George Overhill

Tue 6 June 2023 18:15, UK

Carlos Corberan being snatched from West Brom to take the vacant manager’s position at Leeds United “makes a lot of sense” according to BBC reporter Adam Pope.

The Albion came under pressure from the very same links in February following the sacking of Jesse Marsch at Elland Road, but appeared to have escaped when the Spaniard committed himself to remaining at The Hawthorns by signing a new contract.

But after drama at both clubs in the months since the financial situation at West Brom has been tipped to help push Corberan to return to Leeds at the second time of asking, with the Telegraph reporting on 2 June that he is on the shortlist for the job.

Speaking on the Leeds United BBC podcast Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet (5 June, 6m 40s) Pope said of the Baggies boss: “Work ethic, ability to develop talent, and take clubs that should really not be performing at the level they did like Huddersfield…

“We knew Carlos was good before he went, but he exceeding my expectations there in really difficult circumstances and got them to a play-off final.

“Forget the Olympiacos stuff, it’s neither here nor there really, but what he did with West Brom last year, to get them anywhere near, incredible.

“Financially, they’re in trouble, we know that. So he needs another challenge.

“I think it makes a lot of sense Carlos Corberan coming in, whereas a couple of years ago people might think, ‘is he ready for that?’. He’s more than proved that I think.”

Turmoil

So much has changed since the Albion boss signed his new deal back in February that it is impossible to rule out such a move unless or until there is a similar turn of events that make clear he is going nowhere.

Corberan staged a stunning revival from the relegation-threatened Steve Bruce reign, and it was only in the wake of the first links to the Leeds job that the form started to falter.

The accounts that became public at the end of March made for dire reading, and after the 40-year-old fell just short of forcing West Brom into the play-offs it emerged that CEO Ron Gourlay had tendered his resignation around that time.

The prospect of a fire sale from the first-team squad and a gulf in identifiable leadership at the top might tempt Corberan to feel that he has done all he can at the club.

Leeds ran through three subsequent first team managers after missing out on the West Brom man and were relegated from the Premier League, but amid a takeover from the US that Baggies fans can only dream of [Daily Mail, 6 June] their situation looks serene compared to the outlook at The Hawthorns.

Whether the incoming 49ers regime makes a real run to prize Corberan away will become clear soon enough, but after the job he did this season and the situation he’s been left in the middle of it might not be long before another club comes calling all the same, so it is set to be a nervy summer for Albion fans.

In other West Brom news, Simon Stone has given an ominous verdict on a high profile departure from the club.