" Shocked by Clubs Finances "

West Brom chief executive Mark Jenkins 'shocked' by club finances

BBC

West Brom chief executive Mark Jenkins says he has been "shocked" at the state of the Premier League side's finances since returning to The Hawthorns.

Jenkins said "there's no more money for wages" and that the club will need its first overdraft in more than 10 years.

Albion look set to be relegated from the top flight as they are 10 points from safety with seven games left.

"We have wages, transfer and loan fees at record levels and yet find ourselves in this position," said Jenkins.

Jenkins, who left Albion in 2016 following Guochuan Lai's takeover, returned to the club in February after the sacking of chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman.

Although the club's accounts filed up to June 2017 showed pre-tax profits rise to £39.7m from £1m, Jenkins has warned that West Brom's finances need rebuilding.

"In the accounts there is a note which the auditors insisted that I put in to point out that in the near future the club is going to need a small overdraft facility," Jenkins told BBC WM.

"That's something new to the club. It hasn't needed one for over 10 years, but it reflects the season we have gone through and the amount of investment that the board made into both the first-team squad and the infrastructure of the stadium.

"We are at record levels on wages, we have broken our transfer record and have loan fees at the highest level. There has been full investment - and a little bit more as well - hence the need for an overdraft facility.

"I've just come back into the club after just over 12 months out and I'm shocked by what I have found. We need to restructure the club so it is able to compete and exist long-term in the Premier League."

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Is there a lesson here for CCFC? If or even when we are promoted to the PL it might be a good idea to continue the value for money recruitment we have followed this season rather than throw money at players and agents as we did last time.

Spending big money doesn't always guarantee success but will certainly come back to haunt a club financially.

I would be happy to be a yo-you club for a few seasons, similar to Burnley whilst money from the PL riches is invested in the academy and helped to bring down the club's overall debt.

West Brom chief executive Mark Jenkins 'shocked' by club finances

BBC

West Brom chief executive Mark Jenkins says he has been "shocked" at the state of the Premier League side's finances since returning to The Hawthorns.

Jenkins said "there's no more money for wages" and that the club will need its first overdraft in more than 10 years.

Albion look set to be relegated from the top flight as they are 10 points from safety with seven games left.

"We have wages, transfer and loan fees at record levels and yet find ourselves in this position," said Jenkins.

Jenkins, who left Albion in 2016 following Guochuan Lai's takeover, returned to the club in February after the sacking of chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman.

Although the club's accounts filed up to June 2017 showed pre-tax profits rise to £39.7m from £1m, Jenkins has warned that West Brom's finances need rebuilding.

"In the accounts there is a note which the auditors insisted that I put in to point out that in the near future the club is going to need a small overdraft facility," Jenkins told BBC WM.

"That's something new to the club. It hasn't needed one for over 10 years, but it reflects the season we have gone through and the amount of investment that the board made into both the first-team squad and the infrastructure of the stadium.

"We are at record levels on wages, we have broken our transfer record and have loan fees at the highest level. There has been full investment - and a little bit more as well - hence the need for an overdraft facility.

"I've just come back into the club after just over 12 months out and I'm shocked by what I have found. We need to restructure the club so it is able to compete and exist long-term in the Premier League."

The point he was trying to stress was that he felt he ran the club far better than the people who replaced him and that , now he is back , he has to sort that out. How much of that is an ego trip and bragging is hard to tell.

In the year to 30 June 2017 WBA made a big profit of nearly £40m (if only CCFC could produce figures as good as that) but he suggests they have not kept a good control of finances since , spending a lot more on player transfer fees (loan and permanent) and player wages. As a result , he says they will make a small loss for this current season.
A small loss this season shouldn`t give them a problem bearing in mind their profits in previous seasons. Their far bigger problem is the likelihood of relegation to the Championship which will result in their income from Sky almost halving next season. I also believe that some of their players have cheap release fees in their contracts triggered by a relegation which means that they won`t get full value on any player sales

Pulis has fu**ed that club long term imo. signing and keeping players like James Morrison, Chris Brunt, Gareth Barry, and Gareth McAuley who are too old and should have gone ages ago. Whilst also signing average players who are barely good enough for the championship like Hal Robson Kanu, James McLean, Jay Rodriguez etc. High wages on an ageing team. hopefully we follow the example of a team like Brighton, Burnley, or Leicester if we go up.

Hopefully they told James McLean he wouldn't get paid on the anniversary of McGuinness death the tosser.

If we get promoted - Burnley is the standout model, but we’re not like them. We have a principal benefactor, that we 99% rely on. The tv money will clear what’s owed to Tan. This team with a bit of tinkering in the bargain basement would do ok in the prem (outside the top 6-7 teams they’re all a bit mediocre). Oh, and we’ve got NW. We’re nothing like West Brom.

Just goes to show its not always the amount of money you've got,its the man spending it that counts.