A recent auditor report into the finances at West Brom paint a bleak picture if Carlos Corberan isn't able to complete his turn-around from the Steve Bruce farce with a promotion. Matt Graham is our regular correspondent on the Baggies.
How would you assess the Baggies’ season overall?
It has definitely been a bit of a roller coaster on and off the pitch.
To start the season with Steve Bruce in charge should never be part of the strategic thinking by any club, and nobody was surprised the decision to stick with him unravelled spectacularly. By the time he was sacked we were bottom of the league, playing some terrible football, with a squad lacking any enthusiasm, and a support base in open mutiny. There was a genuine fear that we were in for a prolonged relegation battle for the rest of the season.
The appointment of Carlos Corberan was transformational. The squad on paper should never have been in that position anyway, but Corberan’s training and tactics rejuvenated the players, and he organised them into an effective team. This sparked a fantastic unbeaten run that saw the side leap up the table. We went from relegation candidates to possible playoff contenders by the turn of the year which was an incredible turnaround.
However, the resounding sentiment from the season so far is one of ‘what if’? If we hadn’t started or stuck with Bruce, where would we be now? If we had a functioning ownership structure, could we have signed the players to get us towards promotion? Given that I thought we might get relegated only a few months ago, I am simply relieved that we are still able (albeit unlikely) to get into the playoff places.
West Brom league results so far
Boro 1-1 West Brom Jones 10 — Swift 51
West Brom 1-1 Watford Grant 45 — Sarr 12
Blackburn 2-1 West Brom Brereton 41, Gallagher 47 — Diangana 59
West Brom 0-0 Cardiff
West Brom 5-2 Hull Elder og 37, Swift 48, Furlong 55, Grant pen 70, O’Shea 85 — Estupinan 77, 90
Huddersfield 2-2 West Brom Anjorin 11, 30 — Wallace 37, 57
Wigan 1-1 West Brom Magennis 6 — Grant 22
West Brom 1-1 Burnley Thomas-Asante 90 — Rodriguez pen 30
West Brom 2-3 Birmingham Wallace 23, Thomas-Asante pen 83 — Hogan 14, 54, 71
Norwich 1-1 West Brom Byram 68 — O’Shea 9
West Brom 2-3 Swansea Livermore 48, Diangana 65 — Sorinola 6, Ntcham 71, Obafemi 89
Preston 1-0 West Brom Riis 7
West Brom 0-0 Luton
Reading 0-2 West Brom Phillips 25, Gardner-Hickman 72
West Brom 0-2 Bristol City Williams 32, Wells 45
Millwall 2-1 West Brom Styles 38, Burey 90 — Swift 20
West Brom 0-2 Sheff Utd Ndiaye 11, McBurnie 23
West Brom 1-0 Blackpool Yokoslu 85
QPR 0-1 West Brom Bartley 67
West Brom 2-0 Stoke Bartley 39, Thomas-Asante 50
Sunderland 1-2 West Brom Diallo pen 19 — Rogic 70, Dike 82
West Brom 3-0 Rotherham Wallace 20, Diangana 57, Thomas-Asante 70
Coventry 1-0 West Brom Gyokeres pen 90
Bristol City 0-2 West Brom Phillips 9, Thomas-Asante 75
West Brom 2-0 Preston Yokuslu 36, 57
West Brom 1-0 Reading Dike 60
Luton 2-3 West Brom Morris 7, Adebayo 10 — Dike 39, Molumby 65, Townsend 67
Burnley 2-1 West Brom Tella 75, Twine 87 — Furlong 7
West Brom 1-0 Coventry Diangana 15
Birmingham 2-0 West Brom Mejbri 10, Bielik 52
West Brom 1-1 Blackburn Molumby 73 — Brereton 89
Watford 3-2 West Brom Sema 23, 78, Sarr 66 — Townsend 56, Wallace 71
West Brom 2-0 Boro Dike 8, 10
Hull 2-0 West Brom Tetteh 33, O’Shea og 57
West Brom 1-0 Wigan Dike 27
West Brom 1-0 Huddersfield Swift pen 30
Cardiff 1-1 West Brom Kaba 65 — Dike 17
West Brom 0-0 Millwall
Rotherham 3-1 West Brom Hugill 42, 50, Fosu 76 — Swift pen 32
Steve Bruce, fuck me, how did he hang on so long?
You tell me. The fact that he was publicly hawking for a return to management in the media a few weeks ago is amazing. Any club owner that employs him would be doing it on name or ‘reputation’ alone rather than any underlying analysis of his methods or win ratio. In his 32 games, the Albion won eight times, and took us to our lowest league position since 2000, which is some achievement. After he was sacked, the turnaround under Corberan was dramatic, and only served to underline just how bad things under Bruce were. The team looked immediately fitter and more tactically astute. The change in form was astounding. The only ‘defence’ for Bruce was that the xG stats were very good, and we simply failed to take our chances; I think the board believed that we were always just one game away from turning it around, hence his prolonged stay of execution. I can’t say that anyone will be looking back fondly at the Steve Bruce era at West Brom.
What have you made of Carlos Corberan so far?
Corberan has been a breath of fresh air at the club after two of the last three custodians were Sam Allardyce and Steve Bruce. There is a clear change in ethos, and he has managed to revolutionise the mentality of the squad in a remarkably short amount of time. The building blocks of a strong Championship starting XI already existed, but with quality coaching and important tactical changes, especially in transition, the team has flourished. A key alteration was in defensive shape and organisation, aided by the promotion of keeper Alex Palmer to the number one spot, and dropping David Button who was having a torrid season. Almost instantaneously, the team started keeping clean sheets — seven in the opening 12 games — which was the perfect platform to then start picking up points. Unlike Bruce, Corberan is willing to make decisive in-game substitutions to tweak the personnel or shape, which means he does try to positively change the flow of the game. The football isn’t always the prettiest, and there is a demand for the players to retain the ball wherever possible, which has sparked some grumbles when possession seems to trump incisive or forward-thinking patterns of play. However, in short, for Corberan to take us from the bottom of the league to the cusp of the playoffs in half a season is indicative of how good a job he’s done so far.
You went on this amazing run, looked like you would storm the top six, but it’s stalled somewhat, so what’s happened and where are you now?
There are three major issues at play here: squad depth / quality, converting chances, and our away record. The starting first XI can almost pick itself at the moment due to the loss of the key players. The team has been hit by injuries or fitness problems to Palmer, O’Shea, Molumby, Phillips, Rogic, and Diangana who would all be vying for a starting place. The loss of Palmer in goal was worse than anticipated, who had the best save % in the Championship, and instilled a sense of calm into the backline. His replacement, the 21-year-old Josh Griffiths has been good, but he doesn’t exude the same level of assuredness. The bench is now relatively weak, and therefore Corberan’s knack of changing games with quality substitutions has been significantly diminished. Secondly, West Brom don’t score very many goals. Since the 2-0 victory against Middlesborough in February, the team has not scored twice in any game. The goals have dried up from all over the pitch and neither Dike nor Thomas-Asante are prolific strikers. Consequently, if we concede, our current form indicates that we do not win. Thirdly, there is a sharp discrepancy between our home and away form. At home, The Hawthorns is a fortress. We’ve won nine of the last 11 home games and conceded one, which is excellent. However, on the road it is a completely different story, and we’ve not won in the last seven away games. This is the key problem. Therefore, any hope of a late playoff charge relies heavily on an uptick in the away form, and quickly.
What January business did you do?
The transfer window was pretty quiet. Nathaniel Chalobah was signed on an 18-month deal from Watford, and we also brought in Leicester City winger Marc Albrighton on loan. Neither have really set things alight so far.
The club finally managed to release Kenneth Zohore from his contract after a disastrous spell at the club where he’d managed only 23 appearances since he joined in 2019. Martin Kelly was sent out on loan to Wigan, and Karlan Grant’s proposed loan move to Swansea collapsed on the last day.
Summer Ins >>> Jayson Molumby, 22, CM, Brighton, £900k >>> Brandom Thomas-Asante, 23, CF, Salford, £345k >>> Jed Wallace, 28, AM, Millwall, Free >>> John Swift, 27, AM, Reading, Free >>> Okay Yokuslu, 28, DM, Celta Vigo, Free >>> Martin Kelly, 32, RB, Palace, Free >>> Tom Rogic, 29, AM, Unattached, Free >>> Erik Pieters, 34, LB, Unattached, Free
Summer Outs >>> Callum Robinson, 27, AM, Cardiff, Undisclosed >>>Sam Johnstone, 29, GK, Palace, Free >>> Romaine Sawyers, 30, CM, Cardiff, Free >>> Cedric Kipre, 25, CB, Cardiff, Loan >>> Andy Carroll, 33, CF, Glue Factory, Free >>> Alex Mowatt, 27, CM, Boro, Loan
Winter Ins >>> Nathaniel Chalobah, 28, DM, Fulham, Undisclosed >>> Marc Albrighton, 33, RM, Leicester, Loan
Winter Outs >>> Kenneth Zahore, 29, CF, Odense, Free >>> Martin Kelly, 32, RB, Wigan, Undisclosed
Strong points and weak links in this side?
Okay Yokuslu at the base of the midfield is a key player and his role epitomises the tactical change to the team under Corberan. Yokuslu is a tenacious ball winner, and is very good at breaking up play, which adds a level of defensive stability to the side, while offering a degree of aggression in the centre of the park. If he plays well, the team plays well. The main creative outlet is through Jed Wallace on the right-wing, and he is frequently the first player the team looks for to get attacking moves started. Once he has the ball, the main aim is to get to the bye line to swing in crosses or cutbacks into the box — if we had a competent forward or attacking midfielder Wallace’s assist record would be astronomical given how many chances he creates.
The weaknesses are still the general lack of goals in the team. Dike is on a decent run, but neither he nor Thomas-Asante have scored enough this season given the number of chances they’ve received. The recent injury to Molomby, now means the midfield has lost a lot of energy and box-to-box positioning, which leaves things a bit pedestrian. The fullbacks of Townsend and Furlong could still be much improved defensively and in an attacking role too.
Revised expectations for the season?
I think we’ll just miss out on the playoffs and end up in eighth.
Consequences of not going up look fairly dire as per the latest auditors’ report- what’s the off field situation, and how bad will this get if you don’t go up in May?
The situation at The Hawthorns is an absolute disaster off the pitch and is yet another example of terrible owners damaging football clubs.
In summary, the owner Guochuan Lai has never invested in the club since he purchased it, and more recently has been siphoning off cash to support his businesses in China. The Albion have rapidly shifted from a club with no debts and living within its means to now having so little money to cover the footballing operations that a £20m loan from an American equity firm was taken out, at an exorbitant interest rate, just to keep things going.
The fan base has become increasingly alarmed at the situation, which saw the establishment of Action For Albion fan group who’ve led the many protests inside and outside the ground against the owners, they’ve petitioned to have the stadium listed as a community asset so it can’t be sold off, and last week even went to 10 Downing Street for a meeting on the situation. The national media suddenly took notice of the predicament after the recent publication of the auditor’s report, which saw the club directors essentially write off a £5m loan, that Lai had promised to repay, but had missed three deadlines. Although the accounts show a small profit, this would have been nearly a £17 million loss if we’d not sold Matheus Pereira. The situation is so bad that the auditors reported that the only way the club can survive as a ‘going concern’ is if there are high-fee transfers, which seems somewhat unrealistic given the nature of the playing squad — high wages, and low resale value. The fact that the auditors wrote that there is ‘material uncertainty’ for the Albion is terrifying. If we don’t get promoted, and Lai doesn’t sell up, then we are in serious trouble on and off the pitch. Furthermore, in this scenario, it is highly likely that Corberan leaves because the core of the current squad would have to be sold and there would be no resources to support a rebuild. These are uncertain and very worrying times for everyone associated with the club.
Links >>> Official Website >>> Independent West Brom forum — Message Board >>> Boing — Blog >>> Express and Star — Local Paper >>> Birmingham Mail — Local Paper
The Twitter/Instagram @loftforwords, @SAhistoryMatt
Pictures — Action Images