Tomasz Kuszczak on West Brom manager hunt and Birmingham City promotion push | OneFootball

Tomasz Kuszczak has been speaking exclusively to Football League World

Tomasz Kuszczak knows a thing or two about football in the West Midlands – having represented both Birmingham City, Wolves and West Bromwich Albion during his playing career.

The Polish goalkeeper hung up his boots, and gloves, in 2019 after notching up nearly 400 club appearances in total, as well as 11 for his country. He played 92 games for Blues, pulled on Albion colours on 35 occasions for Albion, and featured for the Molineux outfit 13 times.

It's been an eventful season so far at all three and, via 888sport, Football League World has spoken exclusively to Kuszczak about League One leaders Birmingham and Championship play-off chasers West Brom.

Losing Carlos Corberan was a "big blow" for West Brom

Albion are on the lookout for a new head coach after Carlos Corberan left The Hawthorns to take charge of La Liga side Valencia, with Swiss coach Raphael Wicky reportedly set to take charge as his permanent replacement.

Kuszczak believes the Spaniard's departure is "a big blow".

He explained: "Carlos was doing a great job at West Brom with tight budgets and delivering a team challenging for the play-offs.

"You can tell he is a good coach by the way he conducts himself and the team were playing. It’s a tough League and he was enabling the team to be compact and play good flowing football. The team were difficult to beat, consistent and always in the mix in the top part of the table."

On replacing him, the former Albion keeper said: "It’s a tough one as you want someone with good experience at this level who has got a team promoted in the past. With the fast pace of the Championship and many games, it’s not an easy task, but one with great rewards if you can get the team promoted."

West Brom are sixth in the Championship table after 26 games.

Birmingham are in a strong position as they push for promotion back to the second tier. Blues are two points clear at the top of League One, with two games in hand over second-place Wycombe Wanderers.

Their American owners have spent big to give Chris Davies the tools he needs to take them back to the Championship at the first time of asking and Kuszczak believes they are what the club needs.

He said: "I enjoyed my time at Birmingham City a lot. A passionate crowd, a real good understanding of football and lots of excitement with the new ownership. The club really needed some good investment and ownership who were ambitious, and these new owners are definitely that.

"It’s great to see them doing so well, investing in good players and this is showing the rewards. They have a big chance for promotion and then you look at other teams who have won League One, they have had a good season the following year, so lots of optimism for sure."

No rush for Birmingham City to replace goalkeepers

Blues goalkeepers Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Ryan Allsop have both come in for criticism this season, with some suggesting that Davies may look to sign a new goalkeeper if his side are promoted back to the second tier.

Kuszczak believes Birmingham should not rush to make that sort of call and instead need to back the players they've got.

He explained: "First thing first, it’s so important to focus on this season and to keep confidence high with the goalkeepers. Confidence is massive and the team is playing well and top of the table, so I wouldn’t rush this decision at all.

"Some keepers go through bad spells, but it’s important to maintain a good positive attitude and support for goalkeepers as they can turn it around very quickly."