I’ve watched West Brom sleepwalk into Championship relegation fight with clear transfer strategy

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Shilen Patel’s Bilkul group looks set to mark two years in charge of West Brom by seeing the club relegated to the third tier of English football for just the second time in its history. 

West Brom are not a club accustomed to playing at that level, but in this day and age, finances dictate much of what happens in modern football and ultimately, it has led to this historic club’s downfall. 

We may not have had a football club to watch had it not been for Bilkul and Patel. As much as we owe them thanks for saving our club, goodwill is running dry, it is clear that their running of Albion since Carlos Corberan’s departure has been nothing short of disastrous. 

The owners have been criticised for their apparent lack of strategy or direction, but I’d argue if you have been paying attention, the plan has been clear.

The financial mess taken on by Patel had to take priority. I think everyone was aware of that, but the lack of footballing knowledge at board level is what led to the catastrophic position West Brom now finds themselves in. 

Shilen Patel’s biggest mistake as West Brom owner

Patel and those around him are undoubtedly good business people, they wouldn’t be in a position to buy a football club if they weren’t and, at least from a financial perspective, the club is in a much better position than it was.

Football, however, is a unique beast. The best way to boost revenue is on the pitch, if the team is doing well the finances tend to follow, it’s why so many clubs in the Championship gamble to the tune of millions to reach the Premier League. 

Where it has gone wrong for West Brom is Patel and Bilkul are applying a model that has worked for them previously in a scenario completely different to what they are used to. I’m sure Patel has made the decisions he has in good faith, comparisons to Guochuan Lai are angry outbursts rather than general fan sentiment. 

Patel has been supporting West Brom financially since he walked through the door, but he has been incredibly naive to surround himself with people who have no real knowledge of English football up until this point. The data-led approach led to two disastrous head coach appointments in Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay, but it’s player recruitment decisions that are the driving force behind West Brom’s current plight.

Big decisions had to be made in the wake of Corberan’s departure at the end of 2024, but each decision has pulled Albion further and further away from Patel’s promise of “consistent Premier League presence” when he first spoke to the fans as new owner.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
18	CharltonCharlton	35	10	11	14	33	44	-11	41
19	PortsmouthPortsmouth	34	10	9	15	34	44	-10	39
20	BlackburnBlackburn	35	10	8	17	33	46	-13	38
21	West BromWest Brom	35	9	8	18	34	52	-18	35
22	LeicesterLeicester	35	10	10	15	47	56	-9	34
23	Oxford UnitedOxford United	35	7	11	17	31	47	-16	32

West Brom have fallen away as play-off contenders as a result of the begrudging acceptance that the club had to sell players to navigate PSR constraints, but the recruitment to replace those players now leaves the club hanging by a thread in the Championship.

I admit, on a service level, there is an argument departures were good business in the summer, Tom Fellows was pure profit and him leaving was inevitable, the same with Alex Palmer. We’d found a gem in Torbjorn Heggem, who in 12 months commanded a £10m transfer fee and you could see tough decisions were being made, but they were necessary.

It followed the model of successful Premier League clubs like Brighton and Bournemouth but they also tend to get the replacements right. It quickly became clear that those in positions of power at West Brom were incapable of doing that. Albion have failed to recruit accordingly.

West Brom’s transfer recruitment strategy has been clear

The recruitment strategy has clearly been versatility. On paper the squad had plenty of options, diversity across the squad. Signing players who could play in multiple positions for a gruelling Championship schedule where injuries and suspensions are inevitable. 

Samuel Iling-Junior and Krystian Bielik can play in different positions. Charlie Taylor can play in the middle and we have seen him play wide. George Campbell has operated on the right side but is a centre-back; Isaac Price can play forward or further back. It was a squad built of Jacks of all trades and masters of none.

Both Semi Ajayi and Heggem were quick centre-backs, Bielek and Nat Phillips are good players at this level but pace is not in their list of attributes. The same applies in attacking positions. We saw Fellows and Grady Diangana leave, with Brendan Thomas-Asante departing the year before. We now have attacking players incapable of running in behind and it shows in how ponderous this side is in possession. 

The goalkeeping department was left short. Neither Josh Griffiths or Joe Wildsmith could find form and we recruit Max O’Leary in January who is not an obvious upgrade and more of a panic purchase. 

The result of that recruitment is a squad with glaring issues across the pitch in nearly every position. As fans we see a team with no pace, not just as players but in their movement of the ball. For all of the versatility, all it has taken is a Karlan Grant injury to completely strip this side of any pace in attack with a backline that has been pulled apart by quick balls in behind all season.

When did West Brom last score from open play? I’ll tell you, the middle of December against Sheffield United. It was also the last time Aune Heggebo scored, he was the last Albion forward to score in the league. This is a squad so blunt in attack it’s painful. Now Mikey Johnston’s season-ending injury seems to be the final nail in the coffin.

Players are played out of position regularly and confidence has slowly dwindled throughout the season. Most importantly, this is a squad completely lacking leadership, arguably the most important factor when appointing novice head coaches, increasingly so when you are fighting for survival. Football is about people, data can help but you need to understand the dynamics of a football side, which West Brom’s recruitment department clearly don’t.

Nobody is coming to save West Brom

James Morrison was announced as head coach until the end of the season this week and his response after defeat to Oxford speaks volumes. 

He said: “We said in the week what their gameplan was and we just let it happen, it’s not acceptable, it’s been an underlying issue all season or we’re going to be bang in trouble.

“We gave ourselves an uphill battle after 30 minutes, so how are we supposed to win a football match when it’s this tight?

“Maybe I’m looking for excuses trying to make me feel a bit better but maybe we’ve got to change personnel, give other people a go or put the biggest people on the pitch and hope for set plays; that’s the moment we’re in.”

This is a West Brom side lacking the attributes to compete at this level and relegation seems an inevitability at this point. A side can lack pace and creativity but that shouldn’t stop a team being brave, not just in challenges but in how you play the ball. Players in this squad are hiding when we need them to fight with everything they have to keep this club dropping to the third tier.

At this point, West Brom is a club reliant on players who largely won’t be here next season. Morrison’s job is more about man management than it is coaching. He’s tasked with bringing a sense of fearlessness to a squad of players who seem crippled with it.

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I don’t subscribe to “playing the kids”; it comes when the first team isn’t doing enough and fans lack the patience required for them. But Morrison’s options are limited, something needs to change and fast.

Regardless of how this season ends, Patel and those around him need to take serious lessons from their naivety over the past 15 months. The fault for where this club is lies firmly at their door. Unfortunately, the only ones who can change the trajectory of West Brom’s season are a squad of players who seemingly can’t wait for it to end.