West Bromwich Albion had to make do with a draw on the road last time out in Chris Brunt’s latest game as Baggies interim boss.
If it hadn’t been for Welsh veteran Joe Allen unexpectedly scoring at the death, it would have been a successive win for the Northern Irishman in the Championship, but the Swansea City midfielder had other ideas unfortunately.
Whilst Brunt has impressed in spells since taking on the reins unexpectedly from Carlos Corberan, it seems as if the second-tier promotion candidates are pressing on with replacing the Spaniard outright.
West Brom holding talks with bold Corberan replacement
As per recent reports from @talkwba on X (formerly Twitter) West Brom look set to hold talks with former Young Boys manager Raphael Wicky about taking over from Corberan, in what would be a left-field choice of replacement.
Described as being ‘well liked’ by the second-tier outfit, the Swiss manager would join the English game off the back of succeeding in his native Switzerland, alongside managing further afield in the United States with Chicago Fire.
Whilst he boasts no experience of the tough demands of EFL football yet, the Baggies will pray he acclimatises swiftly to his new surroundings if a deal is to be secured, having already made a name for himself on these shores when getting the better of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City back in 2018 as Basel boss.
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What Wicky could offer West Brom
Wicky wasn’t facing off against the battered and bruised version of City now either, with his Basel side handing out a first home loss of the season to the super-confident hosts when picking up an almighty 2-1 scalp.
In that same run of fixtures in the Champions League, Basel also managed to get the better of Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United 1-0, with both titans of the English game remarkably humbled by the 47-year-old’s methods.
Domestically in Switzerland, Wicky would also prove to be a hit when he was Young Boys manager, leading the side to a Swiss League and Cup double as boss during a very successful 2022/23 season.
Therefore, everything points in the direction that he could go on to be a great successor to Corberan’s throne in managing to get more out of an underdog team like the now Valencia boss pulled off for the Baggies when he first arrived and they were near the foot of the Championship.
Games managed
321
244
Wins
168
96
Draws
62
64
Losses
91
83
Yet, despite Corberan turning West Brom into regular play-off challengers away from worrying about the drop under Steve Bruce, Wicky boasts more overall victories as a manager at 168 contrasted next to his counterpart’s 96, albeit from a significant boost of 77 more clashes.
Still, that win percentage – which comes in at 52% – cannot just be brushed aside after one look, with the 47-year-old wanting to pick up more and more victories as a boss if the Hawthorns do come calling soon.
Often utilising the 4-2-3-1 formation when in charge at Young Boys – alongside a more preferred 4-4-2 set-up – this will suit the current Baggies set-up perfectly well with Tom Fellows a constant menace down the wings alongside offering the team a strong defensive shape.
It was always going to be a tough ask for West Brom to immediately go out and find a dream successor, but in Wicky, the promotion hopefuls could strike gold on what is somewhat of an unknown entity.
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