COMMENT: Shambolic West Brom lucky not to be in drop battle

In what is one of the weakest Championships ever – the Baggies are floundering in 13th place having lost six of their last seven games.

Despite enjoying the huge benefit of parachute payments, they are a team incapable of scoring goals having found the target just once in those seven outings.

And at the back, they are now easy to score against – with the defensive resolve installed by Valerien Ismael at the start of the season completely gone.

It's incredible to think the Baggies began the campaign with a 10-game unbeaten run.

If it wasn't for that bright start, they would now be in a relegation battle. If the season had started in October instead of August, they would be 20th in the table.

It's a collapse that has been extraordinary.

So who or what is to blame? Unfortunately, there is no one person or thing you can point too.

Instead, a series of dreadful decisions have led us to this point.

It was actually back in February 2020 when Albion were last any good.

Matheus Pereira was pulling the strings. Grady Diangana was sparking. Callum Robinson's arrival had lifted the squad.

And following wins over Luton, Millwall, Reading, Bristol City and Preston North End – Slaven Bilic's side looked nailed on for automatic promotion.

Then Covid happened. The players had a three month break before project re-start.

And they came back unfit and struggling to cope with the physical demands of the Championship.

For that, Bilic and his coaching staff took a lot of criticism.

But multiple sources have told the Express & Star the players didn't work anywhere near hard enough while they were out of sight and football was suspended.

Ultimately, Bilic and his team have to take responsibility for not policing them properly.

In the end, though, they did do enough to get over the line and win promotion to the Premier League – albeit thanks to Brentford folding like a pack of cards.

Once in the top flight, the mistakes from the pandemic should have been left behind.

Albion committed to spending £47million that summer – a substantial sum of money.

And the truth is Bilic and former technical director Luke Dowling spent it badly.

The Croatian was adamant Karlan Grant was the central striker his squad was lacking. Grant, though, is a left-sided forward who has failed to live up to his £15million fee.

Dowling pushed to sign Diangana on a permanent basis. He, though, has never managed to rediscover the form he showed during his initial loan.

Throw in the addition of Branislav Ivanovic and that summer window was a disaster.

The truth is Albion never really looked like staying in the Premier League under Bilic.

But when he was sacked – in a completely classless and unprofessional manner following a 1-1 draw at Manchester City – the Baggies were only two points from safety.

It is a controversial view, but in this writer's opinion Bilic should never have lost his job – he should have been backed even if Albion had gone down.

Sam Allardyce arrived as Bilic's replacement.

One reason the Baggies turned to the Dudley-born chief was because they didn't want a relegation rival appointing the man who supposedly guaranteed survival.

But Allardyce couldn't keep them up. And he then walked away leaving a path of destruction behind him.

Multiple sources have told the Express & Star, a number of players had their confidence shattered during his six months at the club.

It's not rocket science to work out who those players are.

And Allardyce's departure led to another huge sliding doors moment.

It's well documented Dowling wanted Chris Wilder to be Albion's new manager last summer – with the former Sheffield United boss known to want the job.

But his appointment was vetoed by controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai in a move that at the time seemed foolish and now looks disastrous.

You don't need a crystal ball to know Albion wouldn't be in this mess if Wilder had got the job – with Lai's veto ultimately leading to Dowling's departure.

Instead, completely inexperienced CEO Xu Ke appointed Valerien Ismael as head coach – a radical boss with rigid tactics suited to underdog teams.

And that's just not what Albion needed at the time.

In a weak Championship with the benefit of parachute payments, they needed someone to lift a demoralised squad, repair some egos and add some quality.

It wasn't the time for Albion to go left field with Ismael. Wilder was the man for the job. Alex Neil – while unpopular – would also have been a steady appointment.

But Albion got it wrong. Ismael – despite an impressive start – ended up falling out with a host of senior players and infuriating supporters with his lack of tactical flexibility.

And after atrocious displays against Preston and Millwall, the club had no choice but to sack him.

The rot was now so far advanced it was always going to be difficult to stop. And none of those previous issues are anything to do with Steve Bruce.

But there is no doubt the 61-year-old hasn't had the impact he expected since arriving as manager last month.

His decision to switch to a 4-3-3 formation with Alex Mowatt, Jayson Molumby and Adam Reach as the midfield three has not worked.

Those three players don't appear good enough to play together in that system.

But Bruce has stuck with it – with the boss playing that formation in four of his five games, hoping something will click.

At his unveiling, Bruce and new CEO Ron Gourlay said Albion could still compete for automatic promotion this season.

But now it just seems as though the boss had absolutely no idea what he walking into.

Lai, Xu Ke, Dowling, Bilic, Allardyce and Ismael have all made decisions that have led to this point.

But there is no doubt Albion's players have to take a huge share of the blame for the current mess the club finds itself in.

Recent performances have, quite frankly, been gutless.

Every footballer will go through a crisis of confidence at some point.

It's part of the game and understandable with some of the disappointments Albion have faced in recent seasons.

But there comes a point when these players have to look themselves in the mirror and say enough is enough.

They need to be brave. Instead they are cowering. And there doesn't appear to be any leaders in the squad capable of raising morale and getting the team back on track.

Mentally this group is weak. And that is something any manager is going to find hard to fix.

Ultimately that weakness comes down to Albion's overall recruitment strategy – with their operation off the pitch a huge cause for concern.

Character wise Albion haven't got it right with some of their recent signings.

While it also seems the club doesn't have the scouting network other clubs in the Championship enjoy.

The Baggies signed Pereira and Filip Krovinovic because Bilic was aware of them. Daryl Dike arrived because of Ismael.

But otherwise, their additions have tended to be run of the mill.

It doesn't feel like they have the capacity to look outside England and sign a player like Swansea's Joel Piroe, Luton's Allan Campbell or Preston's Emil Riis Jakobsen.

Ian Pearce is the club's head of recruitment and was during Dowling's tenure. But like Lai and former CEO Xu Ke – he doesn't speak to the press.

And that makes it very hard to get answers on how exactly Albion identify their targets and go about their transfer business.

To make matters worse, a host of players currently struggling have the comfort of long-term deals meaning it will be virtually impossible to move them on this summer.

The squad now needs a refresh but it's going to be next to impossible to get players out the door.

Albion is a club in a mess.

That mess is the result of a series of poor decisions, made by multiple people, both on and off the pitch.

And, as things stand, it's hard to see how they turn it around.

It's as good as certain Albion won't go up this year.

That means they have just one season left with parachute payments.

And once they go, it's very easy to become a run of the mill Championship side.

At the moment, that's where it feels the club is heading.