So the will he, won't he saga regarding Pepe Mel and West Bromwich Albion has finally come to an end. Nearly a month after Steve Clarke was dismissed as head coach and despite an apparent ruling out of the Spaniard a fortnight ago, Mel has been handed an 18-month contract at the Premier League club.
The length of time that the Baggies took to appoint their new man suggests that they have given a lot of thought as to the way they want to move the club forward. But who exactly have they appointed?
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During his playing career, Mel mainly flitted between clubs in the Spanish second and third tiers having come through the Real Madrid academy but being unable to make the grade. He retired from playing in 1998 and immediately set about his coaching career and got his first job at Coslad in the Spanish third division.
In his early coaching career, the Spaniard did not spend more than a full season at the same club. Between his first role in 1999 and when he left Poli Ejido in 2006 he had had no fewer than seven different jobs. With the key thing for the Baggies at the moment being to build stability, such statistics may create a bit of concern among the supporters. However, more recently Mel has settled in at the clubs he has coached, with this just his third job since 2006.
He had mixed success with Rayo Vallecano after being sacked by Ejido. At the point of taking over Rayo were in the third tier in Spain. In his second season there he managed to get Rayo back into Liga Adelante, but could not take them the next step and put them back into the top flight. He was again sacked for poor results, before landing on his feet with a job at Real Betis.
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In the summer of 2010 he took over at his former side Betis and managed early success as he guided them to the second division championship and a return to La Liga. Now back where the club belonged, Mel managed to keep them in the top flight with a 13th-placed finish before financial troubles took their toll this season and Mel was sacked in difficult circumstances after some poor results.
Perhaps the important fact that West Brom fans will be looking at is that, under the right circumstances, Mel can get his teams to overachieve. By far the most success the Spaniard has had in his coaching career to date was last season, when he guided Betis to a seventh-placed finish in La Liga. To follow that up with a disappointing season, this is perhaps indicative of his managerial career so far. He has struggled to achieve success on a consistent basis.
Even if the results have not consistently been there for him in his career, Mel has received a lot of praise in Spain for his offensive style of football. His preferred type of play could be likened to that of Mauricio Pochettino, now of Southampton, as he gets his team to press high up the pitch and play the ball out from the back. This will be music to the ears of West Brom fans who had become used to efficient if arguably stale football under Clarke.
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Another important facet is that Mel is used to working under tight financial constraints. He has not had the luxury of a big budget at any club he has worked under and the same will be the case in his new role. In his initial 18 months his task will be to keep West Brom up as well as begin to develop a more attractive style of play.
Should the Spaniard adapt quickly and start to steer his new side away from trouble then in the long-run this could be a clever appointment. However, if too much changes too quickly then the Baggies could be in trouble before they start to reap the rewards.
Matt Domm
