As West Bromwich Albion get ready for their Championship run-in, captain Jed Wallace has called Carlos Corberan’s motivation “insane.” When comparing Albion’s league results before Corberan’s appointment in October 2022 to their accomplishments since his arrival, the differences are stark. After being plagued by the possibility of a relegation battle, they are now trying to secure their spot in the playoffs.
Huddersfield Town lost to Nottingham Forest in a contentious match in which the Terriers were denied two strong penalty appeals, but Corberan led the team to the Wembley play-off final in 2022. Wallace thinks it’s not always the case that the Spaniard has an advantage because of that experience.
“I don’t think he could have more of an extra edge if he tried,” he said. “His motivation is insane. I agree, Huddersfield were unlucky in that game. For me, he’s a top manager and I don’t think anyone deserves the chance to manage in the league above more than he does. We know there’s a lot of football to play but if there’s a manager you’d want in a play off campaign…
“He’ll probably watch every single game the other teams in the play-offs have watched in the last two years and we’d have the perfect plan for it – he’s the manager to have when you enter the crunch time of the season. It’s impossible not to go with him – and you can see that.
“You have every opportunity to play well here, because of the staff we have – the manager , the medical staff, the chefs, they go above and beyond for us. We get every chance to play well as an individiual and a team – you’re not always going to be at the top of your game, but you can see how hard we work at our game.”
Mixed injury news
At under 21 level, there is a mixed injury update. Reyes Cleary, who has struggled with hamstring injuries for almost a year and who has only featured in a single PL2 game this season, is back training again with the aim to return in some capacity in the remaining games before the end of the season. Cleary, who was named on the bench in Albion’s 2-0 win over Coventry in October, suffered a relapse in December.
While Jamal Mohammed, who has recently signed his first professional contract along with fellow teenager Ollie Bostock, continues to improve ahead of the new season, it’s understood that forward Layton Love has suffered a serious injury which will rule him out for the rest of the season.
“Jamal is still injured and will be back for the new season,” PL2 boss Richard Beale confirmed. “Reyes is back in full training but still not back to the level where he can play games.”
While Mohammed and Bostock are signed up for the future, it’s getting to a stage in the campaign now where the futures of a host of young players must now be considered as Albion look to bring their finances into line and decide on which players they wish to retain.
“This time of year at every club in the country big decisions get made. We will meet in the next few weeks and discuss the future of the young players, the under-18 players and the under-21 players,” Beale added. “Some will get new contracts and some invariably don’t, that’s the nature of the game. We’ve worked with the lads and want as many to get contracts. The nature is not all will but it’s that time of year.”
