West Brom supporters must bow to this Carlos Corberan factor amid slump | OneFootball

West Brom supporters shouldn't be too concerned about the team's current slump in form

West Brom supporters should not be too concerned about the team’s failure to win in any of their last six games, as daft as that can sound.

Carlos Corberan has earned their trust after the manner in which he turned around their form when he took over from Steve Bruce around two years ago, and not looked back since.

The Spaniard has earned a reputation as one of the most promising young coaches in the second division, and here he now has a chance to prove why.

The Baggies will be aiming for a top six finish this season as a minimum, and got off to a strong start on that ambition in the opening weeks.

But four draws and two defeats in their last six has seen them drop to fourth in the Championship table after 12 games, not quite keeping the pace at the top of the table amid some automatic promotion hopes.

Firing forward Josh Maja has also hit a bit of a slump after bagging seven goals in the first seven games, failing to find the back of the net in the last five, but that too shouldn’t be a massive concern.

Carlos Corberan comments should ease West Brom worry

Despite their poor run of form, West Brom are still inside the top six and are only three points behind second place Burnley.

Corberan knows as well as anybody that a poor slump in form can ruin a season, and will be working hard on fixing things as quickly as possible.

But his comments earlier this month should be soothing reading for supporters, as he offered a timely reminder that success in the Championship happens over 46 games, not five or six.

"The Championship. It’s a marathon. It’s a long competition, and it challenges you in many moments," said Corberan, via the club’s official Twitter account.

"It's a challenging moment for us, but we need to find the way to be the strongest we can be."

Corberan has twice led teams to the play-offs already, including with West Brom last year as the club finished fifth in the table. His Huddersfield Town side even made it all the way to Wembley Stadium in 2022 despite a lack of resources.

The pressure is certainly on for Albion to turn things around quickly, as they will want to avoid giving up too much ground to the top two, but supporters shouldn’t be getting antsy just yet - not with such an experienced Championship head at the helm and someone who knows what it takes to lead a promotion assault.

Carlos Corberan’s track record

West Brom have had dips in form like this before under Corberan, but he has always found a solution.

Given their lack of goals in this run, it is also clear that better finishing is needed as they've created 4.8xG from their last five games and have scored just once (all stats from Fbref).

The Baggies had a four-game winless spell in September last season, but followed that up with back-to-back wins.

Huddersfield in November 2021 also went four games without a win, but the 41-year-old turned things around to win three on the spin, and 15 games before their next loss.

Corberan has shown a capacity to turn things around before, which is absolutely needed from top managers at this level given the strength of the competition.

The return to fitness of Daryl Dike (pictured above) will also be a boost, providing competition for the likes of Maja, who has lost his shooting boots in recent weeks.

The forward’s early form was super encouraging, and if he can get back to that soon, then it will be a big step forward in getting the team’s results firing again too.

The trip to Luton Town this weekend will be important, but supporters should go into the game optimistic that it could be the beginning of a typical Corberan fightback.

He's the factor that will decide the mood around the club not getting out of hand.