Analysis: It’s onwards and upwards for revitalised West Brom

Carlos Corberan’s impact and influence at Albion has been seismic. Just a couple of weeks ago there were genuine relegation fears.

Now supporters are optimistically craning their necks to check further up the Championship table.

They will like what they see, too. As wondergoal hero Brandon Thomas-Asante testified, while 21st in the second tier – one place and goal difference out of the bottom three – is clearly nowhere near what the club aspires for, the points paint a bright picture.

If Corberan’s in-form side were to win their game in hand on the rest of the division, which is at Coventry in Christmas week for the postponed fixture from The Queen’s passing, it would put them just five points from the top six and play-offs.

That is not a prediction, or anybody getting giddily carried away after a hat-trick of wins and clean sheets, but the reality of the situation with more than half the campaign still to play.

That is what the club’s board and head coach Corberan will see and discuss. The private aim when the Spaniard took over was to start well and put the club in a better position for the imminent World Cup pause, then reset, train and push.

The pleasing reality is that Albion look an entirely different side three weeks into the new manager’s reign.

So many aspects of the game they struggled with under Steve Bruce have been rectified and improved.

Albion look a fit, sharp and organised unit. They look like a well-coached, together outfit. Their play, with and without the ball, now looks tuned-in. They are, without doubt, now all on the same page.

They are winning football matches, too. That started with a priceless late Okay Yokuslu winner against Blackpool three games ago. It was a scruffy goal at the end of a hardly-spectacular and not entirely memorable midweek evening – but it was the start of something. Winning without having to blow opposition away, without being anywhere near top level.

And wins clearly breed confidence. But don’t let Albion’s head coach hear you say that. One of his main beliefs and the point he often stresses is that players cannot afford to let their confidence and belief be affected by results. Instead, it must come from within.

The form and performance levels look impressive on Corberan and the extra levels he has been able to eke out of his squad inside three weeks. It looks less than impressive for Bruce, under whom Albion were toiling and spiralling towards the drop.

Stoke, whose form has been indifferent at best but who still have enjoyed a far happier campaign than Albion, were swept aside with ease on Saturday. The 2-0 victory was the least the Baggies deserved.

Visiting boss Alex Neil claimed the withdrawal of influential schemer Nick Powell to injury midway through the first half swung The Hawthorns contest in favour of the hosts.

But in reality Stoke could have been well behind by that point, indeed the Potters needed right-back Harry Clarke to clear from his own goalline after just 30 seconds to deny the effervescent John Swift.

By the time defender Kyle Bartley had further boosted his own redemption story six minutes before half-time – what an incredible few weeks the stopper has enjoyed – Albion had hit the woodwork, through Bartley, and seen another one cleared from the visitors’ goalline.

Bartley was an immense attacking force and it is no exaggeration to state he could quite easily have scored a hat-trick – at least – such was his presence and threat from Swift’s bang-on-the-money set-piece deliveries.

It would be totally remiss, though, not to allow several words and paragraphs here to describe the quite wondrous goal that made it two and truly took the game away from Stoke.

Step forward Thomas-Asante, the industrious, persevering forward who plays with boundless energy and enthusiasm – and why wouldn’t he? At the start of this campaign he was playing fourth-tier football in front of home crowds of just over 2,000.

So much of Thomas-Asante’s game in his couple of months at The Hawthorns has been about tireless running and non-stop energy, but the 23-year-old possesses good technique. It doesn’t always come off – he is raw – but when it does, he is capable of something quite special, and boy we saw it here.

Darnell Furlong’s run-of-the-mill cross from the right initially looked pretty harmless but 40-year-old Phil Jagielka, three games shy of 750 career club appearances, made an insufficient clearance on the stretch that sent the ball spinning into the sky around 12 yards away from goal.

Thomas-Asante, like all good strikers, was interested and closest to the ball.

He had other ideas, though, than to wait for it on to his head or chest. Instead the former MK Dons academy product flung himself into the air, one leg before the other, to execute an inch-perfect bicycle kick.

His contact was spot-on and, surely without knowing Jack Bonham was a couple of yards out of his goal, the acrobatic effort looped up and over the helpless goalkeeper into the far corner.

It was quite the moment. Members of the box press box exchanged incredulous looks, open-mouthed, and the cheer in the stadium contained more than an element of amazement. The gasps continued around The Hawthorns when the replays were repeated on the big screens.

It will be some goal to oust that effort in the club’s goal of the season polls.

In truth the rest of the contest was almost irrelevant. It felt like the points were safely wrapped up and Stoke lacked the belief and quality to find two goals in response.

Albion were comfortable. The defence did what it had to and Alex Palmer was calm with the few saves he needed to make, mostly all from distance.

It was an impressive team performance packed with individual quality. Dara O’Shea and Conor Townsend gave their best performances for months and Jayson Molumby was excellent too, ditto Swift.

Corberan was able to mix things up late on. Swift unfortunately limped off, with Erik Pieters an extra pair of legs at the back. The triple change later on didn’t hamper Albion’s rhythm before, as the clock ticked 90, a mighty roar from all four stands as a certain Daryl Dike was introduced from the bench to complete the four minutes of stoppage time.

It was just the briefest of cameos for the £7million January signing, but it is a surely a big shot in the arm for United States frontman Dike, 22, and Baggies fans, to witness who they hope can be a talismanic striker return from a cruel muscle setback and be ready for the restart after the World Cup break.

While action on the pitch continues to improve, home fans also continued their peaceful matchday protests against the club board and owner Guochuan Lai.

Fans blew a whistle – via a mobile app – in the 12th minute, but more powerful still was the unplanned light show to ‘shine a light’ against the ownership midway through the second half.

It almost feels a bit like a Catch 22 situation for Corberan now. Most sides would not welcome a four-week break off the back of a rare three-match winning run. Why would you want to halt momentum?

But Albion’s head coach will relish the upcoming period. It is a break that the new boss would have earmarked to drill vital detail into his troops, both on the training ground pitches and in the classrooms.

Corberan is a stickler for detail, has a passion for coaching and a reputation as a tactical brain honed under Marcelo Bielsa.

There is no reason why Albion fans should not be excited by the prospect of what is to come beginning next month. They should be allowed to look up the Championship table with a bullish confidence.