West Brom board 'front up' and field questions on Tony Pulis at fans' meeting
Members of Albion’s board have been praised for ‘fronting up’ at a meeting with angry fans and fielding questions about under-pressure head coach Tony Pulis.
Chief executive Martin Goodman and director of football administration Richard Garlick both attended an Albion Assembly meeting at The Hawthorns last night.
The group usually discusses off-field matters in its quarterly get-togethers but a special item was added to the agenda to give supporters a chance to air their views on Pulis.
The majority of Assembly members spoke passionately in favour of changing the head coach with one asking Garlick: ‘Would you pay to watch that?’
There were one or two fans who defended Pulis, but those in attendance believe the board are aware of the growing discontent among the majority of the fanbase.
Assembly member Iain Bate tweeted: “Fair play to Garlick and Goodman fronting up at the Albion Assembly. Lots of strong views put forward by fans about the current situation.
“Issue added to the agenda as not to avoid the elephant in the room. Not sure it was to gauge opinion but for opinion to be aired. They know the discontent in the fan base.”
The board kept their cards close to their chest at the meeting, although Garlick did produce statistics from the game against Huddersfield that suggested Albion’s players were still putting in the effort on the pitch.
“Ultimately (owner, Guochuan) Lai has the final say,” added Bate. “Who knows what will happen if things turn sour against Chelsea. I get the impression nothing will happen imminently.
“I wouldn't say they have ignored anything. They are well aware of situation. And that it can't continue. They just haven't acted or decided to make a change yet.”
The Albion Assembly was launched in January 2015 with the aim of giving supporters a direct channel of communication with the club.
Since his arrival in January this year, Goodman has been to all but one of the meetings.
Another member, Rich Jefferson tweeted: “I didn't expect either of them to let slip anything. Certainly nothing that we wanted to hear and rightfully so.
“I think both them attending was telling though in terms of wanting to gauge feeling and opinion. They got it in spades.”
Pulis is under increasing pressure following a 10-game winless streak and there were loud calls for him to be sacked from the away end in Huddersfield last weekend.
Lai is attending Albion’s next game, which is at home to Chelsea on Saturday, November 18.
