Premier League: Are Clarke's best-laid plans about to go West?

West Brom boss Steve Clarke

Romilly Evans assesses West Brom's recent stall and wonders if Steve Clarke can keep the motor running this season...

Only last week, Steve Clarke was talking about riding the crest of a wave. And so was his team, as West Brom surged into third place in the league after 13 games. It was the Baggies' best start to a campaign in 59 years.

The trouble with waves, however, is that none survives a collision with the shore. No matter how much foam flies, how powerful the surge, or how glistening the sunlight on their back, it will all fade to black on the jagged rocks of reality.

West Brom have discovered this to their cost in the past four days as they have slumped to two demoralising defeats: 3-1 away to Swansea on the midweek card and then 1-0 at home to Stoke on Saturday.

The latter defeat could prove the most telling for a few reasons. Firstly, it came at the Hawthorns, where Clarke's troops had won six of their previous seven games this term, combining flair and work-rate in compelling fashion. On Saturday, the Baggies were stymied by an admittedly well-drilled Stoke defence in a desperately drab affair.

The Stoke manager, Tony Pulis, didn't even seem that surprised or elated at recording his first away win on the term. "West Brom are a good side but they excel on the counter-attack," explained the Potters' chief. "Take that facility away from them and don't allow the game to become stretched and they'll struggle."

Whether Pullis has found Clarke's Achilles Heel remains to be seen. For his part, Clarke was keen to fall back on the age-old excuse of fatigue in the ranks after three quick-fire battles. But Clarke had already made some changes to his squad for Saturday and this ostensibly banal concession could conceal a genuine problem.

Do West Brom have the squad to compete over the full stretch of the Premier League fixture list?

Squad rotation, of course, has become a part of the process in the top flight. Bench-warmers are no longer there to hand out the oranges at half-time. There has to be genuine ability outside your first-choice line-up, if team performance is to be sustained through the long winter months when the games come thick and fast.

So while West Brom's elite 11 may amount to more than the aggregation of their individual assets, the wider squad's limitations could yet create a deficit. For all Clarke has proven himself a shrewd operator in the market, he cannot work miracles without the financial resources of the bigger clubs.

It's another clash with reality which has been delayed through some smart signings (Claudio Yacob on a "free" from Argentina and Romelu Lukaku on loan from Chelsea have been the astute picks).

Flair players like Zoltan Gera and Chris Brunt have accordingly been able to exploit the spaces and feed the forward line where Lukaku and the recurring revelation that is Shane Long have bagged five goals apiece. They've certainly kept Peter Odemwingie on his toes. But should injury befall the Irish international and Gera (who's already a fragile commodity), or Lukaku be recalled by Chelsea in the forthcoming window, then the wider squad would surely strain and buckle. Especially under Clarke's unusual 4-2-3-1 formation.

Such concerns could be allayed in the January transfer window. Yet the fears persist that Clarke won't have the requisite monetary muscle with which to turn his thoughts into actions. After successful stints under Jose Mourinho and Kenny Dalglish, Clarke has now seen his managerial credentials stamped and approved at the top level.

Possibly the best English coach of the current crop, can he now get the West Brom bandwagon rolling on a resurgent wave? They're an easy team to root for but the Premier League is littered with hard-luck stories of teams which opened all their gifts the wrong side of Christmas and had nothing to enjoy in the New Year.

Therefore, while West Brom have already secured 26 points this season, Clarke is now having to mange expectations. Last week he said Baggies fans could dare to dream. This week he has had to re-evaluate. "The main priority is still to reach 40 points and ensure survival." he asserted. It all sounds rather uninspiring. After all, West Brom remain a whopping 90.089/1 to be relegated on Betfair. But Clarke is a realist who knows that excitement is not a coin he can afford to spend too freely.

So perhaps this adjustment of hope is for the best. Towering hype often has a tottering quality and it can all come crashing down. The higher you climb, the further the fall. And if the relative obscurity of mid-table mediocrity awaits, there's a noble joy to be found there too. Or so my career-guidance counsellor reassured me.

Clarke, though, wants to scale dizzier heights. Like a surfer paddling on a becalmed sea, he's waiting for the next big breaker. And then we'll discover if West Brom are anything more than just another team who once had a good run.