ITV pundit delivers verdict on West Brom fans boos in Sheffield United defeat
Jamie Mackie believes the boos from West Brom fans were directed at the players after the Baggies’ 2-0 Championship loss to Sheffield United.
Two first-half goals from the Blades were enough to continue the Baggies’ dreadful recent form and get Carlos Corberan’s reign off to a disappointing start.
There were loud boos at half-time and at the full-time whistle, but Mackie feels they weren’t directed at the new man in the dugout.
Talking on ITV’s highlights show, Mackie said [05:37, 29 October]: “At the end of the game and at half time you can hear boos there, but that’s actually more directed at the players, it’s not directed at the manager.
“They know it’s not been good enough and I feel with the World Cup coming it could be the perfect time to get on the training ground and get Corberan’s ideas across.”
Big problems
Nobody expected Corberan to come in and get an instant tune out of these players, but Saturday’s (29 October) defeat to the Blades is a stark reminder that the Baggies are in serious trouble at the moment.
This group of players are a shambles defensively and are completely toothless going forward at the moment. For now, ensuring they aren’t embroiled in a relegation battle has to be the top priority because Albion are currently staring League One square in the face.
The international break cannot come quickly enough for the Spaniard. Getting to work with this group of players for an extended period of time on the training pitch will hopefully see his ideas yield positive results when the Championship restarts.
With Blackpool, Queen’s Park Rangers and Stoke to come, things don’t get any easier for Corberan. Four points from those three fixtures has to be the bare minimum for the 39-year-old to prevent his side from being cut adrift at the bottom of the table.
In other West Brom news, a government official insists that the Hawthorns community application ‘is in safe hands’