Sheffield United chief set for Leeds United reunion with West Brom boss - at worst possible time

The Sheffield United boss worked with the Spaniard when he was at Elland Road, taking charge of the first team while Corberán worked with the club’s U21 side.

After branching out into management in his own right, Corberán took Huddersfield to last season’s play-off final before departing in the summer and after a short spell with Greek giants Olympiacos, returned to England earlier this week to succeed Steve Bruce at West Brom.

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Heckingbottom admits the timing could be better, with United left mostly ‘guessing’ over how the Baggies will set up under their new boss.

And the United boss said: “Carlos was doing the under-21s so I know him from Leeds, yeah. It's a different role when he's been a manager. He's got someone from when he was at Huddersfield who worked with him at Olympiacos so he's brought in a couple of people he knows well and trusts and then he'll be looking to put that stamp on this team.

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“When there's a change, there's a different feel straightaway. So the good thing about changing something, as a player or manager or staff, subconsciously something changes. Even if he came in and said: ‘Right, we're doing everything exactly the same’. Something's changed. And there's a different energy and a different spark. So he's going to get that, but then it's putting something in place which works over a long period of time.”

United, therefore, are arguably travelling to the Hawthorns at the worst possible time, with a squad of players expected to enjoy that new-manager ‘bounce’ and with United’s analysis department largely unable to predict how Corberán’s Albion set-up will differ to how the Baggies looked under their caretaker boss Richard Beale, who took charge after former Blades player and boss Bruce was dismissed earlier this month.

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“It's the worst time for me sitting here,” Heckingbottom added. “If Richard was still doing the team, then we'd prepare off the last few games he took. That's the frustrating thing, but we have to deal with it. We've had it before and we'll have it again.”