Author Topic: Ron Gourlay - Consultant (Read 5827 times)

gazberg · « **on:** July 04, 2021, 11:38:37 PM »

Daily mail site reporting we are working with Ron Gourlay to help with incoming and outgoing transfers. Ex Chelsea and Reading FC. Not very highly thought of from the bits I've read. Anyone know him?

Baggies · « **Reply #1 on:** July 04, 2021, 11:52:40 PM »

This is the problem with owners, who have no football knowledge, sacking your director of football with nobody lined up to replace him. The bloke was a CEO. CEOâ€™s shouldnâ€™t be making the signings, only authorising them. All of the articles online from his time at Reading suggest he did an awful job and was not well liked.

Worrying. Shades of Terraneo again. Just hire an actual director of football!

KnaveofAlbion · « **Reply #2 on:** July 05, 2021, 12:01:15 AM »

Between Val and the cheif scout guy (can't recall his name right now) this bloke shouldn't be coming up with names or anything. He should just be sent in to haggle. A job neither of the other two should be doing and i'm glad to see Ken recognises he isn't suitable for.

As long as this guy is on a set wage and not a horrible % of any 1980s nonsense like that, then how he was as a CEO SHOULD be irrelevant.

Fingers crossed this isn't some Harry Redknapp dodgy geezer stuff

gazberg · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2021, 12:02:35 AM »

Edit - Seems it's a general overseeing position rather than just transfers will amend title. This is what it says :-

"Former Chelsea and Reading chief executive Ron Gourlay is working with West Brom as a consultant on a wide range of areas, including transfers, following the sudden departure of Luke Dowling as sporting director.

Dowling was sacked last month after three years at the Hawthorns as the club's Chinese owners reassess their football operations.

They have turned to experienced operator Gourlay to help them during the summer transfer window, when a lot of players are expected to come and go following Albion's relegation from the top flight."

baggies_24 · « **Reply #4 on:** July 05, 2021, 06:35:58 AM »

Just read an article on his time at Reading & it wasnâ€™t particularly complimentary. I hope this isnâ€™t another Terrano hire the owners have seen Chelsea on his C.V & blindly dived in both feet first.

mulliganstired · « **Reply #5 on:** July 05, 2021, 06:55:53 AM »

Maybe he's just a fixer who knows all the agents and how to operate in their cesspool, a necessary evil

SmethDan · « **Reply #6 on:** July 05, 2021, 07:24:20 AM »

If this has legs (IF) then from the little I've read elsewhere this wouldn't appear to be a promising development.

Standaman · « **Reply #7 on:** July 05, 2021, 08:05:52 AM »

Gourlay has been around the game a long time has been CEO of Chelsea and Reading. He is a football person. Just like Williams was a football person and others who the ownership have invested too much faith in the past. These football people are a total blight on the game and I would rather we didn't have anything to do with them.

skyclad99 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 05, 2021, 08:15:47 AM »

Quote from: Standaman on July 05, 2021, 08:05:52 AM

Gourlay has been around the game a long time has been CEO of Chelsea and Reading. He is a football person. Just like Williams was a football person and others who the ownership have invested too much faith in the past. These football people are a total blight on the game and I would rather we didn't have anything to do with them.

If its true then at least we cannot blame Dowling for this one

NJS · « **Reply #9 on:** July 05, 2021, 09:05:57 AM »

"Consultants are people who borrow your watch and tell you what time it is, and then walk off with the watch" Robert Townsend and many others

Actually almost everybody calls themselves a consultant these days. The NHS Track and Trace has Diversity and Inclusion consultants at Â£1,200 /day. Let's hope Gourlay doesn't work many days for us.

Baltic · « **Reply #10 on:** July 05, 2021, 11:04:08 AM »

I'm pretty sure VI will be the decider on transfer targets. It seems the Board are 'all in' with him and I think that's the right approach.

However, we might be selling two high value assets and we need an experienced tough operator (Jenkins like) to make sure we optimise these deals. I also don't believe VI will settle with the existing squad as per Barnsley. Our aspirations are higher and patience shorter, so I'd expect 5 or 6 incoming and those agents and transfer fees need to be dealt with professionally.

In this case I think the consultant will 'earn' his money! In that we will waste less than without him!

SirTonyM · « **Reply #11 on:** July 05, 2021, 11:57:22 AM »

I thought Ian Pearce was head of recruitment? Iâ€™m assuming Gourley is helping give advice / finalize deals / contracts etc? Their isnâ€™t actually a lot of detail in the article,
like most things in the daily mail itâ€™s sweeping statements with not much substance

LiamTheBaggie · « **Reply #12 on:** July 05, 2021, 12:27:34 PM »

They're pretty common though alongside agency firms - I've no doubt we have been using them for a while even when Dowling was in post - our reliance on them will be slightly greater now we're lacking a technical director.

KN22 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 05, 2021, 12:49:22 PM »

would be more worried if he was on a permanent contract. consultants are used for as long as is deemed necessary, then dispensed with.

gazberg · « **Reply #14 on:** July 05, 2021, 12:52:45 PM »

Quote from: LiamTheBaggie on July 05, 2021, 12:27:34 PM

They're pretty common though alongside agency firms - I've no doubt we have been using them for a while even when Dowling was in post - our reliance on them will be slightly greater now we're lacking a technical director.

In the main Vigo paper the other day they said we have had our offer rejected for Yoksulu but WBA were expected to sign with a different agency to try and get it over the line. Wonder if this is where Gourlay is coming into it?

alex1 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 05, 2021, 01:01:47 PM »

I don't know anything about this Gourlay guy. I think what's important is who has the final word on transfers. If its not him, then maybe he can't cause too much harm. He may be useful in digging out a few targets, though there again, that might be wasting everyone's time if they are unrealistic or don't fit in with the manager's philosophy.

Albionic · « **Reply #16 on:** July 05, 2021, 01:32:09 PM »

i would hope manager / recruitment team are identifying the targets and Mr Gourley is charged with getting the best deal to bring the targets in. No more, No less.

WoysWunderful · « **Reply #17 on:** July 05, 2021, 04:50:21 PM »

Intresting to see he worked up under readings chinese owners, recommendation you think?

gazberg · « **Reply #18 on:** July 05, 2021, 04:52:37 PM »

In Ismaels conference today he said that he, Ken, Ian and Ron will be working together closely on transfers going forward.

SmethDan · « **Reply #19 on:** July 05, 2021, 04:55:18 PM »

Quote from: WoysWunderful on July 05, 2021, 04:50:21 PM

Intresting to see he worked up under readings chinese owners, recommendation you think?

I don't know about a recommendation as such. From what I've read of Mr. Gourlay Reading's owners probably see this as an opportunity to weaken us. He might not be as bad as the Chinese whispers suggest though........

WBA · « **Reply #20 on:** July 05, 2021, 05:03:00 PM »

Quote from: SirTonyM on July 05, 2021, 11:57:22 AM

I thought Ian Pearce was head of recruitment? Iâ€™m assuming Gourley is helping give advice / finalize deals / contracts etc? Their isnâ€™t actually a lot of detail in the article,
like most things in the daily mail itâ€™s sweeping statements with not much substance

I wouldn't have thought Pearce has much involvement in the machinations of actually negotiating and signing players.

It's short-term til 31 August. Maybe that's where the Chalobah link is coming from?

He also signed two Chelsea players on loan for Reading and Ejaria from Liverpool who is excellent.

Albionic · « **Reply #21 on:** July 05, 2021, 05:24:57 PM »

The commercial aspects of making signings nowadays must be horrendous
player / players agent / selling club / players sponsors & possibly endorsements to be dealt with and this will be on-going with a number of players at a time given the "window" system.
If the club needs "experts" in place for a short period I would rather we fully resource rather than miss out or get shafted

its quite possible that identifying a player is the easy bit nowadays.

SirTonyM · « **Reply #22 on:** July 05, 2021, 06:20:32 PM »

Quote from: WBA on July 05, 2021, 05:03:00 PM

I wouldn't have thought Pearce has much involvement in the machinations of actually negotiating and signing players.

It's short-term til 31 August. Maybe that's where the Chalobah link is coming from?

He also signed two Chelsea players on loan for Reading and Ejaria from Liverpool who is excellent.

Not negotiating but the way Gourlay's involvement has been over blown you would assume he is scouting them, coaching them and is also their agent

Also he was the CEO at Reading, here he is an advisor.

KnaveofAlbion · « **Reply #23 on:** July 05, 2021, 09:02:58 PM »

Quote from: SirTonyM on July 05, 2021, 06:20:32 PM

Not negotiating but the way Gourlay's involvement has been over blown you would assume he is scouting them, coaching them and is also their agent Also he was the CEO at Reading, here he is an advisor.

Agreed.

None of the guys at Albion currently are in a position to do the haggling.

Ken isn't suited to it, he'd get murdered. Val shouldn't be doing it, he's busy as it is. The chief scout guy shouldn't be doing it.

So we've got someone in to do that bit.

It seems we've found something to panic about because we've had the feel good factor back a couple of weeks.

SmethDan · « **Reply #24 on:** July 06, 2021, 06:56:37 AM »

Is it just me who thinks his name sounds like that of a sleazy looking 1970s porn star? Don't mind me...... I just have these moments when it cums to names. I blame Ron Jeremy

.