Carlos Corberan takes immediate liking to Kyle Bartley despite previous West Brom embarrassments
Carlos Corberan has taken an instant liking to West Brom defender Kyle Bartley since arriving at The Hawthorns, according to The Athletic.
It was suggested that many Baggies believed the veteran defender may never have pulled the shirt on again after his embarrassing display against Birmingham back in September, but that has been proven wrong.
Instead, Bartley has stood up tall since the arrival of Corberan, keeping back-to-back clean sheets in the wins over Blackpool and Queens Park Rangers – scoring the winner against the latter.
Writing in his latest column for The Athletic, Elias Burke shared the feeling of the Spaniard towards some of those currently in his squad fighting for their futures.
“Bartley is another,” he wrote. “Pent-up frustration from supporters came to a head during the 3-2 defeat by Birmingham City at The Hawthorns in September, when the 31-year-old struggled to adapt to Steve Bruce’s aggressive high line and was booed off by home fans.
“Following the embarrassment of a home defeat to a local rival, many supporters believed he would see out his expiring contract without ever pulling on an Albion shirt again.
“Yet Corberan took an immediate liking to Phillips and Bartley.”
Changes.
Corberan is changing the mentality, as well as the playing style at The Hawthorns.
Something this drastic has needed to happen for years, with too many members of the squad simply coasting along thinking their experience is enough to see them through.
No chance – Corberan has come in and instantly started weighing the players, and improving standards, that is something that will only bring out the best in the squad if they want it to.
Bartley appears to be one of those who have really relished this change, which must be a breath of fresh air after working with the likes of Steve Bruce in recent months.
Results are now coming as well as performances, and with that intense press ahead of him, the veteran defender is able to concentrate on his own game and guide his teammates through games.
Long may this continue, but the realist in us knows that we are only three games into this new era and it is all about consistency, making sure it doesn’t just end up being a new-manager bounce.
Players like Bartley will be key to that.
In other West Brom news, Daryl Dike is set to be ‘assessed’, while severity of Karlan Grant injury is revealed