West Bromwich Albion FC

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• Manager:Roy Hodgson

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Albion confirm boss approach

08 Jun 2009 - 16:20:49

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West Bromwich Albion have warned Celtic they intend to fight to keep hold of Tony Mowbray following official confirmation that they have made a formal approach for the Baggies boss.

Mowbray is believed to be the number one choice of the Celtic board to replace former boss Gordon Strachan in the Parkhead hot-seat.

Albion released a statement over the weekend denying they had received a formal approach from the Scottish club for Mowbray.

However, chairman Jeremy Peace has now revealed that he has been contacted by his Celtic counterparts - but that he has no intention of allowing Mowbray to walk away from The Hawthorns midway through a contract.

"After two weeks of speculation, I have finally received a call from the Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell, requesting permission to speak to Tony," he revealed.

"I made it absolutely clear that Celtic's approach was not welcome because we have an ongoing project at Albion in which Tony is an integral part.

"Tony's style of play is a key factor in that project and the supporters have very much bought into it, as everyone saw by the terrific reception the fans gave Tony and the players after our final home game against Liverpool.

"It is also reflected by the fact we have already sold more than 16,000 season tickets for 2009/10."

Meanwhile, Peace has suggested the only way Celtic will be able to speak with the former Hibernian boss is if they are willing to meet his club's compensation figure - believed to be in the region of £2million.

"We inserted a compensation figure when Tony signed a new contract 16 months ago to ensure that the club would be suitably recompensed in the event of any other club seeking his services," he added.

"Most people would regard it as a fair figure. It was inserted in the contract in good faith and is non-negotiable because we don't want to lose our manager.

"Celtic have been made aware of the compensation figure and, if they agree to pay this, only then will I speak to Tony to get his thoughts on the situation.

"Until and unless that happens, as far as we are concerned, it is business as usual as we plan for a very important season ahead of us.

"We hope this is the end of the matter as we do not need any further, unwelcome distractions for the job in hand."