West Bromwich Albion CEO Ron Gourlay has criticised the club's current crop of players for not having enough leaders or 'winners' in their team, speaking candidly to the Express and Star.

The Baggies had gone unbeaten in their opening 10 league matches of the 2021/22 campaign, establishing themselves as automatic promotion favourites under the stewardship of former boss Valerien Ismael.

However, results and performances have declined since then, sitting comfortably in third spot towards the latter stages of 2021 but were in real danger of falling out of the top six altogether at the time of the Frenchman's departure last month.

Unfortunately for successor Steve Bruce, he was unable to make a fast start to life at The Hawthorns, going winless in his opening five matches at the helm as he won just one point from a possible 15.

A victory against his former side Hull City last weekend was a much-needed boost for a demoralised Albion side - but their poor form prior to their victory at the MKM Stadium has consigned them to a 13th spot at this stage and they are now outsiders to clinch a play-off place at the end of this term.

Gourlay was one man who could see this decline coming, offering a brutal assessment of his current crop of first-team players and has also hinted at radical changes being made in the future.

The Chelsea chief executive said: "This was coming (the club’s decline).

"This club has been in a comfort zone for too long and we have to shake things up to push it forward.

"We started the season very well. But when things started to slip we didn’t have the mental strength, enough leaders on the field, enough winners on the field, to get us out of that period."

The Verdict:

A rebuild is probably needed in the West Midlands when the summer comes along - because some players have been at the club too long and a shake-up could help to freshen things up.

Looking at most departments in their team, they could benefit from this potential revamp.

In the goalkeeping area, Sam Johnstone is unlikely to be at the club and it's questionable as to whether David Button should be there either, with one or two centre-backs potentially needing to move on to make way for fresh blood and more depth required in the full-back areas.

The same applies in midfield in terms of depth and up top, it's now becoming clear that Ismael's playing style wasn't the only reason why Albion were so poor in the final third. Daryl Dike will help - but he will need other fresh faces around him if the United States international wants to be a real success.

Not only will a rebuild strengthen the Baggies physically - but also mentally because things seem to have gone stale at The Hawthorns and this will inevitably have an impact on the current playing squad's performances.

There are a few bright players including Taylor Garnder-Hickman who they can build around though, so it's a potentially exciting project the club may undertake during the next transfer window.