View: Are West West Brom once again realistic promotion candidates under Carlos Corberán?
By Christopher Heath
After a mini-resurgence under Carlos Corberán, following a morale-boosting sequence of five victories in their last six Championship matches, can West Bromwich Albion again be considered viable playoff contenders?
Languishing in the relegation zone under Steve Bruce after only one league victory as West Brom manager this season, the upper echelons of the Baggies’ hierarchy will surely have been impressed by what they have seen since his dismissal.
The former Huddersfield Town boss left his position at the John Smith’s Stadium on 7 July following the Terriers’ failure to achieve promotion to the Premier League after a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest in last season’s Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium.
Before his appointment, Corberán was relieved of his managerial duties as the head honcho of defending Greek Super League Champions Olympiacos after only 48 days following two victories in 11 matches. However, after hitting the ground flying at The Hawthorns, the Spaniard does not seem to have let his disappointing spell in Greece affect him.
Left with the uphill task of instilling a much-needed confidence boost, Marcelo Bielsa’s former ally at Leeds United made the perfect start to life as Baggies’ manager with successive league victories over Blackpool, Queens Park Rangers, Stoke City, Sunderland and Rotherham United.
Before Bruce was handed his overdue P45 in the middle of October, despite the club’s impressive-looking summer recruitment drive, which included the signatures of Jed Wallace, John Swift, and Tom Rogic, saw the West Midlands-based outfit a staggering number of points off the top six.
As previously touched on, Corberán’s side would still be undefeated in six league matches if it wasn’t for Viktor Gyökeres’ penalty, which earned local rivals Coventry City a last-gasp 1-0 victory on Wednesday.
Taking a closer look at their squad, the Baggies possess, in my opinion, the best midfielder in the division in JedWallace (my other two midfielders would be Ismaïla Sarr and Iliman Ndiaye), alongside Swift and Grady Diangana et al.
With Burnley and Sheffield United being my predictions to finish in the automatic promotion positions, I predict West Bromwich Albion, Norwich City, Watford, and Queens Park Rangers will end up battling it out for an appearance at Wembley.
In other West Brom news, a finance podcaster has sent a message to lawyers about Albion’s latest financial statement.