Burnley, Wrexham and Birmingham City prediction dropped as EFL pundit reveals Carlos Corberan claim | OneFootball

Tom Garratt outlines three sides he thinks Carlos Corberan could end up managing if he returned to the EFL following his sacking from Valencia

EFL podcaster Tom Garratt can't see Carlos Corberan becoming the next Preston North End head coach, instead naming Burnley, Wrexham and Birmingham City as possible next destinations for the former Valencia boss.

Corberan was dismissed from the La Liga side on Sunday, following a start to the campaign which saw Los Murciélagos pick up just one point from their opening five games.

It marked the third consecutive slow start to the season, but while Corberan was brought in midway through the 2024/25 term and steered the club away from relegation, and then did the same in his first (and only) full year at the helm, he hasn't been allowed to do so for a third time this year.

The Spanish boss earned a lot of plaudits for his time in the dugout at Championship sides Huddersfield Town and West Bromwich Albion, and many feel he could return to the EFL at some point this season.

Tom Garratt gives Carlos Corberan verdict over who his next club will be

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EFL podcaster Tom Garratt knows first-hand the impact Corberan can have in the Championship. The West Brom supporter watched the Spanish boss take the Baggies from the relegation zone to the play-offs in the space of a season and a half.

His sacking from Valencia fell on the same day that the first managerial casualty in the second tier was announced, with Preston North End parting ways with Paul Heckingbottom after a run of just one win in seven to open the campaign.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Pyramid Podcast, Garratt immediately told Preston fans not to get their hopes up regarding a move for Corberan, instead predicting that the former West Brom boss could land at a different Lancashire-based second-tier side.

"Who do you think they'll [Preston] bring in? On the same day, King Carlos got sacked from Valencia," he said. "I'll be honest, get that out of your head. He ain't going to Preston.

"I can see him going to Burnley if they sack their manager, or someone like Wrexham or Blues [Birmingham]. Although I don't think they'll sack their managers at the moment.

"But, yeah, get that out of your heads. Carlos Corberan is not going to Preston."

Carlos Corberan may be a step too far in Preston North End managerial hunt

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Corberan's time in the dugouts of Championship clubs has seen him take clubs who were in and around the relegation battle and transform them into play-off-pushing sides.

That was almost expected with West Brom, given their history and expectations, but it was at Huddersfield where he really made a name for himself as a coach with top-flight potential.

The Terriers may have finished 20th in his first campaign at the helm, but in the 2021/22 term, he led them to within six points of automatic promotion and subsequently made the play-off final, where they fell to Nottingham Forest.

His jobs since resigning from his role at the Accu Stadium saw him manage big clubs in the top flights of their respective divisions in Olympiacos and Valencia, with West Brom sandwiched in between. A move to coach Preston may be seen as a bit of a step down for the 43-year-old.

The Lilywhites are looking to be ambitious, as seen in the transfer window and in their decision to sack Heckingbottom after a poor start, but Corberan may be a step too far.

Carlos Corberan would be a brilliant appointment for a Championship side struggling to meet expectations

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Corberan may be better waiting a little bit for some more positions to open up in the dugouts of Championship clubs, if a return to the EFL is something he'd be interested in exploring.

As Garratt mentioned, the likes of Burnley especially could find themselves in a position where they're looking for a new coach, and the weight of expectation at clubs such as Wrexham and Birmingham always leads to some questions being asked if form isn't right with them.

The Clarets seem the more likely at the moment, though, with Nicky Hayen still yet to win a game in 90 minutes since arriving at Turf Moor in the summer. They prop up the Championship table currently and face a massive home tie with fellow relegation zone dwellers Derby County on Saturday.

A loss there could see the writing on the wall for Hayen. With the three-week international break on the horizon, it presents a good window of opportunity for a new man to come in and have enough time on the training pitch to implement ideas.

With Corberan knowing how to take a side massively underachieving expectations and push them up the Championship table, the Spaniard would be the perfect candidate for Burnley