John Wile: West Brom must make a fresh start this summer

Wile reckons the club were guilty of putting ‘too many eggs in one basket’ when they splashed out more than £40million last summer on players who have failed to deliver.

Albion now sit rock bottom of the Premier League and in need of a bank overdraft just nine months after making a record £39million profit.

Wile, who is third on the Baggies all-time appearance list and was later chief executive at The Hawthorns, reckons the club’s hierarchy have simply made too many poor decisions.

“The performance on the field seems to have been reflected off it,” he said. “I don’t think we should think the two aren’t inter-related.

“From my own experience, one is often dependent on the other and vice-versa. It seems it has been a case of putting all their eggs in one basket last summer.

“I’ve been in that position. Supporters will always for their club to go and spend more money. It’s very, very easy to spend money but there have been some poor decisions made on the playing side and some poor decisions made on the business front too. The result should not be a surprise to anyone.”

With just seven games remaining, the Baggies look destined to fall out of the top flight for the first time since 2010.

But Wile believes that presents the club with an opportunity to rebuild.

“In many ways it is a chance to start again and draw up a new plan, the club has to grasp it,” he said.

“Having someone like (current chief executive) Mark Jenkins, who has been on the outside and come back in, might not be a bad thing.

“There has to be a careful balance and at the bottom of it all there has to be a plan. Whatever the plan has been the past few years – if there has been one - it doesn’t seem to have worked.”