Corberan wants Albion strength through adversity

Carlos Corberan has won 39 of his 84 matches in charge since becoming Baggies boss in October 2022

West Bromwich Albion head coach Carlos Corberan hopes his side's pre-season "difficulties" could end up making the Championship club stronger.

After doing well to navigate another challenging season in 2023-24 to finish in the play-offs, Albion ended up getting well beaten by Southampton in the semi-final second leg.

But, having come under new ownership in February, when American businessman Shilen Patel took over, Corberan had already been warned that the damage done under the previous ownership is still hurting the club and that he would find his summer spending plans limited.

Although Corberan has so far brought in seven players, including the first fee paid since he became Albion boss, the Baggies will start Saturday's opening game against Queens Park Rangers without 13 of the players who were in the 20-man squad at St Mary's in May.

"We have to operate with the financial situation that we have," Corberan told BBC Radio WM. "We have had to adapt.

"But you cannot let the difficulties beat you.

"We need to find the solutions inside ourselves to beat these difficulties and keep moving forward.

"As human beings, if there is difficulty in front of us, it can sometimes make us better."

It is essentially the same philosophy adopted by the English Royal Air Force, whose famous Latin motto 'Per Ardua Ad Astra' translates as 'through adversity to the stars'.

But fans of Albion's "stars in stripes" were given a timely warning in an open letter from club chairman Patel on 13 June not to expect to fly too high this season - and that, if they do make the top six again, it will be down to the inspiration of their locally revered 41-year-old Spanish coach.

"That communication from the club was important as it has allowed the people to understand the situation," added Corberan at Friday's pre-match QPR press conference, as he faced the media for the first time since losing on the south coast on 17 May.

One story last weekend hinted at a potential transfer embargo - but that is not understood to be the case.

Albion are well aware of the challenge of staying within the existing financial limits (£39m over three years), but have not been officially notified of any imposed business plan and say that they "have been working with the EFL for 18 months on financial matters".

The Baggies' summer trading

Seven players were released at the end of last season, including long-serving winger Matt Phillips, Cedric Kipre turned down an offer of a new contract and Yann M'Vila and loan men Andi Weimann and Mikey Johnston completed their short-term deals.

Albion then also chose to cash in on three players with a year still left on their contract, defender Conor Townsend, midfielder Okay Yokuslu and striker Brandon Thomas-Asante.

To fill the void left by the 14 departures, Albion have so far made seven signings.

Defenders Paddy McNair and Torbjorn Heggem, midfielder Ousmane Diakite and goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith were followed by Barnsley striker Devante Cole.

And this week they added two more, Juventus left-back Gianluca Frabotta, for an undisclosed fee and Aston Villa winger Lewis Dobbin on a season-long loan.

Without injured club captain Jed Wallace and Grady Diangana, in the wake of last Saturday's 4-1 pre-season friendly defeat by Birmingham City, Corberan admits that he will be forced to use youngsters at Loftus Road on Saturday.

But midfielder Jayson Molumby is available, having been banned for five friendly games, rather than competitive matches, following a much publicised incident in the behind-closed-doors game with Real Mallorca.

Analysis - BBC Radio WM's Steve Hermon on Albion's hopes in 2024-25

Despite American businessman Shilen Patel’s era having begun in February, the spectre of previous owner Guochuan Lai’s reign still hangs over The Hawthorns as West Bromwich Albion head into the new season – and the club’s financial situation continues to dominate fan chatter.

After guiding the Baggies to a top-six place last season, boss Carlos Corberan, who was linked with a few jobs during the summer, has already described the upcoming campaign as his "hardest challenge".

We’ve seen quite a large clear-out of last season’s squad, with 10 players having departed – a necessity as the club aim to avoid a breach of EFL financial rules, knowing that the next set of financial losses will be higher than the last.

High wage earner Matt Phillips was among those released, while Albion cashed in on Okay Yokuslu, top scorer Brandon Thomas-Asante and vice-captain Conor Townsend, all of whom were in the last year of their contracts. Player of the year Cedric Kipre was arguably the biggest loss after the expiration of his deal.

The replacements are largely untested at this level. Malian midfielder Ousmane Diakite, Norwegian defender Torbjorn Heggem, Italian left-back Gianluca Frabotta, Villa winger Lewis Dobbin and Devante Cole, who, at the age of 29, has only got one season of second tier football on his CV. But Karlan Grant is back from a loan with Cardiff, with the hope that Corberan can work his magic, as he did with Kipre and Alex Mowatt.

The fact Corberan is still guiding the ship is the biggest positive but whether he can replicate last season’s achievements remains to be seen. It could well be a season in transition with the hope that Albion simply stay within the financial rules.