Don Goodman spoke more in his interview with OLBG about West Brom…
On West Brom and Carlos Corberan: “There’s no understating the brilliant job Carlos Corberan has done at West Brom and even at Huddersfield before that. He always finds ways of being successful, even in adversity when working with no money at both clubs. He’s done a brilliant job, but he’s always been firefighting in a way.
“Carlos had a squad at Albion which remained pretty consistent, but now he’s released nine players with five over the age of 30. Two young players have been recruited, but we still don’t know how much money is available to be spent. We know the club must be careful when it comes to adhering with profit and sustainability rules. There’s a lot of wheeling and dealing to be done.
“But purely based on Carlos’ tactical nous and knowledge of the Championship, I can see them challenging for the top six again. It would be disappointing if Albion didn’t.”
Asked who do you fancy for promotion and relegation from the Championship, he said: “Last season was one of the easiest Championship seasons to predict in terms of who would be at the top as Leeds, Leicester and Southampton all retained a plethora of Premier League-quality players They were always going to be competing at the top end of the league.
“However this season I’m not so confident in the relegated clubs. For Burnley and Luton, it depends on what their squad looks like when the transfer window shuts. Will Burnley keep the likes of Lyle Foster, Luca Koleosho and Sander Berge? If they do, you fancy them to be a force. Will Luton keep the likes of Alfie Doughty, Elijah Adebayo and Carlton Morris? If they do, you’d also tip them to be competing at the top.
“But Sheffield United look like a club in disarray and are coming down from the Premier in a very weak state. A massive overhaul is required for Chris Wilder and his backroom staff. I’m not saying they can’t do it, but he’s up against it at the moment.
“You’d expect Leeds to be towards the top, with the sale of Archie Gray possibly meaning they’ll be able to keep hold of the attacking force that tore apart Championship defences for 80% of the season before falling at the last hurdle.”
“Then with some teams, you don’t really know what to expect from them. You cannot rule out West Brom with Carlos Corberan in charge still, Coventry’s FA Cup semi-final proved a hindrance to their promotion hopes last season, and Middlesbrough ended the campaign very strongly.
“The upcoming Championship season will not be as strong as last season’s, which had the best top-four that I’ve ever seen. That’s going to give an opportunity for some teams to surprise us.
“At the bottom, Des Buckingham has a huge job on his hands at Oxford as play-off winners are notoriously the teams that struggle the most. It’s just brilliant that they’re in the Championship.
“Derby County remind me of Sheffield Wednesday last season as they have one of the oldest teams in the division. Wednesday struggled with the physical side of things early on last year, so it’s interesting to see Paul Warne move on a number of 30-plus-year-olds and bring pace and energy into the club. That gap still needs to be bridged, though.
“I would expect Portsmouth to be the strongest of the relegated clubs and, therefore, I’m looking at the clubs that just about survived. John Eustace has a big job on his hands at Blackburn after they relied so heavily on Sammie Szmodics, it would be some achievement if he could replicate such performances. I’m not sure about Plymouth, and that’s not because of Wayne Rooney, it’s just the nature of them being in the Championship.
“Even Sunderland finished the season winning just two of their last 15 games. They’ve got a new manager in Regis Les Bris, whose background is in developing young footballers but this is the Championship so it’s very difficult for a whole group of young players to succeed and they didn’t have any strikers capable of performing at that level and struggled for goals. Those would be the clubs I’d be concerned about.”
West Brom – Fixtures
Sat 10 Aug A Queens Park Rangers Championship 12.30pm
Sat 17 Aug H Leeds United Championship 12.30pm
Sat 24 Aug A Stoke City Championship 3pm
Sat 31 Aug H Swansea City Championship 3pm
Sun 15 Sep A Portsmouth Championship 3pm
Sat 21 Sep H Plymouth Argyle Championship 3pm
Sat 28 Sep A Sheffield Wednesday Championship 12.30pm
Tue 1 Oct H Middlesbrough Championship 7.45pm
Sat 5 Oct H Millwall Championship 3pm
Sat 19 Oct A Oxford United Championship 3pm
Wed 23 Oct A Blackburn Rovers Championship 7.45pm
Sat 26 Oct H Cardiff City Championship 3pm
Sat 2 Nov A Luton Town Championship 3pm
Tue 5 Nov H Burnley Championship 7.45pm
Sat 9 Nov A Hull City Championship 3pm
Sat 23 Nov H Norwich City Championship 3pm
Tue 26 Nov A Sunderland Championship 7.45pm
Sat 30 Nov A Preston North End Championship 3pm
Sat 7 Dec H Sheffield United Championship 3pm
Wed 11 Dec H Coventry City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 14 Dec A Watford Championship 3pm
Sat 21 Dec H Bristol City Championship 3pm
Thu 26 Dec A Derby County Championship 3pm
Sun 29 Dec A Sheffield United Championship 3pm
Wed 1 Jan H Preston North End Championship 3pm
Sat 4 Jan A Swansea City Championship 3pm
Sat 18 Jan H Stoke City Championship 3pm
Tue 21 Jan A Middlesbrough Championship 7.45pm
Sat 25 Jan H Portsmouth Championship 3pm
Sat 1 Feb A Plymouth Argyle Championship 3pm
Sat 8 Feb H Sheffield Wednesday Championship 3pm
Wed 12 Feb H Blackburn Rovers Championship 7.45pm
Sat 15 Feb A Millwall Championship 3pm
Sat 22 Feb H Oxford United Championship 3pm
Sat 1 Mar A Leeds United Championship 3pm
Sat 8 Mar H Queens Park Rangers Championship 3pm
Tue 11 Mar A Burnley Championship 7.45pm
Sat 15 Mar H Hull City Championship 3pm
Sat 29 Mar A Norwich City Championship 3pm
Sat 5 Apr H Sunderland Championship 3pm
Tue 8 Apr A Bristol City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 12 Apr H Watford Championship 3pm
Fri 18 Apr A Coventry City Championship 3pm
Mon 21 Apr H Derby County Championship 3pm
Sat 26 Apr A Cardiff City Championship 3pm
Sat 3 May H Luton Town Championship 3pm
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