Grady hails remarkable turnaround

GRADY Diangana says Carlos Corberan has had a ‘huge impact’ on the Albion squad after replacing Steve Bruce in October.

Since the departure of Slaven Bilic in 2020, it has not been plain sailing for Diangana, who struggled for minutes and form under Sam Allardyce and Valerien Ismael. The winger did respond better under Bruce and began this campaign strongly, scoring in the defeats to Blackburn and Swansea.

The Baggies’ collective form cost Bruce his job but Diangana has witnessed a significant upturn in fortunes since Corberan’s arrival and he and his team-mates have benefited from the head coach’s meticulous planning and coaching.

“Tactically and mentally, he’s had a huge impact,” said Diangana. “On the training pitch, he goes into great detail to help us understand – and that’s with everyone. He’s given us the tools to push on as a team.

“We’re a collective and we want to reach our goals. That’s what the manager and his staff emphasise, whenever you get your chance, give 100%, you’re there to do a job. That’s the message. You can’t do it alone. When everyone’s on the same wavelength and fighting for each other, it makes it that bit easier.”

Albion produced a number of impressive displays in the early stages of the season under Bruce without getting the results to match. Eventually there was a need for change, but expectedgoals tables and the like would point to the fact that Albion were doing plenty of good things, even if they weren’t rewarding themselves.

That is a view shared by Diangana, who credits Corberan with making sufficient alterations when preparing for games and who, based on early evidence, looks to have used the World Cup break to transform Albion’s season.

“I thought, even at the start of the season, we weren’t far off,” Diangana added. “That’s the Championship for you, you win a few games and you can climb the table.’’