West Brom demand £2m Mowbray compensation

West Bromwich albion were yesterday still waiting to discover whether Celtic will meet their compensation demands for manager Tony Mowbray. Albion are adamant that the compensation clause in Mowbray's current contract – which has two years remaining – is legally binding.

Celtic are desperate to bring in Mowbray as a replacement for Gordon Strachan as soon as possible. But Albion are equally determined they will not be railroaded into making any decision regarding the former Hibernian manager.

Their stance remains unaltered in that Celtic will have to meet their £2m compensation figure before they can officially talk to Mowbray, who spent over four years as a player at Celtic Park.

The figure would also rise if Mowbray decided to take assistant manager Mark Venus and first-team coach Peter Grant with him. The West Brom chairman, Jeremy Peace, has made it clear he wants Mowbray to stay to help the club regain their Premier League status.

Mowbray has earned a reputation of being a man of integrity and asked his players at the end of the season to show loyalty to ensure their stay in the Championship is shortlived. It would be a major surprise if he took the radical step of resigning should the two clubs not agree a compensation figure despite being told he has to reduce his playing staff for next season.

He also retains the faith of the majority of supporters who wore Mowbray face masks at the final game of the season at Blackburn even though relegation had already been confirmed.

Albion's viewpoint remains that the ball is firmly in Celtic's court and they must pay the full amount of compensation.

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Premier League points won by West Bromwich under Tony Mowbray in 2008-09.