Less than two weeks after they were celebrating sealing their passage to the Premiership, a row between Thompson and Albion boss Gary Megson plunged the club into crisis.

Rumours circulated in the Black Country that Megson was about to quit after failing to see eye-to-eye with his boss.

But Thompson claimed he had made the first move in an effort to give Albion time to get their house in order before one of their biggest tests.

"I don't want to leave the club with a void and it would be wrong for the club to be out of control," Thompson told the club's website.

"At this point in time, that is a very real danger.

"It's vitally important that we keep developing, that the policies we have pursued over the last 28 months remain in place and that decisions are made which protect the long-term future of the club.

"Clearly it's not helpful to the club at this point in time if you have a situation where the manager doesn't want to work with the chairman."

Thompson claimed Megson insisted on taking an improper interest in financial affairs.

Megson has already countered that he was shut out of contract negotiations and not allowed to decide which players to buy.

Thompson added: "Gary is in a very strong position at the moment and he wants to do it his way.

"I've always felt that team-work off the pitch was just as important as team-work on the pitch.

"But clearly there is a point of view that if you let the manager run the football club, perhaps you will get the Holy Grail.

"But football is littered with examples of directors letting managers run the club and finding they're left with a hell of a mess as a result."