Rams test up next for Baggies but who will be in charge?

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·24 de dezembro de 2024

Rams test up next for Baggies but who will be in charge?

Derby County v West Bromwich Albion; Pride Park, Thursday 26th December 2024, 5.30pm

The delight in Sunday’s victory over Bristol City was short-lived for Baggies fans as the news emerged late on Tuesday that head coach, Carlos Corberán, is wanted by his home town club, Valencia, with several reliable sources claiming that the deal would be done inside 24 hours. At the time of writing, nothing has been confirmed, but it could be that Albion will play their Boxing Day fixture without the Spaniard on the touchline.

If it happens, it will undoubtedly be a major blow for the club, and I do wonder whether any club other than Valencia would be enough to tempt Corberán away from the Hawthorns at this moment. Indeed, if the financial constraints are a concern at Albion, those at the Mestalla are reportedly much worse and it may be a case of the heart ruling the head for the man born just 20 miles away from the stadium, although perhaps the idea of playing Real Madrid in early January rather than Swansea City is something of a draw.

Vídeos OneFootball

Whatever transpires in the coming hours and days, Corberán has had a massive positive impact at the Hawthorns and that the club is in a much better place than it was when he took over is due in no small part to him. Nonetheless, we follow the club not the man, and Albion remain in the midst of a busy festive period.

Derby County are the last of the Championship teams for the Baggies to play this season, and they face them in game 23 of the season at Pride Park on Boxing Day. It’s been a strange first half of the season for Albion but victory at Derby would leave them in, or at least level with, the top six and very much in with a shout of a play-off spot.

Given the club’s well-reported financial restrictions, a top six spot has always been the target for this season and, despite some difficult moments, Albion remain more-or-less on track. Performances have definitely picked up in recent weeks, despite the defeat at Watford, and the display against Bristol City on Sunday was particularly encouraging. It was an underwhelming first half hour but a wonderful cross from Tom Fellows set up Mikey Johnston for his first goal of the season, although City boss, Liam Manning, will need to ask his defence some serious questions given the space the former Celtic man had on the six-yard box.

From that point on, the hosts dominated proceedings and after an excellent finish from Johnston finished off a superb team move, they really should have gone on to win far more comfortably. Johnston is starting to look like the player he was when he first joined Albion in January, but there were superb performances all over the pitch with Fellows and Mowatt particularly impressive. What was even more encouraging was that the win was achieved without Karlan Grant, who has become a very important player this season, with his replacement, John Swift, putting in his best display of the season.

Thursday’s opponents sit in sixteenth place, towards the bottom of a congested mid-table which sees Millwall in 10th and Coventry City in 17th separated by just four points. Promoted as League One runners up last season, the Rams won their first three home games back in the second tier but have won just three further games all season. Their latest victory, a 4-0 win over last season’s League One champions, Portsmouth, is their only win in their last eight games and their only victory against a team in the current top eleven was a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough back in August.

They were beaten in their last game, away to Luton Town on Friday night, but the level of performance was encouraging for Paul Warne with County having controlled much of the second half, taking the lead before losing to two deflected strikes in the final few minutes of the game. So while the Rams’ form might not be sparkling, it is unlikely to be an easy task to beat them and Albion have a pretty dreadful record at Pride Park.

The other thing in the hosts’ favour is that they have almost 48 hours’ additional preparation/rest time ahead of the match with Derby having played on Friday evening. Corberán has expressed his displeasure at one Championship game having been scheduled for Sunday with his view that, in a run of some many games in a short period, it does put his squad at a distinct disadvantage. Adding weight to Corberán’s argument, Albion have the late game on Thursday but are one of the three early kick-offs next Sunday when they take on league leaders, Sheffield United, for the second time in three weeks. Of course, it may no longer be his concern.

The Spaniard did have positive news to report on Monday in that both Karlan Grant and Callum Styles, who missed Sunday’s game with hamstring issues, both trained that morning and could be in contention to feature on Thursday. The return of Grady Diangana was another positive from the victory over Bristol City.

The doubt over the head coach’s future has obviously overshadowed the build up to this game, at least from the outside, and I do wonder what impact it will be having on the players, especially when there are reports that the bulk of Corberán’s backroom staff would follow him to the east coast of Spain. One can only hope that the team is able to concentrate on the task ahead of them, and put in the right performance at Pride Park.

Finally, can I take this opportunity to wish all my readers a very merry Christmas!

History

Albion have only won one of their last eight meetings with Derby County in all competitions, a run that started with the Rams’ 2-1 victory at the Hawthorns in the FA Cup in January 2017. The Baggies haven’t won at Pride Park since August 2003 when Rob Hulse’s goal was enough to earn all three points, and there have been four home wins and two draws in the six encounters in Derby since then.

Each team’s squad has a player who could face their former club on Boxing Day. Kane Wilson started his career at Albion although he made only one substitute appearance for the first team as a substitute in a League Cup tie at Northampton Town in August 2016 – he joined Derby in summer 2023 moving from last weekend’s opponents, Bristol City. Wilson has been the Rams’ regular right back this season and he has more chance of playing than Albion’s former County player, Joe Wildsmith. The Baggies’ backup stopper has yet to make a league appearance for Albion since his move from Pride Park in the summer.

Jake Livermore, who left Albion in July 2023 after six-and-a-half years at the Hawthorns had a loan spell with Derby in 2009 when he was at Spurs while Andi Weimann, who was at loan at Albion last season, spent three years at Pride Park after he left Villa in 2015. Defender, Matt Clarke, had two seasons on loan at Derby County from Brighton before spending the following season (2021/22) with Albion while Dwight Gayle, who secured a place in Baggies fans’ hearts with a spectacular 2018/19 season on loan from Newcastle United, spent the last few months of last season with Derby County scoring three goals in six appearances.

Gayle’s manager for much of his time at Albion, Darren Moore, moved to Derby when he left the Hawthorns in January 2006 and was part of the team that beat Albion in the 2007 Championship play-off final. Other centre-backs to have played for both clubs include James Chester, who had a season with each club having signed for Derby in July 2022, Curtis Davies, who had six seasons at Pride Park from 2017, and Matt Carbon who moved to Albion from Derby in January 1998.

Gayle is one of several strikers to have played for both clubs with Danny Dichio, Nathan Ellington, Rob Hulse, Rob Earnshaw, Matej Vydra, Paul Peschisolido and Luke Moore having had spells at both the Hawthorns and Pride Park. Kevin Kilbane had a brief loan spell with the Rams towards the end of his career while Derby County was the only other English club that Martin Albrechtsen played for aside from the Baggies, moving to the east Midlands when he left the Hawthorns in July 2008.

Two-times Champions League winner, Scott Carson, had four seasons at Derby before he moved to Manchester City in 2019 while one of his goalkeeping predecessors at the Hawthorns, Russell Hoult, had spent five years with Derby in the late nineties before he joined Albion in 2001.

A few other names that Baggies fans might remember include Mickey Thomas, the former Wrexham and Manchester United player, who was part of the Albion squad to be relegated in 1985/86 but spent part of that season on loan at the Baseball Ground, Mickey Lewis, who left Albion to join Derby in 1984, and Sean Flynn who moved from Derby to Albion in August 1997.