"Absolutely" - Prediction issued on Shilen Patel's future at West Brom | OneFootball

Football League World's Albion Fan Pundit has spoken about the club's owner's future at The Hawthorns.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

West Bromwich Albion's grip on the top six is starting to slip after a run of three games without a win in the Championship.

Back-to-back 1-1 draws against Burnley and Hull City have been bookended by a 1-0 defeat to Norwich City, and the Baggies have dropped back towards those chasing down a play-off spot in the second tier.

Tony Mowbray's side are now level on points with Middlesbrough, although they continue to have a slightly better goal difference than Michael Carrick and his Boro team, ensuring that they will head into this weekend's games holding on to sixth.

Nevertheless, supporters will be hoping for a quick return to form, and with just seven games to go, the pressure is on West Brom to ensure that they have a chance of returning to the Premier League for the first time in four years, something that owner Shilen Patel has targeted since his arrival at the club.

Verdict made on Patel's future with West Brom

The Baggies have been owned by Patel since February 2024, with the American businessman becoming the majority shareholder through the company Bilkul Football WBA, and he has control of 87.8% of the club.

He oversaw the West Midlands outfit finish in the play-offs, but they were beaten by Southampton in the semi-finals over two legs before the Saints went on to win 1-0 at Wembley against Leeds United.

The 44-year-old has already had tough decisions to make since taking over at The Hawthorns, with former manager Carlos Corberan leaving for Valencia in December, and he was forced to find a replacement on short notice - bringing Mowbray back, 16 years after he departed.

Football League World has asked their West Brom Fan Pundit, Callum Burgess, if he believes Patel is in it for the long haul with the Baggies.

He told FLW: "Shilen Patel is absolutely at West Bromwich Albion for the long haul. There are definitely a lot of good things he's done during his time at the club, ranging from investing at the training ground last summer, while the club was restricted on spending money on transfers and other things like that.

"He still invested in the club and found other ways to try and make his mark on the facilities and who knows what other things he has planned for this summer."

Callum continued: "For example, you'd imagine that the long-term goal for him will be to see Albion as an established Premier League team once again, and hopefully we keep progressing under his ownership if that is the case in the future."

West Brom have to crack the Premier League again soon

The Baggies were a regular in the Premier League throughout the 2010s, with their relegation in the 2017/18 campaign seeing them return to the Championship for the first time in a decade.

They have spent just one year back in the top flight since then, and they have failed in the play-offs on two different occasions.

Mowbray has won promotion to the Premier League in the past with West Brom, having done so during the 2007/08 season, and supporters will hope that he can repeat his magic in the next month to guide the club to the top six.

If he is able to do that this quickly into his return to The Hawthorns, he will have repaid the trust that Patel had in him, and the Baggies will surely be backed well in the summer.