Thompson to quit, say E&S

24 October 2001

In a wonderfully creative piece of journalism, the Express and Star have turned an interview with Paul Thompson on its head and given fans the impression that their Chairman is about to quit.

The quotes published go as follows:

"Supporters have been writing to me claiming that the club have lost points because we've not signed Dichio. I have grown very tired of it, to be honest. It appears that some supporters don't trust the chairman of the board."

[ At this point, there's obviously an edited out question from the journalist along the lines of "Have you thought of quitting?" ]

"Yes, I have certainly thought about walking away. But all that will happen is that Albion will stop making progress. There is clearly a lack of understanding and it has left me thinking seriously about my future. I have had a constant stream of letters over this. I am here for three years and at the end of that period there will be an opportunity for somebody else to do a better job."

So what Paul Thompson is saying is that he's promised to stay for three years, and that's just what he's going to do in spite of the volume of critical letters in his postbag. But, somehow, when the article got printed in the paper, the title got changed to "Angry chairman threatens to go" - while the article talked of a "hate mail campaign" being waged against him.

From reports of Thompson's quotes on local radio regarding the article, it seems that he's not too happy, and who can blame him. Just what this paper, based in Wolverhampton, hoped to achieve through their misleading reporting, published the day before the big Black Country Derby, remains a mystery...

Previous Stories:

  21 October 2001:  Vultures still eyeing us up

  15 October 2001:  Dichio deal dead, says agent

  14 October 2001:  Reid: No Discount for Danny

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