West Bromwich Albion: Baggies loan not going to be squandered, says CEO Ron Gourlay
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Albion announced Ron Gourlay's arrival on the same day that they sacked Val Ismael as head coach on 3 February, 2022
Championship promotion-chasers West Bromwich Albion will only make "one or two" January transfer window signings, says chief executive Ron Gourlay.
The club have taken out a £20m loan but Gourlay said it is as much to help run the club on a daily basis as gambling on a return to the Premier League.
He also insisted that money will not be "squandered" and that Albion already have a good enough squad to go up.
That, said Gourlay, is due to the rapid impact made by boss Carlos Corberan.
"This is not money that is just going to be squandered, if that's the right phrase," Gourlay told BBC Radio WM.
"We have a very big, very good squad. We don't need to go into the market for a number of players - Carlos made that very clear, even before the MSD Holdings transaction.
"Everyone can see we're doing very well. We're moving in the right direction very quickly."
Corberan was appointed in October on a two-and-a-half-year deal after Steve Bruce left the club following eight months in charge.
"You've got to take this back to the changes we made at the end of October. The change of management was a pivotal time of the season for us," Gourlay said.
"We worked for nearly three weeks on the replacement coach and it was important we got it right. I had a few interviews with a number of people. Many of them talked about the quality of the squad, but it's about how you get it out of them on match day.
"We felt sure we had the right man for the job this time - and that it was the right club for Carlos at this stage of his career."
Along with the crucial return to fitness of last season's £7m signing Daryl Dike after an injury-hit lost year, Corberan has injected sufficient confidence into a misfiring team to lift them from 23rd in the Championship when he came in on 25 October to the play-off places - thanks to a run of nine wins in 11 league games.
After losing his first game in charge, to leave Albion bottom of the Championship, Carlos Corberan's Baggies have since won nine times in 11 games to climb to sixth
But Gourlay, in his first public interview since the four-year loan from US investment group MSD Holdings was made, said that comparatively little of that £20m will be used in this window.
Nor, he said, are any Albion market moves dependant on the delayed repayment of the £4.95m owed by club chairman Guochuan Lai's company Wisdom Smart Corporation Limited, a loan taken out during the coronavirus pandemic, for which two repayment deadlines have so far been missed.
"We're looking to bring in one, maybe two players," said Gourlay.
"That will happen whether this loan comes in or not. It's not contingent on it being returned.
"This money has to come back. It has defaulted. And it's not a matter of if but when. Every day that question comes up. The money will come back, one way or another."
What exactly will the £20m loan be used for?
"I know there's a concern out there in the fanbase that money may leave the club, but it's for the use of the club, nothing else," said Gourlay. "None of that money will leave for any other operation.
"It's for the day-to-day running of the club. We have just over 200 staff that we need to operate the club on a daily basis.
"It will be used to continue develop the squad, to strengthen the infrastructure around the club. It's not just about investment in the team, The academy is very important, too."
Gourlay was announced as the club's chief executive officer on 3 February, 2022, the same day that previous Albion boss Val Ismael - Steve Bruce's predecessor - was sacked as head coach. He also points out that the final word on key financial matters rests with China-based Lai.
"That decision on investment lies with the main shareholder. It doesn't lie with me. Decisions have to be made by him," Gourlay said.
"I go to the owner and I'm asking for investment and his way of investment was to take the loan. He is the major shareholder. It's his money. He's the guy who spent £200m on the club.
"I've got to run the day-to-day as chief executive. At the end of the day I'm an employee. It's my job to do the best I possibly can with the tools I have at my disposal."
Albion future not dependant on promotion
"There are no guarantees," said Gourlay. "This club, in the last 20 years, has spent a lot of time in the Premiership. That has helped in the last seven or eight years the model it has operated under.
"If the club wasn't to get promotion this year, it is the final year of the parachute payment and we know the hole that leaves.
"There are certain other things that have gone on at the club before my time that are proving difficult but we will resolve it.
"In the past acquisition of players, we've paid over the odds, and that's hurt us. We're still paying for players who came in a few years ago. I didn't create that, but I've had to deal with it.
"I've spent £350,000 on players. We've rebuilt an unbalanced squad. We're now getting the best out of the team and you're also seeing players coming through the academy, rather than losing them to other clubs as was happening too often before. I did say at the time that it would take time.
"This is a football club you've got to plan ahead for. There's been very little investment coming into the football club since the owner took over.
"You get by in circumstances like that when you're in the Premiership but, once you drop out of the Premiership, that lack of investment does start to hurt."
Gourlay also played down fans' concerns on social media channels that, if Albion fail to return to the top flight for the first time since relegation in 2021 that it could ultimately lead to the club having to go into administration.
"I do speak a lot to the fans, I understand their frustrations," he said. "But that's not a word I've heard bounced around the club.
"I don't think it would to get to that stage. It's the last thing anyone would want to hear or discuss, but that is not hanging over our head."
West Brom CEO Ron Gourlay was talking to BBC Radio WM's Rob Gurney