Carlos Corberan: Josh Griffiths won’t leave West Brom on loan again in January
Carlos Corberan has no intention of sending Josh Griffiths back out on loan after recalling him back to West Brom from his spell at Portsmouth.
The goalkeeper returned to The Hawthorns earlier this month after initially being set to spend the entire season at Fratton Park.
The belief was that he could head back out on loan elsewhere to continue playing regularly and developing, but manager Corberan has shared that he wants the 21-year-old to compete with Alex Palmer and David Button for a place in the Baggies squad for the rest of the season instead.
“My idea right now is to not change any of the situation, there is no reason to change anything,” he told the press in his pre-match press conference, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail (13 January).
“We are going to strengthen the goal, we are going to move the keeper who was a third keeper with us out on loan [Ted Cann] and we will have now the option to have three very good goalkeepers.
“Now we understand, talking to the goalkeeper coach [Gary Walsh] and talking with the club that now is the moment to bring him back, to be in the dressing room, to allow me to work closely with him, to know him better.
“It’s one thing to watch him on the TV, but it’s another thing to have human contact with the players.”
Depth
Corberan obviously has one eye on the future of the club, and with Button already quite clearly not good enough to be number one at this level it makes sense to start looking beyond him.
Button signed a new two-year contract at the club last summer but after being given a run in the side by Steve Bruce, he quickly lost his place to Palmer as we found ourselves in a relegation battle.
Palmer has improved the team massively since stepping in, and Griffiths is rated even higher by those in and around the club and is seen as a future number one.
Bringing him back early will see him acclimatise to the players, training ground and club for the second half of the current campaign before being able to make a real push for the number one shirt next season.
It’s a solid move from the boss and shows that he is planning to be here long-term, which can only be a good thing judging by how the results have gone so far under his tenure.
In other West Brom news, the club are hiring for a financial controller amid recent controversy