West Brom risk Carlos Corberan exit as new demand made
The last few seasons have been fairly miserable for West Brom and their supporters, but among the financial and ownership fears, Carlos Corberan has been the one source of positivity at The Hawthorns.
Since taking over last season, the Spaniard has brought some excitement back to the Baggies, with much-improved performances that have got supporters out of their seats, even though he hasn’t been backed in the transfer market.
That lack of spending has come back to bite Albion this season as injury has ravaged their attacking options to leave Corberan down to his bare bones up front and the West Brom boss is unhappy with the options at his disposal.
According to Mirror Football (16 December), the Baggies manager has asked the board for at least one new forward option in January to deal with the current “crisis”, but the precarious financial situation at the club means that Corberan may have to make do with the options he has until the end of the season.
There is a glimmer of hope for the future, with the Express & Star [13 December] suggesting that a takeover at The Hawthorns could be completed by the middle of January, with a consortium from the United States currently the leading contenders.
Should that deal be completed as predicted, it would give the Baggies just over two weeks of the January transfer window to spend some of their newfound wealth, but should it face any delay, it seems unlikely any new additions will be made under Guochuan Lai.
The current financial situation is clearly frustrating Corberan and it feels unlikely that the Spanish manager would be particularly keen to remain in his post working under these current conditions where he is effectively managing with his hands tied behind his back.
He has shown both at The Hawthorns and his time with Huddersfield that he is a very capable Championship manager and there are plenty of much more financially stable clubs in the division that would likely be very keen to have him in their dugout.
Tony Pulis has previously urged the Baggies to do their “damnedest to keep” Corberan at The Hawthorns and the best way to do that is to get this takeover completed sooner rather than later [Baggies Broadcast, 12 September].
Things have to change off the field quickly at The Hawthorns to ensure that West Brom don’t lose their manager. They have a boss capable of taking them back to the Premier League and he has to get the infrastructure prepared around him.
In other West Brom news, Jed Wallace is in contention to start for the Baggies against Stoke after recovering from his latest injury