New West Brom owner Shilen Patel must tell anyone in his ear about replacing Carlos Corberan to bog off

WHEN Shilen Patel gets the keys to West Brom this week he should make it clear to everyone that boss Carlos Corberan is the man to lead them into the Premier League.

There are agents and fixers crawling out of the woodwork trying to get into the Florida-based businessman’s ear advising and offering him the services of managers across Europe.

Shilen Patel is being offered alternative managers by agents

But in Carlos Corberan he already has the perfect man

But the incoming owner should tell them in industrial language to clear off and put all his weight behind the Spanish coach.

Already Torino boss Ivan Juric has been put firmly on his radar to lead The Hawthorns revolution.

And there are genuine fears Patel wants to put his own mark on the club by getting his own man in as manager.

But his choice should be the boss already there.

If the American tycoon has even an ounce of football knowledge, he will know that Corberan is an outstanding manager… especially in the Championship.

Let’s examine the facts.

He worked under Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds as they won promotion to the Premier League.

Then in two seasons in charge of Huddersfield, he first steadied the ship after the club almost crashed into League One before taking them to the Championship play-off final which they lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest.

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You only have to see what has happened to the Terriers since he left to understand what a great job he did there.

Then at West Brom he is doing an identical job despite having to operate with almost both hands tied behind his back.

He consolidated them last season after taking over from Steve Bruce and this term has got them currently in the play-off spots with a puncher’s chance of promotion against all the odds.

Not only has he performed brilliantly, Corberan understands English football – knows about all the clubs, the players and the way it works here.

And crucially he understands the Championship.

Why stop the fine work he is doing now or at the end of the season?

If Patel does let Corberan go, it would only be because of the new owner’s vanity – but hopefully he resists any temptation and trusts the man already there.

One thing I love about the Spaniard is his passion and the way he kicks every ball … although that did end up to his detriment on Friday night as he literally did just that.

Bizarre red card

In all my years of watching football I’ve never seen a red card like the one the West Brom boss received.

The ball looked like it was going out of play but almost spun back on to the sideline when Corberan stopped it with his foot.

A little-known law states he should be sent off and Sam Allison, a stickler of a ref, produced a red card.

And, because of a new ruling that came in for this season, Corberan was prohibited from speaking to me and my media colleagues after the game.

This is bonkers because he was allowed to speak to his players in the dressing room at half-time and full-time.

And Baggies ace Conor Townsend, standing in for his boss in the press conference, confirmed that is exactly what happened.

How daft he can still be allowed to give team talks but not carry out his usual media obligations.

Surely, he should be allowed to do both – or neither at all.

But that aside, where is room for common-sense to be applied?

Corberan clearly did not intend to interfere with play. It was a freak incident and Allison should have just given him a stern ticking off along with a yellow card.

Surely Howard Webb would not object to that?

But, whatever your view on that particular incident, Corberan is a force of good in football. 

He is a hard task-master and never easily pleased – even after a win.

Yet even he cracked a smile when speaking ahead of the game about the takeover.

Baggies fans will hope he gets the chance to build something at The Hawthorns – because he deserves that.