West Brom fans are now seeing a proper Carlos Corberan side - nearly two years after his arrival

In just under two years, Corberan has transformed many things at Albion after a difficult period following the latest relegation from the Premier League.

He turned the tide after a dreadful run under former boss Steve Bruce, and had Albion in the play-off hunt until the final day.

Then last season, after bringing in hardly any new signings and as the club remained under the financial cloud of the previous owner, he guided Albion to within a whisker of a Wembley play-off final.

Now, four games into the new season, he has Albion riding high in the Championship, with fans dreaming of what the rest of the campaign could bring.

And it feels like, in these first few weeks of the the season, we are just starting to see a real Corberan side, one that has been nearly two years in the making.

That is by no means disregarding what he has done over the last 24 months - but he now has his blueprint all over this Albion side and it is showing.

When he first arrived, it was all about plugging gaps and getting results and Albion did that.

His first few games garnered a handful of 1-0 wins, and slowing he started to mould Albion into the side he wanted. Hard to beat and grinding out results.

But it was difficult and towards the end of his first season at the club, there were times when the football was not great.

Despite a lack of signings last summer, he had more time to make a mark with a full pre-season.

On the first day of last season, you could see Corberan's philosophy really starting to come out, as Albion looked to play out from the back.

They lost 2-1 at Blackburn after giving the home side two goals.

After leaking goals in the opening few games, he changed it, going to a back three, adapting to what he had at his disposal to get results.

Then slowly throughout last season, Albion morphed into a side who could play with a back four while keeping it tight, and at the same time create chances.

It almost got them back into the Premier League.

'The blankest canvas'

This summer, despite still having financial challenges, Corberan had the blankest canvas he has had to work on during his time at the club.

A host of players left and he brought in eleven of his own signings, the most during any of his windows by a country mile.

That has allowed him to further put his stamp on the side and get them playing fully the way he wants to.

Alongside this, there are still a number of players who have remained at the club, who have developed to play in the way he wants to play.

That is plain to see from the likes of Kyle Bartley, comfortable playing out from the back now when he hadn't had to do that prior to Corberan's arrival.

Jayson Molumby bombing forward into the box to get on the end of things is a far cry from the midfielder we saw when he first arrived at the club.

We are now seeing a side that defensively is tight and keeps the back door closed, while also being able to play expansive and exciting attacking football.

It has taken an awful lot of hard work by not just the coaching staff but by the recruitment team to get to this point.

In fact, it taken almost two years - but we are now starting to see a proper Corberan team.