Albion's head coach Pepe Mel dishes up all the answers for anxious supporters of the Baggies

It was the calm before the storm – 150 fans paying £25 to enjoy a sit down curry and the chance to get to know a little better the new head coach who has endured such a tumultuous start to his reign.

And still the Baggies faithful are so keen for Steve Clarke's replacement to succeed despite worrying signals. Mel has won only one game in nine and Albion are in a position of greater peril than when he arrived; his players have registered their concern about the change of style which has already seen a backroom staff man, Dave McDonough, pay the price while the football remains at best patchy, at worst fragile.

But as a Saturday approaches which brings him the biggest game of his tenure so far, last night's intimate face-to-face with supporters showed the goodwill is still intact.

Glimpse

Fans grilled the Spaniard on everything from game preparation and half-time team talks to food and novel writing. The revelations might not have been startling – other than the fact that he has now enjoyed his first balti curry – but they once more gave supporters a glimpse of the charm and warmth of the man.

He was joined on stage by assistant head coach Keith Downing, goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely and first team coach David Gomez and talk quickly turned to the Baggies' perilous position in the league table.

Mel said: "Hard work is the only way we can win the points we need.

"For us the next game is the final, not just Cardiff but always the next game, if it was Chelsea it would be the same."

Albion face second-bottom Cardiff City in Saturday's match at the Hawthorns, who currently lie only three places and three points behind.

Mel was also full of praise for West Brom's young players and academy, saying that he thought the most important thing to come out of the recent win against Swansea was a debut appearance by 20-year-old defender Liam O'Neil.

He also responded to questions over recent reports that Downing and Kiely take the half-time team talks, as he is still learning to speak English.

Mel made it clear that, regardless of who is delivering it, the message is to the players is the most important thing.

"It's the same message," he said. "I speak to players individually, but as a group it's Deano and Keith, because at half-time you only have 12 or 15 minutes to change things.

"So it might be better to speak more quickly."

The former Real Betis coach recently tried his first curry.

Keith Downing said: "When we were training in Spain recently he took us out for a meal in Seville, so we decided to treat him when we got back and took him to Lye."

A tasty dish on Saturday is what he really craves.