Richard Garlick?

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There's also the issue of our lack of a decent left back which we still can't solve not to mention out potential striker crisis and all the messing around in hiring a new head coach.

I can't say with too much certainty that it's RG's fault but it doesn't look good!

I thought the system at Albion was that the head coach identifies where the squad needs strengthening and puts forward a list of names he wants following up. If those names are on Albion's radar, RG pursues them (as DA did). This system first evolved under Tony Mowbray, who was manager (our last ever manager before the job title became head coach) when DA was appointed, and JP said at the time that it was was the first time he'd ever been given two wish lists of players by any manager - TM had given him an A list and a B list. It was then up to DA to chase those targets within the bounds of budgets, transfer fees and wages.

We all think - and justifiably so - that DA did a really good job, but he and Mowbray - and subsequent head coaches - were guilty of some pretty iffy buys. Alongside the great acquisitions of Jonas Olsson and Youssouf Mulumbu, we bought players like Luke Moore, Nathan Ellington, Curtis Davies (what a terrible attitude he turned out to have) Joe Mattock, Scott Carson, Gianni Zuiverloon, Craig Beattie, Reuben Reid, Leon Barnett. These guys got us out of the Championship a couple of times for sure, so you could argue the end justified the means, but some were expensive - £3 million here, £2.5 million there - and too many of them were what JP rightly called 'bit-part players' who were never going to figure long-term for us. And Shane Long at £4.5 million, anyone? But I do think it's all been a healthy part of Albion's evolution over the last 6-7 years. Maybe I'm being harsh on some of these guys, and Tony Mowbray had us playing some dream football in our Championship-winning season, I hope Anichebe gets fit, and that Sessegnon regains his form, and that both show us what they can do. Given how long it took DA to bed into the job fully, I think it's too early to call RG yet.

My understanding is that the Technical Director (RG/DA) is responsible for scouting of potential new players. The Head Coach flags up the positions where he feels the squad needs strengthening and the TD provides a list of names. The Head Coach has the last say but he doesn't necessarily identify the players.

If the Head Coach has the last say, then RG cannot be at fault for selecting the players Albion buy, only the price paid and wages.

What happened in the summer can't be Clarke's fault.

One the final day of the transfer window he had little option. Either we signed Anichebe and Sessegnon or be short of players.

Kalou was the number one target and i'm sure he was endorsed by Clarke. However, it took RG over a month to establish that SK didn't want to join us and by that time we were running out of options.

Surely if a player is on the agenda it's up to RG to establish right away if it's feasible. Anichebe and Sessegnon were never on the radar until the eleventh hour and, therefore due diligence hadn't been carried out regarding their suitability/value.

Clarke was stuck between a rock and a hard place and had no choice but to sanction their signing.

I think Albion put some proposal to Salomon Kalou or his agent, and it was they who took a month to decide their options, and while they took their time doing that I'm not sure what RG could do apart from abandon the line of enquiry and look elsewhere, which I'd like to think he was doing in the meantime anyway. And I don't think Anichebe and Sessegnon were 'magicked up' on the final day either - they must have been on somebody's radar within the club. Whatever and whoever.... it's a well-known fact that Albion operate within certain financial parameters, and if we couldn't persuade our number one target Kalou to come, nor were willing to pay Chelsea the £5 million loan fee for Lukaku, then we do have to settle for something else. That's the other dimension of the rock and a hard place scenario we always seem to be faced with at Albion. I think SC's frustration bubbled to the surface once or twice.