West Bromwich Albion will have set out to achieve the play-offs once again after suffering defeat against newly promoted Southampton last season, just one game from Wembley. However, Carlos Corberan’s side are flying at the peak of the division and don’t look like slowing down.
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00:00On to West Bromwich Albion now. They've copy and pasted Blues' start to the season, but
00:06in the Championship, an unbelievable record so far. Only three unbeaten teams in the division.
00:12West Brom are the top dogs at the moment. How impressed with their start have you been?
00:17And how important has Carlos Corberán been to that as well?
00:20He's been so important. West Brom have really exceeded my expectations. I thought in the
00:25summer when they lost the likes of Yokuzlu, Kitpray, Townsend, some regulars from that
00:30team, the experienced members of that squad that they were going to drop off a little
00:34bit. Josh Major leading the line. Was I convinced? I mean, he's had the talent in the past. He's
00:39performed well in different divisions, but not quite done it in England. Well, he's definitely
00:43proved me wrong. Six goals in six matches. He's been one of the star men, but also the
00:48likes of Alex Mowat stepping up, Jason Malumby, Carlon Grant, who everyone thought was completely
00:54out of the picture at West Brom, is keeping Mikey Johnston, signed for £3m from Celtic,
01:00out of the team. It's been remarkable what they've done. And Carlos Corberán has been
01:04absolutely vital to that. Sometimes it's not pretty. It's one nils, two ones here and there.
01:09They're not exactly dominant victories, but the way they're playing, they're defending
01:13well. They are being clinical when they've got their chances. And finally, having that
01:17number nine in Josh Major, taking those chances, if they can carry on like this, well, what's
01:22the reason they can't go on to become champions, let alone automatic promotion?
01:25Yeah, of course. Their goal probably will still be to just set up and make sure they
01:31are in the playoff places come the end of the season. They were sort of real heartbreak
01:36last season in the semi-final, so close. Obviously, Southampton are now in the Premier League.
01:41But after a start like this, you do struggle to see where they're going to lose their next
01:46game and actually how bad it could actually turn. Albion fans must be feeling the best
01:52they have done in a number of seasons at the moment.
01:55Absolutely. The morale is really high. The Hawthorns is packed out every week. And just
02:00the belief in the manager, the backing that the manager has given them, even when there's
02:04been interest from top clubs that have got better financial power, better opportunities
02:08for making his own kind of shape on the squad with the transfers. He's not had that at West
02:13Brom, really. But the business has been clever. It's been astute. Loan deals, free signings,
02:19bargain deals as well. Obviously, Mikey Johnson coming in for a few million was a nice spend
02:23as well. He's had limited resources, but he's done so well with it. And I think the fans
02:27can appreciate the attitude there, how hard they're working for every single point, let
02:32alone every single win. It's a mentality that a lot of clubs don't have at the moment, especially
02:36in modern football. And West Brom have managed to instil that and get some consistency going.
02:41It's just about keeping that consistency. We spoke about last season, how it dropped
02:45off at times and it really cost them their best start to a league season since 1992.
02:50Then they should be really high up in the table. Obviously, there's a lot of competition.
02:53There's a lot of pressure on them, a lot of time to go, but the initial signs are very
02:57positive.