Carlos Corberan insists West Brom January plans remain unchanged
Carlos Corberan insists his plans for the January window have not changed despite Guochuan Lai's failure to repay a £5million loan.
Controlling shareholder Lai said last summer he would repay the figure loaned in March 2021 in time for the January transfer window - but the December 31 deadline came and went.
Corberan - whose side made it a remarkable eight wins from nine in the Championship with a 1-0 win over Reading - admitted he understood the frustration of supporters as several thousand gathered to protest on Halfords Lane outside the directors' offices at full-time.
But the head coach held firm on his plans for the January market, which Corberan made clear have not changed since his late-October appointment.
"I don't have the money to put in this money so it's nothing I can control!" Corberan said of the unpaid loan.
"The thing I can control is to keep working the team to make our fans feel proud when they are watching the team - this is everything I can do.
"But from my point of view from when I arrived here nothing has changed in terms of the possibility we have for this market.
"For me the plans are the same, everything is the same, I understand the frustration of the fans and I respect everything they want to do.
"But my work and the focus of the players is to give to them the happiness to them after winning."
Corberan has said he will improve Albion's squad if he can - but the challenge is difficult given the size and quality of the group.
Albion climbed to ninth in the Championship thanks to Daryl Dike's first home goal in front of another boosted crowd at The Hawthorns.
Corberan's men, who not long after his appointment were bottom of the pile, are now just four points from third after the hard-fought win.
"The first 25 minutes showed the mentality of the team, and after when you don't score the goal you need to manage the game emotionally well," the head coach added of a lightning start that could have put Albion at least 3-0 up.
"Because you can be frustrated and look for position in attacks that don't allow you to keep doing the things you weren't doing to that point."
The victory was especially important for the head coach as it was the first time his wife and son, who has not yet turned one, have watched an Albion game in person.
They were joined by his family in full who jetted over from Spain for the new year and to watch the game.
