CORBERAN THE MAN FOR TOWN
Leeds United’s Under-23 coach is top of Huddersfield’s wanted list
LEEDS UNITED chairman Andrea Radrizzani will not step in Carlos Corberan’s way if he wants to become the new manager of Huddersfield Town, but Danny Schofield will take charge for the Terriers’ final match of the season.
Leeds’s Under-23 coach is the preferred choice to replace the sacked Danny Cowley and while a deal should be reached quickly, with few signs of resistance, Schofield will be in the dugout against Millwall tomorrow.
Corberan initially joined the Whites with a brief to run the Under-23s in 2017, but this was expanded to include a role coordinating with the first team at Radrizzani’s request.
Leeds’s Under-23s won the Professional Development League last season, and 37-yearold Corberan would fit more easily into Huddersfield’s vision for the future than Cowley did.
The clash of ideas was cited as why the Terriers surprisingly parted company with Cowley and his brother and assistant Nicky less than 48 hours after saving them from relegation.
Having persuaded Corberan to resist the opportunity to go into first-team management last summer, Radrizzani is unlikely to do so again.
“Carlos joined as manager of the Under-23s,” the Italian explained. “I actually asked Marcelo (Bielsa, the coach) directly if we could have him involved in the first-team squad to create more cohesion between the Under-23s and first team.
“We have seen many players join the first team during these two years.”
Corberan, who began as a 26-year-old fitness coach with Villareal, had brief spells as a head coach in Cyprus with Doxa Katopopias and Ermis Aradippou before moving to Thorp Arch.
Radrizzani feels the time is right for him to return to that status if he wants to.
“I understand the ambition of Carlos, last year he had some opportunities to leave to become a first team coach,” said Radrizzani.
“I asked him to stay a year because we had an unfinished job.
“Now he needs have the credit to enjoy this success, his hard work every day.
“I think now it is good if he can take his own path and start a new journey to build himself as a firstteam coach.
“He deserves it.” Midfielder-turned-under-19 coach Schofield will take charge on Wednesday’s game, assisted by another former Huddersfield midfielder, Under-17 coach Jon Worthington, goalkeeping coach Paul Clements and experienced central defender Tommy Elphick.
Theoretically, Town can still be relegated but it would require them to lose, Charlton Athletic and Luton Town to win their final games, the latter with an 18-goal goal difference swing, and for Wigan Athletic to overturn a 12-point deduction for going into administration.
Thoughts have therefore turned to the future in what will be a difficult financial climate for Huddersfield, who have had to pay back some of their parachute payment from the Premier League this season.
Town are expected to put a stronger emphasis on bringing through young players and on more attractive football than the pragmatic approach the Cowleys felt that they had to adopt in order to keep the club in the Championship.
Corberan, who joined Leeds in 2017, would seem to fit the bill, and a structure led by new head of football operations Leigh Bromby.
His limited experience is no deterrent to a club which gave David Wagner his first senior coaching role and is likely to be named as coach, not manager as Cowley insisted on.