Former West Brom midfielder Carlton Palmer has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that the Baggies not hiring a new sporting director could be bad news for the club’s manager.
Luke Dowling recently left the position and it looks like the Midlands outfit are not looking to appoint a direct replacement.
According to Football Insider, West Brom plan to scrap the director of football model they currently have at the club and will instead allow their manager to work directly with the recruitment team on transfers.
Palmer, however, fears the lack of a director of football or sporting director just leaves room for the owner or chairman to interfere in football matters.
“It’s bad news. It sounds like the chairman [or owner] is trying to call the shots, and you can’t do that.
“If you’ve got a chairman who knows the game, then that’s fine. But if you’ve got a chairman who doesn’t know the game…”
All in all, it would be an interesting move, with a lot of clubs today having a director of football, as Football Insider points out.
But perhaps it could work out, if the manager is actually in control and does not have the owner or chairman overruling him on football matters.