The Express & Star’s Lewis Cox highlighted an ‘interesting’ comment made by West Bromwich Albion manager Carlos Corberan about goalkeeper David Button following his side’s defeat on Friday night.
The Lowdown: Button errors
The Baggies shot-stopper was at fault for both of the goals they conceded during their Championship clash against Birmingham City.
Button was caught napping as he left his goal exposed at a free-kick, with Hannibal Mejbri capitalising as he whipped the ball into the corner and scored.
Birmingham’s second came from a corner where the Albion stopper ought to have claimed the ball, only for Krystian Bielik to head home.
Speaking on the Express & Star’s YouTube channel, Cox discussed the conversation he had with Corberan about Button following the conclusion of the match, stating that he was affected by the nature of the opening goal from Mejbri’s set piece.
He said: “We’ve had a chat with Carlos Corberan just there and he actually said an interesting thing in that that first goal really knocked Button and he was just unable to sort of recover, rediscover his composure – which says a lot.
“We know he’s had a tough season before he was dropped in October, and you would imagine his confidence and mentality took a real beating tonight after a high at The Hawthorns last week, a clean sheet, he’s right back down to Earth with a bump.”
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The Verdict: Weak area
With Alex Palmer ruled out with an injury at the moment, we believe that the goalkeeper position is an area of weakness for West Brom.
Palmer aside, they only have Button and 21-year-old Josh Griffiths available for selection for their upcoming fixtures.
Furthermore, the error against the Blues is not Button’s first mistake of the season, as he also produced a howler earlier in the campaign against Swansea City.
Meanwhile, Griffiths has recently returned from a loan with Portsmouth in League One and has no experience of playing in the Championship.
Our view is that it all comes down to whether Corberan has completely lost faith in Button for the time being – in which case, it could a good chance for Griffiths to get some game time and develop until Palmer returns.
However, you could argue that it’s a big ask, and with West Brom fighting for a spot in the play-offs, it could be too risky to play such an inexperienced ‘keeper, while further depleting Button’s confidence must surely be in Corberan’s thinking.
