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West Brom slammed by Sky Sports pundit amid ‘big team’ verdict
David Prutton believes West Brom were “nowhere near” their best last season and has highlighted the strength of the teams that will await Carlos Corberan in the Championship.
The Baggies missed out on a spot in the playoffs and a chance of promotion to the Premier League on the last day of the season, with Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town all securing top-flight football for next season.
Writing in his column for the Yorkshire Evening Post (6 June), Prutton admitted that despite being notoriously “big teams”, both West Brom and the Hornets failed to deliver the goods in the 2022/23 Championship season.
“West Brom were nowhere near it and Watford were absolutely nowhere near it – teams that you would deem big teams down there,” he wrote.
“Burnley have been great, obviously, as have Sheffield United and then there is the story with Luton which has been phenomenal. But Sunderland didn’t go up and Middlesbrough are another one.
“There’s very good teams down there that are waiting for Leeds. After the post mortem they really have got to get their heads around it because once again, back in the Championship, every team will be absolutely gunning for them.”
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Tough challenge awaits
Notoriously, there are always several smaller clubs in the Championship who are destined to be fighting the drop, but the upcoming season could be the strongest season in the division’s history.
Up have come Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday from League One, while Leeds United, Leicester City and Southampton have been relegated from the Premier League.
Add into the mix the likes of Middlesbrough and Sunderland, who just missed out on promotion, as well as Watford and Norwich City and the lineup for the upcoming season looks incredibly tough.
With Corberan not expected to be awarded huge levels of funding amid the club’s current financial predicament and a fire sale of first-team players instead predicted, it could be a huge task to even make the top-six next year.
Hopefully, the Spaniard will decide to stay at The Hawthorns next season amid interest from Leeds United and help the club compete for Premier League football.
In other West Brom news, Chris Lepkowski has been left fuming amid a stinking Hawthorns development at the boardroom level.
