Shropshire Star

Ron Gourlay: Carlos Corberan reminds me of a young Jose Mourinho

Chief executive Ron Gourlay drew comparisons to 'a young Jose Mourinho' and described how Albion head coach Carlos Corberan 'blew him away' during interviews.

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Spaniard Corberan has enjoyed a stunning first three months at the helm at The Hawthorns and transformed a potential scrap to avoid League One into a push for the Premier League.

Late heartache at Burnley last time out halted a run of nine Championship wins from 10 as Albion redirect their focus to the FA Cup at Bristol City this weekend.

Albion chief Gourlay was quizzed about progress in Albion's football board structure and went on to explain Corberan has been 'impressed' and 'feels comfortable' under the club's current model – and waxed lyrical about the 39-year-old head coach's presence.

"The technical director is an interesting one, because since Carlos came on board, he's looked at the technical board and he quite likes the model," Gourlay said.

"When he was at Huddersfield he had a director, but since he's left there that performance has changed quite a lot. He was impressed by the work we did in the window, he feels comfortable operating under the technical board."

Albion's technical board is made up of the head coach, his backroom staff Jorge Alarcon, Damia Abella, Gary Walsh and James Morrison alongside Gourlay, head of recruitment Ian Pearce, head of academy Rich Stevens, head of medical Tony Strudwick, director of communications Ian Skidmore, the club's finance director Henry Pu and the general counsel Barney Ellis.

Gourlay added: "He looks at the right now. He doesn't like the big charts where people will look and say, 'how many points are we going to get from these next games?' Forget it.

"The meetings they do in the week, the one-to-ones, with every player. I've never seen anything like it. The young (Jose) Mourinho, when he first came into Chelsea, he was a bit like that.

"The thing I see here is the thing I see here with Jose when he first came, it's 'If you believe in me and do what I ask, you will come to the club and win.' It's that belief and trust."