Jaime Monroy leaves West Brom for personal reasons as Michael Hefele joins staff
West Brom first-team assistant coach Jaime Monroy has left the club for “personal reasons” and been replaced by Michael Hefele, who joins Carlos Corberan’s backroom staff at the Hawthorns.
Monroy, 40, had previously worked under the Baggies’ Spanish manager within the Leeds Under-23s set-up and joined the club in October after the sacking of Steve Bruce.
The former Barcelona youth team coach was also assistant to Corberan at Olympiacos but has cut his time short with the manager in the west midlands and will be replaced by ex-Huddersfield Town player Hefele.
West Brom’s official club website said: “Michael Hefele has joined Carlos Corberán’s backroom staff from fellow Sky Bet Championship side Huddersfield Town.
“The recently-retired central defender claimed promotion to the Premier League as a player at The John Smith’s Stadium before returning to combine coaching with an ambassadorial role.
“Hefele, 32, replaces Jaime Monroy, who has departed for personal reasons, as First Team Assistant Coach in Carlos’ staff.”
Changes
The departure of Monroy will come as a blow to West Brom, who had just settled into the fresh regime of Corberan.
Five wins in his six games since being brought into the club is an extremely impressive record, and Monroy can leave the club knowing he has delivered some short-term joy for the Baggies’ fans. For Corberan this will come as a shock and could have a knock-on effect if the assimilation of Hefele isn’t carried out properly.
After working together in Greece, England and Spain, their relationship is obviously a strong one, and these can often underpin the success of the club.
Take Steven Gerrard and Michael Beale at Aston Villa, for example. As soon as the latter left the west midlands in the summer for QPR, Gerrard struggled to retain the success he managed with his partner in crime, and his tenure seemed to go from bad to worse.
Hopefully, Hefele can slip into life at West Brom with ease and help push the side up the Championship table.
In other West Brom news, Jake Livermore is facing an uncertain future after the latest Carlos Corberan decision