West Brom could have easily been Birmingham City if it wasn’t for Carlos Corberan
West Brom fans are understandably over the moon with the events that transpired on Saturday afternoon.
Not only did Albion set up a play-off semi-final clash with Southampton with their win over Preston but fans also saw West Midlands rivals Birmingham City relegated with their win over Norwich rendered useless other than to help secure the Baggies’ fifth-place spot in the Championship.
Blues will now play the likes of Stockport County, Wrexham and Burton Albion next season while West Brom’s dream of a return to the Premier League stays alive.
Birmingham’s relegation should serve as a time of reflection for Albion fans, however.
Before a ball was kicked this season, there were genuine concerns that the club would be in a relegation battle despite how well Carlos Corberan did last term.
The 41-year-old Spaniard replaced Steve Bruce in October 2022 and managed to turn West Brom from Championship relegation candidates to a team that finished just outside of the play-offs.
Carlos Corberan works West Brom miracle at The Hawthorns
He’d worked a minor miracle given the circumstances created by the now-former Albion chairman Guohchuan Lai.
But roll on almost 12 months and Albion have managed to finish in the play-offs, mixing it with the likes of Southampton and Leeds United, who were relegated from the Premier League last term and have been huge favourites to go straight back up.
Birmingham’s relegation is a kick in the teeth for them.
Their new owners have promised so much. But, ultimately, you can point to their decision to sack John Eustace in October with the club battling for the top-six and replace him with Wayne Rooney.
Yes, Tony Mowbray came in and restored some kind of control at St Andrew’s but his illness (get well soon, Tony) was yet another blow for Blues and they began to roll back down to the hill.
If you can have one good thing to say about Lai’s time as the West Brom controlling shareholder, it’s that Corberan came in during his spell at The Hawthorns and there was never any pressure from him (that we know of) to get rid of the Spaniard in a knee-jerk move.
But Shilen Patel is now in as the owner and the chairman.
He’s already attended more matches than Lai did in almost eight years and while it remains to be seen how he will ultimately run the club, he’s said all the right things and is doing all the right things.
Corberan is the main man though.
He’s had next to no money to spend in the transfer market and despite having a squad ravaged by injuries, he’s managed to get West Brom three games away from the Premier League despite pre-season worries about a 2024/25 campaign in League One.
At the end of the day, I’d rather it be them than us. But, blimey, it really could have been us if it wasn’t for King Carlos.
In other Rangers news, Callum Robinson has sent a two-word message to Cedric Kipre.
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