"For me" - West Brom's Carlos Corberan issues verdict on Stoke City appointing Narcis Pelach | OneFootball

Corberan has delivered glowing praise for new Stoke boss Narcis Pelach, who used to be his assistant at Huddersfield Town

Pelach was named as Steven Schumacher's successor this week as he left his first-team coach role at Norwich City to take his first top job in English football in the Potteries, but it was Corberan that gave him his first big break on these shores after he joined his coaching staff at the Terriers in 2020.

The duo met each other while Corberan was assistant to Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United and Pelach worked with the Whites for a short time after leaving his role at Girona, and the 41-year-old saw fit to take the new Potters boss with him to Huddersfield after he was given his first head-coach role at the John Smith's Stadium.

The pair worked together for two years as Huddersfield reached the play-off final in the 2021/22 campaign, but went their separate ways at the end of that season, as Corberan resigned to become Olympiacos' head-coach, and Pelach stayed on in West Yorkshire for another campaign before joining Norwich last year.

Both are now managing together in the second-tier for the first time and are set to meet each other when the two teams face off in January, and Corberan has reserved high praise for his former assistant, adding that he expects him to do well with the Potters in the future.

Speaking via the Stoke Sentinel, Corberan said: "He was managing in Spain. When I was working in Leeds I met him, because he was at Girona as an assistant coach - before that he'd been coaching Girona's second team.

"Now everyone knows Girona, because they're in the Champions League, but before it was different! He was coaching their second team.

"He has been coaching since he has been young, probably he was coaching players who were older than him. I met him when I was at Leeds because he finished with Girona and came to meet Marcelo Bielsa.

"We started to have personal contact, and from this time, for months we were talking about football and doing things together, in terms of football conversations.

"I decided to add him to my staff at Huddersfield, in that moment he didn't have a job and the opportunity with Huddersfield came. We worked for two years there, and I enjoyed working with him a lot.

"After, when my time in Huddersfield was ending, we finished our working relationship - not our personal relationship, because when you work with staff and work well, you keep a very strong relationship.

"I am very pleased for him. He is a very good coach, you will see. For me, Stoke has made a very good decision. When you make these decisions [employing Pelach at Huddersfield], it works both ways. You grow together.

"When you are working for one year, two years, you give things to them and them to you. Football is demanding, we worked closely together and I had a very good football experience with him."

Stoke fans will be excited by Corberan's comments

There are few, if any, head-coaches in the Championship that can claim to be on a similar wavelength to Corberan when it comes to tactical analysis, and his glowing review of Pelach's talents can only be exciting for everyone connected with Stoke City for what lies ahead this season and beyond.

Albion were at a real loose end when they took a gamble on the Spaniard back in October 2022 with the club in the relegation places, but he had an instant impact and eventually led his new side to ninth that season as they finished just three points off the play-offs.

Last season saw his side improve even further as they came fifth, and it looks as if they have got even better this season as they currently sit top of the second-tier after a stellar start to the new campaign.

Stoke are looking to follow a near identical blueprint by hiring a coach with a similar play-style and background in coaching to the Baggies' boss, and if his comments are anything to go by, the Potters could be in for a good few years with Pelach at the helm.