'A Line Drawn in the Sand'

Eclectic seems to be part of West Brom’s DNA…

Sometimes it’s an endearing quality..

At times though it’s maddening…

How can you explain an unbeaten 10 game run, but just one victory?

Typical Albion that..

Or typical Carlos?

Littlewoods or Vernons would have readily sponsored us.

The ‘Pools’ fans around the country would have loved us.

The one and only means attaining a draw would have guaranteed three points..

The way things have been going, if a seemingly rare West Brom attacking moment would have been captured in the seemingly dubious but strangely addictive ‘Spot the Ball’ competition of olde, was how many of the punters ‘X’s would have been around the goalkeepers net?

[Always wondered how on earth from the millions and millions of X’s only one lucky person would get it exactly right?]

November was always going to be a difficult run of games, and not submitting to adversity is something Carlos Corberan was recruited for.. 

The issue is defeating not merely matching that adversity.

One of the key complaints that an increasing number of the B70 faithful are more and more vocal about..

Preston away, was in many ways the acid test..

A game you would highlight as winnable…

For a team who has found winning…

Elusive..

Certainly the first 45 Minutes gave just about every impression that this would be a much needed Baggies victory, on the front foot against a tepid opponent

One of those scenarios..

“Well it can’t be ‘that easy again in the second half?’

And of course it wasn’t…

The Preston players body language before kick off, plus the much needed insertion of substitutions, meant they were up a gear….

We went into gear as well…. 

Reverse…

Set piece after set piece, attack on attack..

We responded by going deeper and deeper..

In our tactics..

Into our shell…

Seems an hour is the preferred time Carlos makes his first changes, but football is nothing if it’s not situational..

And the situation spelled..Do something now..

I think Carlos’s inertia to make reactive, tactical and personnel changes, cost him a few of those fan types that also seem to dictate electoral decisions…

The undecided…

When they jump ship against you, you are in trouble. That’s what I saw on Saturday…

By the final substitutions, it was a clear expression that for many, a line had been drawn..

A line of perpetual draws..

Yet we are 7th in the table..

But look at the points?

We are 10 points behind the leaders..

And 10 Points in front of?

19th in the table.

Luton Town…

When Carlos was recruited, things couldn’t be much worse…

Absentee Chairman

A manager absent of ideas..

From rock bottom, 24th, under Carlos has been a very pronounced upward curve..

First season after taking over.

One win away from the Play Offs and 9th.

Second season.

The Play Offs and 5th..

This season so far.

7th..

EXACTLY positioned between the first two seasons.

My initial impression of Corberan was a manager who was driven..

His first training session was marked with a literal obsession to detail..

A systems analyst who demanded organizational perfection…

His first game v Sheff Utd gave all of us a more sustained view of who Carlos is.

Passionate presence. 

A wiry figure gesticulating wildly, eyes ablaze.

Hands like Castelian Pinwheels.

Carlos quickly acted on his first game..

Change was delivered rapido’…

Defence stability first.

It took 6 weeks before we conceded another goal…

A run of 10 games and only two goals conceded..

West Brom were winning..

And when reflecting was this Carlos revolution any surprise?

Defence was and maybe is the Carlos way..

His record is simply indicative of who he was as a player.

After all a goalkeeper NEVER likes to concede…

In 2021/22, Huddersfield’s excellent season, finished third under Corberan, conceding 47 in 46 games

A goal a game conceded is admirable and set a clear career tone..

Last season, exact same stat.

46 games, 47 conceded.

When Carlos took over from Steve Bruce, first 30 games and 30 conceded..

This season, statistically, we are even better..

18 games and 12 conceded..

But does attention to detail and defensive mindset come at a price?

Is it this seemingly obsessional strength that eventually may be Carlos’s undoing?

Do not ever risk losing your strength to get a result.

And results that may come at a price and a seemingly increasing accusation from some.

This is boring football…

Two home games in four early December days may well dictate Carlos’s and the team's trajectory and both offer a substantial challenge.

The steel city strength, power and desire to keep top of the table, Sheffield Utd.

In midweek, the talented but underachieving Coventry City, who will be looking to impress new boss Frank Lampard..

I’ll be attending those games from New Hampshire and can’t wait..

Of course, Coventry was the former home of a coach who a core of our supporters are looking at with ever increasing fondness.

Now he is available, Mark Robins..

Fail in the next two games, and the Robins song will only become stronger…

What was noticeable, at Preston, was the away end turning on the ‘trustworthy’ Spaniard.

Late tinkering, appearing to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back…

If the home support turns nasty as well, perhaps a December visit from Shilen Patel, may not be the Christmas Greeting Carlos would want, but I don’t see our Floridan owner as being trigger friendly..

But a weak festive month,and the playoff rivals riding into the distance, may become a tipping point??

Eight games in 34 days is enough to test any squad, and rotation will be absolutely key, as it’s simply impossible to ask the same players to carry a disproportionate weight of performance..

Some have thrived this season.

Heggem, Mowatt, Grant and Maja being the obvious candidates…

Others have been Missing in Action..

Creativity is such a vital component…

No, it’s not a magic wand, and perhaps the most difficult position to play in the hurly burly of The Championship….

But a creative spark is SO needed.

It lifts fans.

It lifts team mates..

If you think of our last TWO promotions??

Who were the TWO key players?

Graham Dorrens

Matheus Pereira

Of course, different bosses, different tactics..

But the lack of any discernible impact from the creative core of Jon Swift and Grady Diangana, neither with a goal or an assist this season is so key to the blunting of the goalscoring threat of The Albion..

Both will need to contribute on this run of games, which hopefully will also be a springboard for Mikey Johnston to rediscover his form from his initial loan spell, and Lewis Dobbins to show the substantial money Aston Villa invested in him wasn’t a bust..

This octet of opportunity will also see how impactful our now questionable August window truly was??

The ‘green never lies’, is the perfect metaphor to see exactly the direction West Brom are going in…

The ‘line in the sand’ for Carlos, after this run of games, may well be the one we’ll ride on long term, or another manager's name will be etched in sand, as the sun sets on the Corberan reign…

The stakes may become that high……