Lewis Cox: Shilen Patel sincere tone still so welcome to West Brom faithful
Shilen Patel’s open letter to supporters yesterday is the latest breath of fresh air delivered by the Albion owner.
The Bilkul chief has been in place as steward of the club for some 18 months now, yet each time he communicates in such a manner is a reminder to what went before it - deathly silence with a sense of doom in the Guochuan Lai era.
The Florida businessman does not feel like a ‘new’ owner anymore - a year-and-a-half is a long time in football. Despite that it remains clear that time is still required to finish the clean-up that was inherited from Lai.
Even so, the open communication and personable, understanding tone of Patel’s words continue to strike a chord with the Baggies faithful.
True, the letter comes from the chairman on the club website and will have surely been vetted by several pairs of eyes before publication. Such a prepared piece of comms is naturally different to being interviewed by another party.
It is therefore little surprise there was no mention of Tony Mowbray, the hierarchy's first head coach appointment who lasted less than 100 days.
