West Brom 1-0 Blackpool: Okay Yokuslu scored five minutes from time to seal all three points

West Bromwich Albion owner Guochuan Lai was pilloried by outraged supporters despite the club’s first home win since August.

Although Okay Yokuslu’s goal five minutes from time gave new boss Carlos Corberan his opening win as Albion boss and lifted the club from the bottom of the championship, it will take more than a single win to resolve the club’s deep-seated problems. unload.

“I respect any kind of behavior from the fans, but I’m here to change their feelings,” Corberan said. “I want to make fans proud of the team. During the game they supported the team a lot and it’s not easy for them when things don’t go well. Our challenge is to make the fans happy.’

Lai, who is based in China, is hugely unpopular with fans, who have asked to know when a £5m loan he took from the club in March 2021 will be repaid.

When Lai took control of Albion in 2016, they were in the Premier League, but now they are staring at possible relegation to League One.

Albion supporters attacked Lai with X-rated chants while also shouting ‘Where’s the money?’ and “Get up if you want Lai out.”

The bags of empty seats visible across the street from The Hawthorns were as effective a protest against Lai as any chant, though the 19,786 crowd stayed with their team the entire time.

Following Steve Bruce’s resignation last month, West Brom chief executive Ron Gourlay has hung his hat on Corberan, who led Huddersfield to the play-off final on a tight budget last season.

The Spaniard is a protege of Marcelo Bielsa and has promised to bring the ruthless work ethic that made his mentor famous.

“Sometimes we don’t understand what trust means,” Corberan added. “To me it means knowing you can do what you need to do. We can’t wait for one positive result to get it back.

“The wins help everyone believe in the things we propose. We want to be a very difficult team to beat at home.”

His first game ended in a home defeat to Sheffield United last Saturday after Albion made a blunder by giving away their tactics via training clips on social media.

West Brom manager Carlos Corberan will be relieved with the late winner

While there were no mistakes this time, Blackpool’s defense still had little trouble keeping Albion at bay.

The only chance of the first half came for West Brom as Karlan Grant ran to Yokuslu’s pass and slashed in Marvin Ekpiteta before firing straight at Chris Maxwell.

Shortly after the break, Matt Phillips fired over from an equally good position and John Swift was also wide of the target. Moments later, Swift was denied by Maxwell from eight yards.

West Brom finally got the goal their efforts deserved when Swift’s corner was assisted by Darnell Furlong and Brandon Thomas-Asante replaced Yokuslu to go in at the far post.

“I can’t say we deserved to win, but I thought it would have been 0-0,” said Blackpool boss Michael Appleton. “It didn’t look like we were going to score tonight.”

West Brom’s Conor Townsend is tackled by Jerry Yates from Blackpool’s visiting side