Everton hero's 'love' for West Brom boss as he hails 'outstanding' £15m star after Toffees links

Former Man City, Everton and Sheffield Wednesday left-back Andy Hinchcliffe is a big admirer of the work Carlos Corberan is doing at West Brom.

The Baggies find themselves in second ahead of the Championship resuming this week following the first international break of the season. WBA are yet to taste a defeat in the league with four games played. Four points have come at home from a draw against Leeds United, and a win against Swansea City, whilst there have also been successes on the road at QPR and Stoke City.

Corberan has been in his post at the Hawthorns since October 2022, and guided the team to a play-off place last season. He was afforded the opportunity to overhaul the playing squad in the summer, and made impressive deadline day signings in the form of Mason Holgate and Mikey Johnston.

In what is his second full season in charge, the 41-year-old is earning praise from Andy Hinchcliffe, who is a leading commentator and pundit for the EFL’s Sky Sports coverage. Hinchcliffe spent most of his career in the Premier League, but has watched countless games at the second tier of English football.

"I just love Carlos Corberan," said Hinchcliffe who was appearing on Sky Sports’ Essential EFL podcast,

"He’s just a fantastic figure to watch in the technical area, and the players tell stories about his attention to detail and his work ethic.

“Whatever squad he is given, he will squeeze the best out of them. I thought he did that last season, without having a top goal scorer.”

This summer, several first-team players were moved on by either allowing their contracts to expire or sell them for a fee. Brandon Thomas-Asante was last season's top scorer but was allowed to join Championship rivals Coventry City.

Josh Maja stepped up, and scored a hat-trick against QPR on the opening day of the season. He was also on target in the 2-1 win against Stoke City, putting him joint top in the top scorer charts so far.

Two Premier League clubs; Ipswich Town, and Southampton made late approaches for academy graduate Tom Fellows, but the club were able to rebuff the approaches, and he remained a Baggies player. The 21-year-old has got three assists so far this term, and reportedly has a valuation of £15m, with Hinchcliffe’s former club Everton reportedly interested.

Offering his opinion on their transfer business, Hinchcliffe added: “Brandon Thomas-Asante was the top scorer with 11, and they were the lowest scorers in the top six, so that was an area they needed to improve, and Josh Maja looks like a regular source of goals.

"Tom Fellows has been outstanding as well, and they’ve done well to keep hold of him.

“I always like the look of West Brom. They lost some players but there’s no panic, there’s an organisation there, an understanding of how we play, how we will be successful, but if Maja can knock in 15-20 goals, with their defensive setup, you can see them challenging seriously for the top six.”

Up next for West Brom is a trip to Fratton Park where they face newly promoted Portsmouth who also have yet to taste a win this season, however they have taken points off of Leeds, Luton, and Middlesbrough.