Carlos Corberan makes admission about Tom Rogic’s West Brom prospects | OneFootball

West Brom manager Carlos Corberan has suggested it could be hard for Tom Rogic to force his way back into the side at The Hawthorns.

Rogic joined the Baggies as a free agent back in September, following his release by Celtic at the end of last season.

Since then, the Australian has gone on to make 16 appearances in all competitions for the Baggies, scoring twice and providing four assists.

But with Jed Wallace and John Swift also operating in that same number ten role, Rogic appears to have found himself down the pecking order in the Midlands.

The 30-year-old has started just four league games this season, none of which have come since the turn of the year, while he was left out of the matchday squad entirely for last week’s win over Coventry.

Now it seems that Corberan believes the midfielder could find it hard to force his way back into the side due to the other options he has available to him, which he concedes may be a harsh situation.

Speaking about Rogic’s battle for game time, the West Brom boss was quoted by Birmingham Live as saying: “It’s complicated sometimes to give you the answer. I know how good a player Rogic is and how hard it is to leave a player out who could be in the first XI – not just someone who could be on the bench.

“We can play with a specific number 10, and then a specific ten on the bench.

“Or, you play with a number ten and a player who has a different profile, and you don’t take two seats on the bench with two players who give you the same. It depends more on this than the player.

“I can only tell you that to leave Rogic out of the squad is totally unfair on him. Sometimes to leave out another player is unfair for him too.

“When you have a squad with lots of players, you have a problem – you’re leaving out good players. When you have a squad without enough good first-team players, you don’t have players who can play at the same level if someone is injured. At the end, I think he fortunately we have very good players.

“Some players are going to manage difficulties very well, difficulties as a coach for me and for the players, it’s all about our journey together.

“I only can involve 16 outfield players in the team every game, and I have 20 very good players. Four will be out of the group, when they’re working well – as they are – it means that every decision you make might be the right one, but it’s unfair. This is one of the worst parts for me as a coach – to make unfair decisions.”

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Rogic only signed a one-year contract with the Baggies when he joined, meaning he is due to become a free agent again at the end of this season as things stand.

The Verdict

You get the feeling that this does not look promising for Rogic when it comes to his long term prospects at West Brom.

While he has shown sparks of brilliance this season, he has otherwise struggled to make an all-round impact on games, with his influence limited.

As a result, it does make sense for Wallace and Swift to be ahead of him in the pecking order, making it hard for Rogic to do what he needs to impress enough to earn a new contract.

Indeed, given both Wallace and Swift have longer term contracts at The Hawthorns, Corberan’s comments here almost seem to suggest that they may not need Rogic from next season, so he could soon be looking for a new club.