Better than Carrick: West Brom could re-hire “elite” Mason replacement
Heading into 2026, Ryan Mason would have been praying that he could turn around West Bromwich Albion’s dismal fortunes.
Indeed, the now departed Baggies boss was on very shaky ground regarding his long-term Hawthorns future as the New Year approached, with four defeats coming his inconsistent team’s way across a largely bumpy December.
Unfortunately for the rookie head coach, he has now been put out of his misery, with a last-minute defeat to Leicester City proving to be the final straw.
That 2-1 loss on the road at the King Power Stadium was, staggeringly, the Championship club’s tenth league away defeat in a row, as the powers that be at West Brom desperately try to seek out a season-saving appointment, with the West Midlands outfit currently sat just six points shy of the relegation spaces.
Who West Brom could appoint to replace Mason
With how wildly competitive the second tier can be, West Brom are also only ten points off the coveted playoff spaces, and the Baggies now at a major crossroads for how the rest of their season could play out.
It makes the next appointment one that the West Brom hierarchy must get spot on, with Michael Carrick continuing to be linked with the job.
He might well have bigger fish to fry, as he’s tipped to be a temporary solution to Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim horrors, but he would be seen as a statement replacement for Mason, considering he consistently had Middlesbrough in and around the playoff spots during his tenure at the Riverside Stadium.
He’s far from the only interesting name being tipped to replace Mason, though, with former Baggies great Carlos Corberan also being linked with a spectacular return to England, having found his ongoing managerial stint at Valencia to be fraught with trouble.
Reports from Spain, which have been relayed by Sport Witness, indicate that the Spaniard could well be on borrowed time in the Estadio Mestalla hot-seat, with continued poor results in La Liga pushing the 42-year-old ever closer to the brink.
This would be welcome news for West Brom, who loved Corberan during his first spell in charge, with unfinished business on the end of the 42-year-old at the Hawthorns, potentially making him a better option to appoint than Carrick.
Why Corberan would be a better appointment than Carrick
West Brom have, arguably, never recovered from Corberan’s departure to Spain, with Tony Mowbray and the aforementioned Mason only managing to collect a low 14 wins combined as his successors.
Re-appointing the passionate Spaniard to pick up the pieces could be the best call moving forward; therefore, with the ex-Huddersfield Town boss breathing life back into West Brom’s faltering situation in some style during his first spell, as he turned the Baggies into playoff contenders, over relegation fodder.
A sensational winning run of eight wins from his first ten games in charge would catapult the West Midlands side back into promotion contention, leading to Corberan being labelled an “elite” coach by scout Petar Petrov.
Carrick has also been known to pull off an equally impressive run of form as a Championship manager, with Middlesbrough becoming a regular promotion challenger under the 44-year-old’s watchful eye, which saw him further be labelled as “insanely talented” by ex-Boro player Lukas Engel.
Corberan Championship record vs Carrick
Stat
Corberan
Carrick
Games
195
124
Wins
81
57
Draws
55
24
Losses
59
44
Points accumulated
298
195
Goals scored
252
200
Goals conceded
217
154
Playoff finishes
2x
1x
Sourced by Transfermarkt
Yet, Corberan has even more experience under his belt of what it takes to turn an underdog into a top Championship side, when managing the Terriers, with a Wembley visit via a playoff final also on his resume when managing in West Yorkshire.
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As a result, he can boast 24 more wins in the second tier than Carrick, albeit from 68 more games, with Corberan’s possible re-entry onto the scene perhaps just what is needed at the Hawthorns to turn around another unfortunate demise.
After all, it would be an appointment that would likely immediately bring a fractured fanbase back together, with Carrick not guaranteed to be instantly as likeable, as his final season record at Middlesbrough saw him lose a high 18 Championship games.
Whereas, as the Second Tier podcast, once boldly put it, Corberan has “single-handedly dragged the whole club out of the dirt” before, and he would be willing to do so again, as the short-lived Mason era at West Brom is hopefully pushed to one side.
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