals we have.

The club ownership have been very distant ever since the current administration took over. Peace was a non communicative chairmen, doing only 2 major interviews I can remember, but he was positively engaged compared to these lot.

In an era where clubs are expected to engage with their fans more often, it would be a start to hear regular messages from the CEO. Maybe a column in the match day programme followed by quarterly or half uearly q & a's with fans?

[Baggies]

https://www.wba.co.uk/news/gourlay-meet-supporters



Chief Executive Officer Ron Gourlay will attend a meeting of the Albion Assembly at The Hawthorns on Monday (February 7).

The former Manchester United, Reading and Chelsea executive, who was appointed CEO on Wednesday, has committed to open dialogue with supporters.

Gourlay said: “Meeting with supporters will give me the opportunity to outline my initial plans for the club, but first and foremost I would like to hear the concerns of our loyal and dedicated fans.

“Rebuilding trust is essential to moving the club forward and it will take time, but I am here to listen. Only if we learn from past mistakes, addressing issues as we go, will we be able to strengthen that relationship.”

It's important that the Albion Assembly ask Gourkay about his time at Reading. It needs to be asked in a sensitive way, but he needs to put our kinds at rest that he has learnt from his mistakes there and that we aren't going to follow a similar path.

[Albionic]

Specifically what are you expecting them to say or update us on? It is easy to ask for more communication or better communication but that doesn't mean anything. What specifically should the club be telling us and when?

1. What is the timescale to achieve promotion which the manager has been targetted to achieve
2. What is the policy for the academy going forward? continued investment, recruitment, intake size ......
3. Loans incoming, why not executing upon the opportunity ?
4. Structure of "business, recruitment plans"
5. Structure of coaching team, recruitment plans
6. Structure of support depts, recruitment, fitness, communications, commercial
7. Development of fan base, plans, opportunities, threats ...

So much opaqueness exists around the club, I get commercial confidentiality and its a competitive environment BUT engage the fans and make us feel part of the club and not simply just customers of a product.

[baggie82]

To assist I have answered these for you 

1. What is the timescale to achieve promotion which the manager has been targetted to achieve
As quickly as possible
2. What is the policy for the academy going forward? continued investment, recruitment, intake size ......
To produce professional players for the first team & resale
3. Loans incoming, why not executing upon the opportunity ?
Just sacked the manager and have a big enough squad
4. Structure of "business, recruitment plans"
Don't know what this means, can't discuss transfer targets
5. Structure of coaching team, recruitment plans
Manager and backroom team to be announced when appointed
6. Structure of support depts, recruitment, fitness, communications, commercial
Already announced Lai paying back loan in new financial year
7. Development of fan base, plans, opportunities, threats ...
Waffle, waffle, waffle, budget depends on what league we are. Threats include relegation

So much opaqueness exists around the club, I get commercial confidentiality and its a competitive environment BUT engage the fans and make us feel part of the club and not simply just customers of a product.

[Groovephil]

Well he’s starting well I’ll give him that, not sure he’ll get an easy ride at the assembly but at least he’ll know where the fans thoughts are.

And right to mention Reading, I actually don’t mind he had a bad spell somewhere, you hardly learn much when it’s easy and hopefully he can see the issues now.

[alex1]

1. What is the timescale to achieve promotion which the manager has been targetted to achieve
2. What is the policy for the academy going forward? continued investment, recruitment, intake size ......
3. Loans incoming, why not executing upon the opportunity ?
4. Structure of "business, recruitment plans"
5. Structure of coaching team, recruitment plans
6. Structure of support depts, recruitment, fitness, communications, commercial
7. Development of fan base, plans, opportunities, threats ...

So much opaqueness exists around the club, I get commercial confidentiality and its a competitive environment BUT engage the fans and make us feel part of the club and not simply just customers of a product.

Well done Albionic for highlighting some key points which a CEO needs to communicate with the fanbase. Fans need to feel part of the club, not just on matchdays turning up and paying their admission money. Its not an easy job, although there must be the  temptation to avoid awkward public meetings.  I'd like to hear in particular about his plans for scouting and recruitment and strategy for the Academy. 

I believe strongly that a Sporting or Football Director needs to understand the DNA of their club. I hope that Gourlay is not doing this for his CV or as a stepping stone, and that he genuinely wants to build for the long term.  In the ideal world, you'd want someone who lives and breathes the club like Bomber, or other names from the past, but I accept that finding someone with the right mix of business skills and football knowledge is not easy.  Just hope that Gourlay ticks most of the boxes, though if indeed they have only interviewed the first unemployed manager they thought of (Bruce), then he's off to a bad start. 

[iwastherein68]

So you have sacked the CEO (Ken) and contracted DOF (Gourlay) along with the manager and his coaching staff in February and left us with Lai who lives in China and doesn't speak any English to mastermind the rest of the season. It's all very well calling for X, Y & Z to be sacked all the time but I'm not sure you have thought this through. Real world is a bit more difficult.

By all means , if he is not fit for purpose , get someone who is better. Lai obviously took advice from someone in letting him in in the first instance, so seek advice again, from maybe Ashworth, Hodgson, even Jenkins, and charge the advisor to "do better" next time.
By the way, in the "Real World" , in my 67 years of supporting this great club we have regularly regretted making dodgy appointments, and I fear we have just made another.
I have thought it through.