Chairman of the midlands club, Jeremy Peace, reacted angrily to Celtic's official approach yesterday and bullishly claimed that he would not allow the manager to leave for anything less than £2million as per a clause in his manager's contract. That figure is said to be unacceptable to Celtic and it now appears that football's governing bodies on both sides of the border agree that if Mowbray resigns his position then his new employers, Celtic, would not be liable to pay a penny in compensation.
"If Tony Mowbray were to resign his position with West Bromwich Albion and then join Celtic," said Rob Shorthouse, an SFA spokesman. "Then, as far as we are concerned, there would be no statutory requirement for Celtic to pay compensation. Mr Mowbray's contract is not lodged with the SFA so there is no question of compensation as far as we are concerned. West Bromwich Albion may adopt a different position but that would be our stance on the matter."
An FA spokesman confirmed that Celtic would not be liable and that it would be a contractual matter between Tony Mowbray and West Brom. "There is no formal arrangement for this." he said. "As there clearly is when it comes to players making a cross-border move while under contract. It would depend on the terms of severance in the individual manager's contract. Usually, any money paid in these situations is to cover managers breaking their contracts rather than compensation as such. The situation is entirely contractual and depends on what the individual is obliged to do."
If Mowbray went down this route, however, Celtic would most likely supply the cash for him to buy out his contract. The preferred option, of course, would be for the clubs to come to an agreement suitable to both parties.