West Brom in crisis: club chairman and CEO sacked

Things aren’t going well at West Bromwich Albion, the Premier League’s bottom club and relegation favourites.

Last night the Baggies were beaten 3-0 at Chelsea to leave them five points adrift at the bottom of the table. Then today major upheaval took place off the pitch when two of the club’s most senior management team were sacked.

In a bid to “galvanise” WBA’s hopes of extending their eight-year stay in the top-flight, the Daily Telegraph reports that Chinese controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai has taken “brutal action in the boardroom”. Chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman were both fired making way for Mark Jenkins to return as CEO.

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In a statement the club said: “Chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman have been given notice of termination of their contracts and have been placed on garden leave with immediate effect.

“Following his recent appointment as a director of WBA Holdings, the club’s controlling company, Mark Jenkins is returning to be the football club’s CEO. These changes follow Albion’s poor results this season which currently sees the club at the bottom of the Premier League.”

Jenkins added: “There is much to do but for now the focus must solely be on the remaining games of this season.”

Baggies boss Alan Pardew only took over at The Hawthorns in late December following the dismissal of Tony Pulis. But despite only recording one league victory the Telegraph says that Pardew’s job is safe.

However, the betting odds on Pardew being the next Premier League manager to be sacked have been “slashed” after today’s boardroom reshuffle.

Joseph Chapman of the Birmingham Mail writes: “It’s merely an observation, but the decision to remove Williams and Goodman from their posts has seen quite a shift in the odds of Pardew to be the next top flight boss out of a job.

“Pardew, who was as long as 33/1 this morning [Tuesday], is now as short as 16s. It’s understood, though, that while Williams and Goodman have been sacked, there are no plans to change the manager.”

Even with the off-field changes some West Brom fans have called on the players to put in more effort. One supporter said on Twitter: “I haven’t given up hope yet. There are many points up for grabs in the next six games if the team can look as though they are interested and put in a bit of effort - which seemed to be missing from certain players last night.”