When West Brom called me I told my wife we need to go – my mood changed straight away.
West Brom boss Carlos Corberan will mark two years in the job at The Hawthorns at the end of October.
There were two stand-out points in Carlos Corberan’s mind, as he took in the request to be interviewed by West Bromwich Albion. It was a little over two years ago – Corberan will celebrate his second anniversary at The Hawthorns at the end of this month – and he had returned to his native Spain.
It’s hard to believe now, such is the job he has done at Albion, and previously at Huddersfield Town, too, but Corberan was left licking his wounds after an unexpectedly short and ill-fated reign in Greece with Olympiacos; so soon after deciding to leave Huddersfield, who he’d led to the Championship play-off final against all odds, he informed his wife, Claudia, he’d be taking a break from work.
Their first son, Marcos, was only a baby at the time. Revisiting Spain with his young family, Corberan intended to relax and recuperate, surrounded by friends and family, after a testing few years which had really seen his managerial career explode into life. Then the phone rang. An opportunity beckoned, one he admits he simply couldn’t decline. Corberan turned on his heel and made for England again.
Based purely on the league table alone, Albion wouldn’t have been much of a catch at the time; interim boss Richard Beale had brought light relief in the form of a well earned victory at Reading, a short-term tonic following the desperate run of form under predecessor Steve Bruce prior to that. Beale, though, oversaw successive defeats and then Corberan himself watched on as the Baggies were turned over in his first game. They were rock bottom.
In the near two years since, the transformation has been remarkable. Indeed only promotion by now would’ve represented more of a success than what Corberan has managed to achieve. Albion are now widely considered to be excellently coached and difficult to break down. Their home record under Corberan – winning 27 and losing seven of 43 – has been superb.
