Ten.

August 3rd. 2024.

78th Minute.

3-1 down to a rampant Birmingham City. 

Carlos Corberan looks at his inexperienced bench and activates four changes..

Taylor, Hall, Heard and Faal enter the fray…

Four Minutes later it’s 4-1, elation for Blues, despair for The Baggies..

Without a league game played, the trajectory of this less intense rivalry in the West Midlands/Black Country seemed ominously set..

Sometimes, a defeat like this CAN BE beneficial..

It CLEARLY exposes squad deficiencies and an overall lack of depth and options.

It seemed to me, for the first time in the Carlos era, the sands of time were now racing precipitously…

If we don’t utilize the rest of this Transfer Window to increase the quality of the squad for Carlos, the writing could be on the wall..

And it may well be of Carlos’s decision NOT ours..

Does the club’s ambition TRULY match his??

Fail to satisfy this criteria, with a coach you were blessed to recruit, the implications point ominously to fatal..

History has forever taught us timing is everything…

The predictability of the Steve Bruce reign spiraling from ineptitude to disaster occurred at the same time as Carlos sacking from his six week reign at Olympiakos.

It’s informative looking at Carlos’s stats at Olympiakos?

Thirteen games in charge, only two wins…

What is really interesting to me is that almost half of those games were drawn.

Carlos is often accused of being a safe, defensive coach, but his statistics with us, bely that..

Of the 89 Carlos led games at West Brom, we have only drawn twelve..

Maybe it’s a case of security early in the reign and expressive football, as Corberan’s own squad develops?

Certainly the August recruitment has been above and beyond anything we could ever have expected, as the broad depth of former loanees and new, exciting signings has I think shocked us all.

The writing on the wall was very much the planning of Shilen Patel..

My original statement on Patel was, he was someone to trust…

Not sure that was a quality we could ever attach to our previous owner..

Patel has a presence.. 

No doubt from seeing his previous engagements of ownership in Florida, prior to taking over West Brom, there is a practicality in his aims and a virtuous honesty in his dealings..

The betterment for all is what matters..

And good housekeeping after some flagrant wastage is common sense in content, but far more difficult to achieve, if you are to marry that aim with an improved quality of squad…

Vitally, older, long term contracted players on high wages were moved on, as well as offers on players, and only future performances will prove if we were right or wrong to sell?

It’s never a perfect science…

But this situation is made far more palatable, by new recruits who have something to prove, or may have been playing at a level below their ability..

One very obvious fact is we have gone younger and FAR more athletic..

To use that well honed cliche, size in the Baggies recruitment ethos really does seem to matter…

Stoke City, the doyens of central defensive behemoths were the acid test for me..

Even at kick off, the pre game handshake ritual was all it took to convince me, this was a new Albion..

This was Stoke City players ‘looking up’ at Baggies XI..

And Uros Racic wasn’t even on the bench..

August, truly was a sensational month for West Brom, the embers of that 4-1 Blues nadir, seems a distant memory now, with a perceived challenging run of four games, three of the teams being in the top half of The Championship, and accruing a more than solid ten points and second place so far..

Defensively, it’s been solid, just two goals conceded and the same quartet, cementing hopefully an understanding in the ‘post Kipre’ era that will stand us in good stead..

When called upon, Alex Palmer is still the most dependable of shot stoppers, encouragingly adept in possession of the ball as well.

Decision making is everything, as displayed in not baying to the crowd to play the ball out early in the winning goal v Swansea, but waiting for the team shape to form, before releasing the ball to Semi Ajayi, in the first of thirty one consecutive passes before Molumby’s wonderful finish..

Darnell Furlong has been consistently impressive from his overlapping to his judicious timing of penetrative through balls to his marauding partner on the right, Tom Fellows..

We’ve strangely rarely seen that potential rapier of a Furlong long throw this season, with the vertical threat in the team, probably now a more potent weapon than ever before..

Fellow full back, Torbjorn Heggem, was this time last year playing his 23rd game of the Swedish season, losing 4-3 away to bottom of the table, Varbergs BolS in a stadium that held just 4,500 capacity..

To be match ready at Championship level is as impressive as our much improved scouting network is proving..

To  firstly recognize, let alone recruit Heggem, a defender equally comfortable as a left sided defender in a back three or four at 525 K is such a triumph.

Heggem’s first impressions have been so positive, already a Baggies fans favorite, athleticism and determination have quickly stood out.

Corberan is playing his Norwegian card very smartly, often replacing Heggem late in games with yet another astute signing, Gianluca Frabotta.

No doubt, Frabotta has strengthened the squad and yet another clear signal of the widening of the Baggies recruitment net.

Certainly the Shilen Patel led appointment of new Sporting Director, fellow ‘American and Forty Something’ Andrew Nestor, may well have been instrumental in the awareness of the availability of Frabotta, when they were both located at the recent Serie A success story Bologna..

Patel hailed his friend and working colleague, Nestor’s appointment as somebody who ‘runs a competitive and sustainable club in a global work market’..

In a nutshell, exactly what we need, and seemingly light years away from the worn out methodology of the Ron Gourlay traditional model of recruitment..

Frabotta has had an intriguing career, seeing a lot of Italia, playing for six different clubs, and on signing, you could sense his relief of his words in finally having a three year window to establish himself at West Brom.

To at last develop his career with an air of stability..

Game on game, cameo on cameo, Frabotta looks more and more the part, and with this two week break between fixtures, it can be sure the training ground experiences will further develop his understanding of the Carlos way…

Juventus have smartly inserted a 20% clause in any future transfer fee. Considering the sale of Conor Townsend to Ipswich Town, easily covered the cost of signing two new left sided defenders close to six years younger than him is amazing business for West Brom..

In central defence, the strengths of both Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi have been well documented, and their understanding, for the most part, has looked solid..

We have only conceded two goals, but maybe those statistics are a little skewed by how unlucky the brilliant Louis Koumas was for Stoke, taking one chance so deftly, and hitting the post twice with other predatory finishes, similar to his dad’s former team mate and the most clinical WBA finisher I’ve ever seen.

Kevin Phillips..

Caleb Taylor, considered to need more time on a lower league loan before he is deemed ready for a consistent run in the Baggies first XI, joined Wycombe Wanderers on loan but is yet to start a game.

With Paddy McNair due to join San Diego in the MLS in January, we were distinctly lacking central defensive cover, until the total out of the blue return of Mason Holgate for his second loan spell with us.

In 2019, Holgate was impressive, shoring up Darren Moore’s defence, appearing nineteen times for WBA and in his words were, ‘his happiest days as a footballer’..

It will be intriguing to see how Holgate performs, certainly last season’s loans were checkered to say the least, playing just five games for Southampton before being released and then joining the train wreck that was Sheffield Utd’s Premier League season.

Holgate played just nine games for The Blades, but received two yellow and one red card, being the only player sent off in the last three consecutive Premier League seasons..

Sheffield United have found The Championship level much to their liking, hopefully the same with Mason Holgate, who at 27 years old, must see this move as absolutely key to him re-establishing his career that had such potential.

In midfield, it’s a very different philosophy, with the transfer of the defensive doyen, Okay Yokulsu, in favour of a more fluid, athletic unit, much more attuned to having options in counter attacking situations..

The metronomic Alex Mowatt is an automatic choice, calm and assured in his passing, few better at this level at sparking the foundations of transitioning from defence to attack..

Certainly seeing we’ve had the majority of possession in our four games so far, predicates the need to play through the lines with precision.

I think it’s fair to say, if Mowatt plays well, so does The Baggies, as he is the absolute conductor of the rhythm and pace of our passing.

The couple of times this season Mowatt has been stymied, we have lost composure, been susceptible to the press and if teams push higher up on us, as for example, Swansea did in the second half, possession has stuttered and chances by the opposition occur far more readily.

Jayson Molumby spoke clearly about the internal stress and angst he felt, dealing with his long term injury last season..

When you put two and two together, this explains a lot behind his Mallorcan meltdown and red card.

Jayson was more Conor McGregor than Conor Townsend..

The winner Molumby scored to defeat Swansea after such a sumptuous team move, clearly meant the world to him, the interplay with Josh Maja, a delight..

Jayson is definitely one of those who leaves everything on the pitch.. 

High energy level, undoubted commitment, though perhaps reckless at times, yellow carded in all but one game this season.. Something has to change..

Certainly at 25 years old, Jayson may well be one of our most internationally capped Baggies of recent years, already on 24 caps for the Republic of Ireland, but looking at his ten Euro and World Cup Qualifying games, Molumby has also been cautioned in 40% of his games.

Whether energy and commitment will always produce cautions, we’ll see, but I don’t see Molumby tempering his playing style any time soon..

Central midfield this season has more fascinating, alluring options than I can recall for several seasons, and the pressure is definitely on for selection..

The tall, elegant Ousmane Diakite, in just four WBA games has impressed enough to gain his first full international call up for Mali, joining our multitude of African exodus’s.

Diakite, from being an injury ridden teenager, has clearly shown evidence that those days are behind him, being an integral part of the Hartberg midfield in the Austrian Bundesliga, missing just one game last season, and how could you not be impressed by his early appearances off the bench for WBA, displaying athleticism and a real appetite for a tackle and maintenance of possession?

On the theme of impressing, Uros Racic looks the real deal..

Similar in many ways to Diakite, mid twenties, tall, angular, technically sound, Racic’s introduction to the Baggies faithful last weekend was one of those debuts that absolutely resonated..

6’4’, blond, capped twelve times by Serbia, another product of the age of the loanee, or as the old adage goes, ‘Have boots will travel’, already plying his trade in four different countries, including spells at three of our opponents from that never to be forgotten, 1978/79 UEFA Cup run, Sporting Braga, Valencia, and of course Red Star Belgrade.. 

Seems inevitable a spell at Galatasaray is only around the corner…

Racic not only has obvious physical attributes, but also is so neat on the ball, a seemingly Balkan pre-requisite..

When your first touch of your Baggies loan spell is a side foot volley, flashing over the bar, and soon after a raking drive, forcing the save of the match from the Swansea keeper, it seems at long last, WBA have unveiled that rarest of species for us..

A regular, goalscoring, central midfielder..

Yet, what stands out from Racic’s 200+ matches so far is the lack of goals, his ratio is less than one per twenty games.

Or in Baggiespeak, Jake Livermoreseque.. 

Here’s hoping the Swansea cameo was just a taster, but hopefully finishing those chances will be the outcome.

Adding to the squad’s depth was the signing of Callum Styles, one of those undersized players, who makes up for his lack of height, through commitment and energy, and will add only further options for Carlos, who obviously must fully believe in the Styles project, signing him for four seasons..

In my August WBA article, I was more than happy Karlan Grant was back, if you don’t offer a clean sheet to a player, redemption is not part of your vocabulary..

But I don’t think any of us suspected the consistency, commitment and performance level of this rejuvenated presence on left sided midfield..

Whether, like Cedric Kipre, a sojourn at Cardiff City is all that was needed, or possibly the Carlos influence, Grant’s performances can only be described as a revelation..

On the opposite wing, Tom Fellows has just been called up for the England Under 21 squad, fantastic news, and I cannot imagine too many of this elite young group still driving their Ford Fiesta to training!

But Tom is as grounded as the defenders who fall in his wake, and the U21 call up of one of our homegrown players, the first since Saido Berahino, [who was brilliant at this level, 12 games,11 goals], is so richly deserved..

For a club, so financially behind the dreaded eight ball, bids potentially way beyond Southampton’s multi million tempter, for one of our homegrown players can be game changing.

No doubt, with Fellows rate of development, the January Window will see increased bids and perhaps an increased pressure to sell..

Whatever outcome occurs, it has to be said, with maximum gratitude, Tom chose to stay with us, to trust the Carlos process, when he signed a new three and a half year contract in January  2024.

Taking the out of contract route, that SO many others have would have said SO much..

Tom spoke about it being an ‘easy decision’ to re-sign..

Maybe it won’t be so easy to turn down a transformative bid from another Premier League club, and simply put it will have to be, to prise away our most valuable asset in a decade..

A common theme from a player returning to WBA over any length of time is how much they enjoyed their time at The Hawthorns.

From the admirable WBA Former Players Association to now, coming back is more often than not coming home…

That factor must have come through in the motivation of Mikey Johnston to return..

Maybe the turning point was the kinship with fellow brother in blond hair bleach, Mikey’s Club Med mate, Jon Swift?

Or was it just the exhilaration of scoring screamers in front of the Baggies faithful?

There is unquestionably absolute delight in Mikey’s comments about the excitement of his return..

Home is where the heart is…

The price of Mikey’s return, spread over multiple years, is of great financial nous, not further crippling the club with debt, and at just twenty five years old, has undoubtedly great sell on value, if needed..

The options Carlos now has are multiple, in most positions the choices are enticing but also challenging..

Keeping every player in the Baggies squad happy, may be Carlos’s biggest challenge this season.

Hopefully the incoming players only motivate young and exciting midfield talents, such as homegrowns Harry Whitwell and Fenton Heard to new heights…

Every successful team has needed squad depth.

The pressure on maintaining selection, not mere reliance on reputation and lack of any competition for the shirt is integral to success.

For the first time in years this is the scenario that now faces us..

Carlos looks to have afforded huge trust in Jon Swift, starting each game in a free role, as an expressive, creative, No.10.

At his best, Swift’s vision and passing fit this role well, but it will be interesting to see how Grady Diangana is utilized this season, thankfully free from a potentially serious shoulder injury as with such competition in wide positions.

No.10 may be Grady’s best option.

The position we all know we are most vulnerable at is striker…

Selling Mo Faal to Wrexham, was a clear business decision, and the distinct possibility of Faal returning to play against us next season is real..

Daryl Dike’s long term career destiny may well be seen in the coming months, as his anticipated return from such a serious pair of injuries is fairly imminent..

We can only hope for the best and Daryl deserves a break in luck, not another body breakdown..

Devonte Cole scored a notable hat-trick for the Under 23’s v Stoke at the weekend, but is he in Carlos’s thinking for a similar role in The Championship?

Certainly taking the option of turning to the speed and potential of Lewis Dobbin in an unfamiliar late game striking role, rather than a more traditional No.9 like Cole cannot be not overlooked..

The motivation for Jed Wallace to return to a regular place must be massive, a wonderful team leader and club captain, who only missed four games in his first two seasons with The Baggies, being an ever present in his first.

Losing your traditional starting spot to a talent like Tom Fellows is never an easy path for a player just turned 30..

Jed, as a flexible, intelligent, gifted player can be deployed centrally to good effect, as he did in that role last season, but getting that same opportunity to start a game is going to be tougher than ever with this squad.

Which leaves us with the player proudly and effectively wearing our hallowed No.9 shirt, Josh Maja….

I’m sure Josh must be an inspiration for Daryl Dike, also overcoming a couple of debilitating injuries.

The key difference being both Maja’s were impact based, where Dike’s were the more scary and ominous, non-contact variety..

Maja’s hat trick in the opening game v QPR, set the stall for a season ripe in promise, and he has led the line with intelligence and alacrity..

Long may his form and selection continue..

The international break sees more Baggies passports being used than for many seasons, and as this is the first of three here’s hoping one and all return fit and raring to go from each of them.

The risk of injury is always there, and long distance travel does have a cumulative effect on the body and muscle injuries..

We can only hope..

The vagaries of The Championship schedule are well known and certainly range from light to rigorous…

We have just three games in September, a home game v Plymouth and two away matches at Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday.

All are winnable games, maybe particularly away from home, where we have been deadly in front of goal, converting 33% of our chances..

The Sheffield Wednesday game at the end of the month heralds a tough run of games.

Eight different challenges in 33 days..

And if ever you need a squad to prove you can handle a run of games, this is it….

Squads not teams get promotion..

And in essence that is the moral of August 2024..

When West Brom became a competitive potential promotion gaining squad again..

COYB..