West Bromwich Albion are in trouble, and they have been for most of the season. Alan Pardew was sacked by the Midland club on Monday after a disastrous attempt to steer them away from relegation, which included just one Premier League victory in his entire tenure at The Hawthorns. The former-Crystal Palace and Newcastle United boss was brought in after the sacking of Tony Pulis back in November and tasked with reversing the club's fortunes and preventing a drop into the Championship.
Alas, Pardew failed in his quest and, despite a decent FA Cup run in which they stunned Liverpool at Anfield, the Baggies are now on the hunt for their third permanent manager of the season.
Rock-bottom of the Premier League, without a manager and ten points from safety - the situation makes dire reading for West Brom fans.
If there is one thing that the Midlander’s can take comfort from, it is that they have pedigree in last-gasp 'great escapes', as demonstrated way back in the 2004-05 campaign.
Fortune favours the brave
The final day of the season in May 2005 can only be described as utter pandemonium. The bottom four places were all still yet to be decided, and so West Brom, footing the table at the start of play, would fight it out with Southampton, Crystal Palace and Norwich.
The Baggies, managed by Bryan Robson, needed to win and hope that all the other results went their way to ensure Premier League survival.
Goals from Geoff Horsfield and Kieran Richardson in a 2-0 home win over Portsmouth meant that West Brom has done their part, but they needed to wait for other final results from across the country to know whether or not they would survive - the tension was palpable.
Norwich had been beaten badly by Fulham and Manchester United had condemned Southampton to relegation, but Palace were putting up a fight against Charlton Athletic.
The Eagles were 2-1 up at The Valley, a result that would guarantee their survival and send the Baggies down to the Championship. But then West Brom had a stroke of Fortune - Jonathan Fortune, to be precise.
His header drew the Addicks level and saved the Baggies' Premier League status in one swift movement. None of that would have been possible if not for the run that West Brom were on at the time - they gained 24 points in the period after the New Year which turned out to be just enough to keep them afloat.
The exploits of Bryan Robson's side in the first half of 2005 remain one of the most memorable 'great escapes' in the Premier League era.
But can they do it again?
Mathematically, West Brom still have everything to play for, but their task is even tougher now than it was 13 years ago. They only have six games left and a double-digit point margin to claw back - an even tougher ask when you take into-account the fact that three of those matches are against Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs.
Their other ties, a home game against Swansea and two trips to Newcastle and Palace, are vital must-win games for the Baggies. Whoever succeeds Pardew at The Hawthorns must not make the decision to do so lightly and must be prepared for the monumental task that he faces in trying to keep the seemingly-doomed club in the Premier League.
