Shropshire Star

Every Championship club wants a Carlos Corberan says John Swift

Albion’s John Swift reckons Carlos Corberan’s tactical astuteness is the envy of the Championship.

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Corberan’s troops, currently 11th, are back in Championship action – without injured attacking star Swift – against newly-promoted Plymouth tomorrow.

The Baggies boss marks one year in The Hawthorns hotseat next Wednesday and has further enhanced his reputation for attention to detail and a relentless work-rate first seen in charge at Huddersfield.

Swift, speaking before his recent calf injury against Blues, admitted the head coach’s in-depth preparation leaves players with no excuses.

“Every team in the Championship wants a manager who is as detailed as this manager,” Swift said.

“He gives you everything you need to go into the game. He says, as well, that you don’t want to go into the game hoping to play well, because the competitiveness of the game will pass you by.

“It’s about working hard, as a team, doing what we do every week. It’s a challenge at times, but it’s what we’re here to do.”

Corberan quickly upgraded fitness, nutrition and analytical levels at Albion upon his appointment last year and maximum intensity at the training ground, regardless of physical or technical work, is expected.

“Nothing has changed, not a single thing!” smiled Swift, who is expected out for another month. “No-one would want that, though.

“It’s something the lads all like, but he has to be like that to get the best out of all of us.

“It is, but the way he does it, the more we know about the position we’re playing, the more we know about the opposition and the system we’re playing, the better chance we have.

“He doesn’t leave any stone unturned, when it comes to every single game. Every player we play against, he does his homework on a lot of stuff. It helps us when we’re on the pitch.”

Swift admitted it can sometimes be frustrating when Albion veer away from pre-match plans when it comes to tactics and style of play.

The six-goal top scorer feels Corberan’s side can believe in themselves more when looking to build moves with the ball.

He said: “Sometimes we go away from some of the stuff that we would normally have had a plan for in the game, we can go long quite a lot where we have players who can play out and we need to be more confident against teams, especially those who drop off.

“Ultimately it’s about us being competitive and doing everything right on a Saturday.”