Skip to playerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
  • 19/06/2025
West Brom showed real promise through large parts of the season, positioning themselves firmly in the play-off race.
But a dramatic late collapse—just one win in their final eight games—saw them fall short, finishing ninth and missing out on the top six. Despite encouraging spells and standout performances, inconsistency and a lack of squad depth proved costly when it mattered most.

Category

🥇
Sports
Transcript
00:00Under Carlos Corbaran, West Brom showed real promise through large parts of the season,
00:09positioning themselves firmly in the play-off race.
00:12But a dramatic late collapse, just one win in their final eight games,
00:16saw them fall short, finishing ninth and missing out on the top six.
00:21Despite encouraging spells and standout performances,
00:23inconsistency and a lack of squad depth proved costly when it mattered most.
00:28A summer overhaul has followed with 14 players released,
00:32including experienced figures like John Swift and Semih Ajayi,
00:37signalling a reset at the Hawthorns.
00:40West Brom now face the challenge of rebuilding smartly,
00:43blending youth with leadership and finding the consistency they lacked during the run-in.
00:49We spoke to Charlie Haffenden of Birmingham World to reflect on where things went wrong for West Brom
00:55and what must change to turn potential into a promotion charge next campaign.
01:03Charlie, on to West Bromwich Albion now.
01:06Let's start with the most disappointing moment because it's probably,
01:10they were probably odds on favourite really.
01:12They spent most of the season in the top six and they fell short,
01:16finishing ninth in the end just shows how close the gap is.
01:20But, you know, West Brom had all the strides there,
01:22all the, you know, keys there to go and unlock that top six
01:26and really push on and get it.
01:27And they did fall short in the end.
01:29Obviously, Mowbray coming in, losing Carlos Corbran when they did was devastating for them.
01:34You know, it's proved terrible for them to miss out on the playoffs.
01:37So in terms of their season, their disappointing moments,
01:41you feel Corbran was the biggest disappointment for Albion fans.
01:44And then as a whole, you know, it doesn't get much more disappointing than missing out on the top six spot
01:49when, you know, they probably most definitely should have got one.
01:54Absolutely. I think the Corbran, the fact it was on Christmas Eve as well,
01:57it's not quite the Christmas present you want to wake up to, is it, on Christmas Day?
02:01You can understand why he left, going to his boyhood club, Valencia,
02:05who were in a relegation scrap in La Liga.
02:07He's done an incredible job since.
02:08He's got them very close to European football in La Liga,
02:12which is incredible considering where they were, fair play to him.
02:15But it just emphasises how good of a manager he was
02:17and how much of a miss he is for West Bromwich Albion.
02:20I know at times the football wasn't pretty,
02:22but grinding out 1-0s and 2-1s here and there were enough to claim enough points,
02:26especially in the first kind of 10, 15 games of the season.
02:29At that point, West Brom were right up there,
02:32potentially even outsiders for automatic promotion.
02:35But obviously things fell away.
02:37So many draws.
02:38I mean, it was getting ridiculous, wasn't it, at one point?
02:41Hardly any goals at the Hawthorns whatsoever.
02:43It was getting really boring.
02:44And maybe there wasn't much of an upset when Corbran left as a result,
02:48but you can see that it's not just Corbran while they were drawing so many games.
02:52It's the squad in general, I think.
02:54And the cohesion wasn't there.
02:55There were a few players on big contracts that didn't really want to be there.
02:59You can see there was no real passion.
03:01And I know Shilam Patel and the new ownership,
03:03they've brought a bit of a buzz around,
03:04but it was starting to fade away.
03:05Mowbray coming back in, I think, obviously, winning that championship title 16, 17 years ago.
03:12Such a hero in the area.
03:14Coming back from his bowel cancer diagnosis as well,
03:16it felt like a really nice story, a romantic return.
03:19Didn't work out for him, though, did it?
03:20It was only, I think, five wins in 17 or 18 games, I believe it was, in the end.
03:25Eight defeats in that run.
03:27Losing to Bristol City felt painful, considering that was a six-pointer.
03:30Then a defeat at Coventry, even worse.
03:33And then, losing on Easter Monday to Derby County, who were in the relegation scrap.
03:37Simply unacceptable.
03:38At that point, the playoffs were gone.
03:41So, many moments you can kind of accumulate.
03:43But in general, I think Corbran going and Mowbray's poor run,
03:46missing out on the playoffs approach to who that manager will be.
03:50There's talks, it could be Ryan Mason from Tottenham Hotspur.
03:52It could be Eric Ramsey from Minnesota United.
03:54Kind of delve into those as and when it happens.
03:57But regardless of who the manager is, the recruitment side of things,
04:01it's going to be a big squad overhaul in the summer.
04:03Grady Dean Garner, John Swift, Semi Ajayi, all leaving at the end of their contracts.
04:07They all need to be replaced.
04:09Lots of low knees leaving.
04:10They all need to be replaced as well.
04:12I think one positive is Top Jorn Hegem and how good of a signing he's been.
04:16Being the player of the season, signing for peanuts and playing at left-back,
04:20playing at centre-back, being brilliant.
04:22I think he's a Premier League standard player.
04:24So if you can get a couple more of those through the door, bargain deals,
04:27create a decent core on the team,
04:29then I think that's all you need really to go and push on and get that playoffs again.
04:32So West Brom, it might feel like they're miles away from the Premier League right now.
04:36And quite frankly, they were at the end of the season.
04:38But all it takes is a few adjustments and getting the buzz back around
04:41and they can go and do it next season.
04:43So West Brom, it might feel like they're at the end of the season.

Recommended