Kieran Maguire: West Brom may be ‘hiding’ something as official inspection looms
West Brom are the only 2020-21 Premier League side to have not yet released their accounts – and this raises suspicions that they have something to hide.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the worrying goings-on behind the scenes at the Hawthorns.
Training Ground Guru reported on Tuesday (21 June) that the Baggies’ academy has been effectively been placed under special measures and is at risk of losing its Category One status.
It is understood that the Professional Game Academy Audit Company will inspect the youth setup at some point in 2022-23 to see if has made the required changes to still be considered a Category One academy.
Maguire claims that academy cost-cutting may be a result of the club’s executive priorities lying elsewhere.
“There are too many things taking place in the background at the club to feel comfortable at present,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“There’s a lot of unhappiness about money that has been lent by the club to former owners. Then there is the fact that they are the only Premier League club from last season not to publish their accounts.
“You have got to ask, why is that? They invoked section 442 of the Companies Act to buy themselves an extra three months of silence.
“If you’ve got nothing to hide, hide nothing. That has always been my motto when it comes to financial information.
“There are broader concerns in relation to the club and this is probably reflected in cost-cutting and corner-cutting relating to the academy.”
In other news, Maguire suggests West Brom could bag multi-million stimulus “through the backdoor” as talks begin.