The Baggies are currently sitting in fifth place, and are eight points clear of seventh with six games still left to play.
Spanish manager Carlos Corberan has been at the helm at The Hawthorns this campaign, and recently he has them in brilliant form. They have only lost three of their 15 Championship games in 2024.
As we near the end of the season, all the leagues in the EFL will have started to put out their nominations for the Player of the Year, Manager of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards.
Despite a brilliant season, Corberan was not nominated for Manager of the Year in the Championship – which he may disagree with.
McKenna, Farke and Rosenior all nominated for Manager of the Year
The three managers who have been nominated for the Championship Manager of the Year by the EFL are Kieran McKenna, Daniel Farke and Liam Rosenior.
| Championship Manager of the Year nominations and Corberan | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Team | Current place | Played | Win | Draw | Loss |
| Kieran McKenna | Ipswich Town | 1st | 40 | 26 | 9 | 5 |
| Daniel Farke | Leeds United | 2nd | 40 | 26 | 8 | 6 |
| Carlos Corberan | West Brom | 5th | 40 | 19 | 11 | 10 |
| Liam Rosenior | Hull City | 10th | 39 | 16 | 10 | 13 |
McKenna is the manager of Ipswich Town, and he is tipped by most to win the award.
Ipswich are currently top of the Championship, and it is their first season back in the second tier after being promoted from League One last season. To have his team (where the majority of them were playing in the third tier last season) pushing for back-to-back promotions to the Premier League is an outstanding achievement.
Farke is in charge at Leeds United, and they are also fighting near the top of the league, currently sitting in second place.
After relegation from the Premier League last season, the Whites lost a lot of key players, but Farke recruited well. After not starting the season as well as they would have liked, they have now not lost a single league game in 2024.
The final nominee is Hull City manager Rosenior, but there are question marks over his nomination.
Rosenior has been backed a lot by owner Alun Ilcali in the transfer market, in both the summer and especially in the January transfer window, with the likes of Fabio Carvalho and Anass Zaroury joining the Tigers midway through the season.
However, so far, he has failed to match Hull’s aspirations of finishing in the top six. As it stands they are currently sitting in 10th, and are six points off the play-offs with a game in hand.
Their recent form has been far from good enough – only picking up four points from their last possible 18 and, whilst he’s in his first senior job, his achievements hardly match up to other managers in the play-off race.
Corberan will be disappointed he was not nominated for the award
With Rosenior’s nomination especially, Corberan will feel hard done by not being nominated.
Financially, for a team with ambitions of reaching the top six at least – West Brom have not backed Corberan at all. The Baggies have made seven signings this season, with all of them either coming in on a free transfer or on loan.
This, in large, will come down to another thing that Corberan has had to deal with, which is the uncertainty over the ownership.
Albion were bought in February by American Businessman Shilen Patel, who bought a majority stake in the club from Guochuan Lai, which ended any fears the fans had under previous ownership.
Injuries have also been a major problem for Corberan to contend with. Strikers Josh Maja and Daryl Dike have both had long-term injuries, leaving Corberan with few to pick from upfront. Jayson Molumby and Matt Phillips are amongst the other players who have been on the sidelines for extended periods over the course of the season.
