West Brom players deserve credit for a big response says Carlos Corberan
Carlos Corberan wants Albion to take heart from the way they have turned the tables on rivals Norwich.
The Baggies rallied from behind to beat the Canaries at The Hawthorns in what was a must-win to keep alive final-day play-off hopes.
The Championship table paints a vastly different picture for both clubs from the early days of Corberan’s Albion reign in late October and early November when Norwich, then under Dean Smith, were fifth and among sides fighting in the play-off places. The Baggies sunk to rock-bottom on October 29.
Corberan calculated an 18-point swing in the months since between his side and the Carrow Road outfit, relegated from the Premier League last season, and insists his charges deserve credit for that turnaround.
“I want to tell you something that I have been talking about (privately) and normally I don’t talk about these numbers because I don’t like to – but I recognise the effort of the players.” Corberan said.
“Because after our first game together we lost against Sheffield and we were bottom of the table, 14 points behind Norwich, 15 points behind the play-offs.
“We lost against Sheffield the other day last week, but the team was one point in front of Norwich and two points behind the play-offs.
“And winning on Saturday, we are four points in front of Norwich, so with the 14 points (advantage) they had, we have put 18 points in front of one team that has a lot of quality and is an important team.”
Norwich, now under David Wagner, are down in 12th.
Corberan’s men had an eye on yesterday’s clash between Blackburn and Luton – out-of-sorts Rovers’ game in hand – in a fixture that could change the play-off picture ever so slightly. Either way, Albion are required to hope scorelines elsewhere go their way next Monday while they must win at Swansea.
The head coach says there is no time to dwell on games gone and what might have been with a few extra points.
“The players have been doing a very good job to improve the position in the table,” said the Spaniard. “We will now maybe be thinking of some games that could have give you more points but at the same time we need to give value to the points you have achieved.
“And the fact that we arrive to the last moment of the season is positive, because you never know.”
