Jeremy Peace has held his hands up after Albion’s calamitous season.
The Baggies narrowly avoided relegation after a stuttering campaign was dogged by controversy.
Head coaches Steve Clarke and Pepe Mel were both sacked – as was star summer signing Nicolas Anelka following his ‘Quenelle’ gesture.
Peace, who has broken his long-standing media silence, admits he, as chairman, must take the blame and said changes are being made to ensure another disastrous season does not happen again.
“For a club of our resources, it was always going to be difficult to repeat our highest Premier League finish of eighth in the previous season,” said Chairman Peace.
“However, it was not the campaign we hoped for or expected and, as Chairman of the football club, the buck stops with me.
“Our upward curve since returning to the top flight in 2010 has dipped considerably.
“The squad we assembled during the summer transfer window – regarded in some outside quarters at the time as our strongest for more than three decades – has not performed as consistently or as well as we would have hoped.
“We have been taking a long, hard look as to why this has proved to be the case, especially in terms of our player recruitment.
“Of course, there is often a thin line between success and failure and some of the fine margins that appeared to go our way in previous campaigns did not this time around.
“The Financial Fair Play rules mean there is now very little to choose between the teams below the top six whilst the influx of money from the new media rights deal has resulted in the league becoming more competitive than ever.
“We recorded far too many draws and a run of key match decisions going against us during the season, which never seemed to even out, did not help.
“However, these are only contributory factors to, and not excuses for, the fact we finished 17th.
“With our search for a new Head Coach now underway, we’ve been addressing the areas within the club that need strengthening.”
What does Peace need to do to make Albion moving forward again? Have your say at Baggies Banter.