Carlos Corberan sheds light on West Brom pay cut, makes ‘ever growing’ claim

For the first time, the head coach has confirmed the club faces a 30 per cent cut in squad wages due to Financial Fair Play rules as they prepare for a first full season under new owner Shilen Patel.

In a fascinating seven-and-a-half minute response to a question comparing an identical points total this season to last, Corberan highlighted the challenge of improving a team that reached the Championship play-offs with these financial restrictions.

Corberan also referred to the level of expectation of the ‘Premier League Albion’ and how fans became frustrated with a club with no investment while under Guochuan Lai in the league.

Albion made big changes this summer with 11 new signings, but many, the head coach suggested, were simply to ensure the squad had enough numbers. Several players were released as the club sought to balance their books and, later in the summer, regulars Okay Yokuslu, Conor Townsend and Brandon Thomas-Asante were sold. Corberan suggested the substitutions and a winning, top-of-the-table start to the season boosted expectations. Albion have only won twice in their last 15 games.

The club now appears in good hands thanks to the takeover of Patel-led Bilkul Football, although challenges clearly remain, as the boss detailed, and similar issues will arise next summer as Albion must once again manage its finances due to the championship’s strict rules and previous mismanagement. .

“I think this year we didn’t have financial limitations (like Lai’s) – we had a massive level of financial restrictions. They’re not the same,” Corberan explained.

“The Shilen project probably couldn’t be there, because we had to reduce the size of the group by 30 percent. So we reduced the team that participated in the play-offs by 30 percent, in terms of salary, to face the season.

“We knew what our market was and the club made a very good effort to create the most competitive team possible.

“But sometimes expectations changed. We changed a lot of players, they finished their contracts, we sold players like Okay, Townsend and Asante – we signed players because we needed them, we lost a lot Sometimes people see signings as a symptom of investment, but in some ways it was a symptom of replacements to fill positions.

“We’ve made a lot of changes with financial restrictions – not limitations. But the possibilities to make moves have increased, that’s why we brought in (Mikey) Johnston who was here last year – so it’s not not an improvement, it’s about trying to get to the level we had.” “.

Albion bought Johnston, last season’s star on loan, for £3 million from Celtic at the end of a window after a late change of strategy.

Referring to a historic frustration among fans, he added: “People have suffered and not watched West Bromwich from previous seasons – because we are talking about a Premier League club – when you are fans of Premier League, who see Premier League games, you relegate and you don’t see the investments that you love coming back so the frustration is there.

“At one point the start of this season created hope that we would again be that West Bromwich that we wanted to be. That’s true because the club is building this West Bromwich – but the club is building this West Bromwich according to a different financial situation, without the parachute (payments) and restrictions of five players (only a maximum of four can be signed under the GBE overseas work visa criteria).”

Albion’s current run of draws and not enough wins has drawn criticism from some Albion supporters. The Baggies, eighth, are however only two points from the play-offs. Corberan has once again been linked with moves elsewhere, and once again to the Premier League, with Southampton seen as a long-time admirer of his work and looking for a new boss following the sacking of Russell Martin.

“I can’t focus on the people’s expectations,” Corberan added. “I have to focus on the job I do. As a coach, I know part of my job is to accept opinions, but I don’t pay attention to criticism of me. I put that in the group mentality.

“If the team starts to think badly, it will affect their performance. I always like to take control of the team’s mentality. Since I arrived at this club, we have sold much more than we invested,” but from the moment I got here, I don’t think we stopped growing as a team.”

The head coach emphasized: “I brought the team into a difficult position and we are growing every year. We created a competitive team this year despite financial restrictions, not because of me, because people here know what West Bromwich stands for and the demands of the club.

“This club cannot accept certain Championship standards. You cannot be a West Bromwich Albion player without having a (certain) standard of player. West Bromwich is a huge club where you have to compete to win. This is the culture that we are in and that’s why we love being here.