West Brom appoint Pepe Mel as head coach

West Bromwich Albion have appointed Pepe Mel as their head coach, bringing an end to an exhaustive search for a successor to Steve Clarke, who was sacked 26 days ago. Mel, who led Real Betis to seventh place in La Liga last season before being dismissed in December, has signed an 18-month contract at The Hawthorns and will take charge of his first game on Monday week, when Albion face Everton at home.
The Spaniard had featured prominently among the Albion board's thoughts at the outset and was close to taking the job before Christmas, only for talks to break down after he was unable to agree terms, primarily because of issues in relation to the two backroom staff he wanted to bring to The Hawthorns at that time.
Albion have no desire to make wholesale changes every time a coach leaves and were keen for Keith Downing, the joint assistant head coach who has been in charge in a caretaker capacity since Clarke departed, and Dean Kiely, the goalkeeping coach, to remain. Mel has