Carlos Corberan update emerges after footage of no Enzo Maresca handshake at full time of West Brom heartbreak vs Leicester City
Carlos Corberan has “no issues at all” with Enzo Maresca after West Brom were beaten in the final minutes by Leicester but didn’t want to pass on his illness, according to Joe Chapman.
The Birmingham Live journalist reported via Twitter on 2 December that the Baggies boss had confirmed following the dramatic 2-1 defeat at The Hawthorns that he and his family had been “really under the weather” all week and he didn’t want to make the Foxes manager sick as well.
Chapman shared the update after footage had been posted online appearing to show the Spaniard refusing to shake his opposite number’s hand following the visitors’ celebrations on the pitch in the wake of Harry Winks’ late winner, but Corberan reportedly “understands” that and didn’t have a problem with it.
Chapman wrote: “Just re this, Carlos confirmed post match there are no issues at all with Enzo and understands the celebrations. Was a case of not wanting to pass anything on.
“Carlos (and his family) have been really under the weather this week – unable to do pre match presser.”
Fair
Corberan doesn’t especially seem the sort to fly off the handle at something like the celebration of a late winner, so a less dramatic explanation appeared likely after he kept his distance from Maresca and headed down the tunnel.
By the sounds of things the fact that the West Brom boss was on the bench at all was some achievement, so it makes sense he wouldn’t have wanted to infect the Leicester manager.
If he has been suffering all week then Corberan would have been feeling all the worse after he saw Josh Maja’s 89th-minute leveller against the Championship leaders come to nothing.
Perhaps the manager’s ailing state contributed to his decision to take the risk in pressing for all three points in stoppage time, which was punished as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Winks streaked clear on the counter from a Baggies corner to win it in the 94th minute.
A point would have been valuable against the de facto top side in the division and to come away with nothing clearly hurts, but Corberan would surely be praised from all angles if his aggression at the end had paid off.
He gambled and it didn’t come in when perhaps on another day it would have done, such as if John Swift had pulled the trigger on a late chance.
Heading into the game at Sunderland next weekend West Brom will now have to hope that the manager has fully recovered from his illness and that it hasn’t spread to his staff or players in the mean time.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies may have already spent £26million so the “clock is ticking” on the much-needed takeover.