West Brom's Spanish gamble in 2014 turned into a nightmare: View | OneFootball

One managerial gamble very nearly backfired totally at The Hawthorns

West Brom ought to have gone into the 2013-14 Premier League season with plenty of confidence.

The previous campaign had seen the Baggies finish eighth in the top-flight of English football, their highest ever finish in the Premier League, with a club record 49 points.

They will therefore have been hoping to build on that under manager Steve Clarke the following season.

Ultimately though, things did not work out that way for West Brom, who instead found themselves going in a very different direction, that would eventually force them into a big decision in the dugout.

West Brom slipped down the Premier League table in 2013

Right from the start of the 2013/14 season, the Midlands club struggled to replicate their form from the previous campaign.

After two draws and two defeats from their first four league games, they did then pick up back to back wins to get some welcome points on the board.

That included a memorable 2-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, although it would prove to be a false dawn for West Brom.

They would win just one of their next ten league games, prompting the Baggies to place Clarke on gardening leave after a fourth straight defeat - losing 1-0 to Cardiff City - in mid-December 2013.

At that point, the club sat 16th in the Premier League table, two points clear of the relegation zone.

It was Clarke's former assistant, Keith Downing, who would then initially take interim charge of West Brom, taking three draws and a win from his first four league games in temporary charge.

That run saw them climb to 14th in the table, four points clear of the bottom three, after 20 games of the campaign.

Then though, just under a month after Clarke was sacked, West Brom made a managerial decision that very nearly backfired on them to maximum extent.

Pepe Mel nearly took West Brom down from the Premier League

On 9th January 2014, the club confirmed that they had appointed Pepe Mel as their new permanent manager.

That is something that could certainly have been as something of a gamble right from the beginning.

Mel had never previously managed outside of his native Spain. His previous job had also seen him leave Real Betis 12 days before Clarke had been sacked by West Brom.

Although he had previously enjoyed success with the Seville-based club, Mel had left them sliding towards a bottom place finish in La Liga.

Once he got to The Hawthorns, this what not a gamble that worked out for the Baggies either, and almost cost them dearly.

After watching a 1-0 defeat to Southampton from the stands in the first game after his appointment, his first game on the touchline was a 1-1 draw at home to Everton.

However, Mel struggled to provide the sort of impact that the Baggies would have been hoping for.

On the pitch, he simply could not get West Brom going, and it took him until his eighth game in charge to finally secure a win, beating Swansea City 2-1.

He would though, be unable to maintain that form, and off the pitch, his character never felt like one that inspired any confidence or spirit into the club.

As a result, the Baggies would continue to struggle under Mel, slipping back towards the relegation zone, and even dropping to 18th after a 3-1 defeat in a relegation six-pointer with Crystal Palace.

With West Brom struggling for wins, it was draws, combined with the struggles of others, that pulled them just back above the dotted line.

The Baggies were indeed fortunate that the struggles of others just about kept them out of trouble, as they would pick up just two more wins in their nine league games after victory over Swansea.

That saw them end the season with a thoroughly underwhelming return of just three wins from 17 league games following the appointment of Mel.

By the end of the campaign, they sat 17th in the table, just three points clear of 18th place Norwich City, with West Brom's safety only mathematically confirmed on the final day.

Given the Canaries claimed just five points from their last 11 games, the fact it went that close is arguably a damning indictment on the performances and results West Brom produced under Mel.

With that in mind, it is perhaps no surprise that the Baggies chose to part company with the Spaniard just a day after the season had ended with three straight defeats that has seen them rather stagger over the line to safety.