Comment: In-fighting and off-field West Brom drama mirrors chaos on pitch

Momentum and form is spiralling, sending them them towards League One. A change of head coach to bring in Eric Ramsay has not had the desired effect, indeed things have unravelled further.

The off-field storm, blame game and attempts to rewrite history when it comes to the sacked club president and sporting director Andrew Nestor matters little in the here and now. It will be a big factor, however, if we are picking the bones out of a relegation postmortem in May.

But right now, Shilen Patel and the people beneath him have to ensure Albion can somehow move away from the precipice of the third tier. It is very likely that come Tuesday night the club will be in the relegation places.

The optics could hardly be worse and fans are right to fear the situation reeks of relegation.

Much of the blame there lies at the door of Nestor.

Nestor, a close confidant and long-term associate of chairman and owner Patel, was handed the reins to footballing affairs. He was appointed by the owner to make the sporting calls and that is why he carried the can for the desperate failings.

It appears to have descended into something of a civil war in The Hawthorns boardroom.

Nestor was the man on the ground in the region, the eyes and ears and chief strategist, working over the likes of director of football operations Ian Pearce on matters like recruitment and appointments.

Much of Bilkul's two years in charge of Albion have been a disaster on the field - certainly from the moment Carlos Corberan departed on Christmas Eve 2024.

Corberan was a glue holding performance levels together relatively speaking but even those weeks and months prior were not rosy.

Operations and decisions since have been a total disaster. The failed appointment of Raphael Wicky, the number one choice, broke down in the 11th hour when it never should have. It was an amateurish look. Indeed Albion's last 12 months have been little short of shameful for a club of their size and history.

Tony Mowbray's brief return was a desperately sad debacle and Ryan Mason endured six months where he could not get things going.

He was given every chance by Nestor - who pleaded patience in his pre-Christmas statement - but the inevitable could be avoided no longer on January 6.

Nobody comes out of this well. Not Nestor, not Patel, not Ramsay nor the players.

Nestor's attempts to cleanse his hands of the latter's appointment do not wash. He was quoted in the club statement backing Ramsay's "unique coaching journey", "leadership qualities" and "attention to detail". He too brought Mason and Ramsay to the fore with his shortlist last summer.

After just four games Ramsay is already under pressure following a desperately bad start. Winless and three defeats from four, with 12 goals conceded and two humblings by drop zone rivals is not the bounce anybody hoped for, but more of a nosedive.

Nestor's signings have been largely disastrous. There has been the odd success, but far too many failures. There were failures before him, too, with Pearce running the recruitment drive.

Tammer Bany, at £3.4million, is the poorest and one that Albion could simply not afford to get wrong.

The 'data' used by Nestor may have pointed his way but attacking midfielder Bany did not arrive fit, was never fit and was nowhere near ready for English football.

It would have been a desperate failure if he was a free transfer, but he remains the ownership's second most expensive transfer. Little wonder Nestor was asking former boss Mowbray why Bany was not in the side, a move which did not go down well.

The recruitment last summer was lacking and unbalanced and has contributed, along with the head coaches, to this unthinkable relegation dogfight.

A new technical director is set to join but will arrive after the transfer deadline so cannot begin to lead a recovery.

It was never the plan for the new arrival - he is not a Nestor replacement and was coming on board regardless - to check in during the January again. But again, the look is a confused one.

The likelihood is the departed Nestor at the very least had a role to play in the recruitment of the imminent technical director.

That in itself is not necessarily a problem but creates more confusion. The timing of a club president and sporting director's public fallout on the eve of a transfer window is not ideal, regardless of how disastrous it has been.

At the moment the state of affairs off the field mirror those on it and typify a club seemingly hurtling to relegation. Mercifully, there is still time for something to be salvaged from this mess.