West Brom can emulate Nottingham Forest play off run through manager hunt – ITV pundit
West Brom can emulate Nottingham Forest last season and make a run into the play offs if they appoint a new manager quickly, says Jobi McAnuff.
Steve Cooper arrived at the City Ground just over a year ago with Forest bottom of the Championship and took them to promotion via victory in the play off final at Wembley.
The Baggies are currently second from bottom after losing to Millwall on Saturday (22 October) but are only 11 points from sixth-placed Norwich City, and McAnuff feels that leaves the route open for them to make a similar surge if they get the right appointment made fast amid reports that Carlos Corberan is set to be announced imminently [Rob Dorsett].
Speaking live on ITV4’s Football League Highlights show on Saturday night (22 October, 9.33pm) McAnuff said when asked by Hugh Woozencroft if an appointment needed to be made fast: “Absolutely. We have to look at Nottingham Forest last season and how much ground they made up to get in the playoffs.
“I still think with the nature of the Championship this season being so open, if you can get someone in enough and really start that momentum, there’s no reason why they still can’t make those playoffs.”
Dreaming
Every club struggling in the early weeks of the season hopes to hit on a new boss that brings about a transformation as complete as Cooper did last ear.
His status with Forest is so high among their fans that pressure from the support got him a contract extension earlier this season when he looked to be on the brink of the sack languishing at the bottom of the Premier League.
With Corberan reportedly close to being named as the new boss it would mean that Ron Gourlay has gone for the man who Cooper defeated at Wembley in May.
The Spanish coach, 39, therefore obviously knows how to navigate a team to within touching distance of promotion and while that would not have been good enough this time last year, with how things have gone since it may have to be enough.
Frankly at this stage a new coach who can ensure that West Brom aren’t relegated to League One would be an improvement considering the direction of travel under Steve Bruce.
But ultimately this is a club that has spent 13 of the last 20 seasons in the Premier League and should be aiming to get back there again sooner rather than later.
A complete turnaround and a playoff push from the relegation zone in late October would be the holy grail in terms of this managerial appointment, but a more stable and entertaining set up than the previous two would be a start.
In other West Brom news, talks have been held with an inexperienced coach who sees himself as the perfect fit for the Hawthorns.