West Bromwich Albion is still pushing for a return to the Premier League through promotion.
Due to Norwich City’s midweek loss at Middlesbrough, the Baggies now hold a five-point lead over the Canaries in the race for the top six.
Albion is in a strong position to have a chance at making a run at the Premier League with ten games left in the regular season, but they will need to overcome Huddersfield Town this weekend, who are fighting for every point in the lower half of the table.
Albion had to contend with minimal funding until Shilen Patel fully acquired the team, but their acquisitions in the January transfer window have strengthened the team’s offensive capabilities and sustained their aspirations for promotion.
But one player who hasn’t been able to make an impression thus far is Callum Marshall, a forward who joined B71 on loan from West Ham but hasn’t been able to log enough minutes.
Supporters of both teams are perplexed as to why Marshall moved to the West Midlands in the first place given his lack of playing time, and some returning attacking talent for West Brom in the upcoming weeks may further limit his opportunities in the squad.
West Brom’s lack of playing time for Callum Marshall
The 19-year-old youngster signed a loan agreement with The Hawthorns during the January transfer window, but he has struggled to get playing time.
Marshall is an unutilized replacement in the last four league games and has played just 54 minutes overall.
Alongside Marshall, Albion made more acquisitions at the start of the season, and now have a formidable forward line, with academy graduate Tom Fellows establishing himself as a first-team staple, Grady Diangana returning from the AFCON, and Mikey Johnston and Andi Weimann making early impressions.
Wednesday night’s meeting at Loftus Road saw Jed Wallace lead the line out of position for the whole game, with Weimann coming on as a substitute on the left side for a portion of the second half.
It was clear that Corberan doesn’t trust Marshall enough in games that impact their hopes of promotion because he had no other attacking alternatives available to him that evening. This will annoy West Ham supporters who prefer to watch Marshall progress in the lower league.
With just 10 games played, Marshall scored 16 goals and provided three assists for the Hammers in their Premier League 2 season, making waves for his first loan stint in professional football.
The fact that he hasn’t been able to consistently display his goal-scoring ability after making such an impression in their junior academy will irritate West Ham and impede his advancement into the team’s first squad for the upcoming season.
In order to continually improve his game, Marshall will probably need to go on another loan away from the Hammers, especially if he stays on the sidelines at The Hawthorns.
Remarks from Carlos Corberan regarding Callum Marshall’s loan period
In response to inquiries over Marshall’s absence from the starting lineup in recent weeks, Albion’s manager, Brian Corberan, stated that the squad wants Marshall to keep growing as a player.
The forward is waiting for his chance to make an impression, and the Spaniard said that he could understand his dissatisfaction. However, he thinks that facing a lack of playing time will help the forward grow as a person before he returns to the London Stadium.
Marshall is a player with a lot of good qualities and is in a situation where he can still progress a lot, therefore Corberan expressed regret, according to Belfast Live.
“He is still developing, so he won’t be ready for game action right away. This includes it. Players that we wanted to play have gone on loan to other teams, but they didn’t.
“One such person is Reece Hall. We sent him on loan, and even though he didn’t play, he returned because that experience is important for his development. It promotes growth and maturity in you. You develop when you adjust your resources to meet the needs, not just while you play.”
Callum Marshall could fall farther down the ladder as a result of returning players.
The possibility of some returning players to bolster the top end of the pitch will give the Baggies confidence even though they will have few offensive options against QPR.
Josh Maja, a summer addition, is expected to make a comeback around Easter after missing four months due to a catastrophic ankle injury. Brandon Thomas-Asante will get a scan to see if he plays any part against Huddersfield this weekend.
Matt Phillips, 32, is expected to return to training next week and begin a rehabilitation program in order to rejoin the first team during Easter.
With several important players set to return for the final stretch of the season, Marshall is probably going to be further down the depth chart and play very few minutes, with more of the senior players projected to have major roles in the season’s final ten games.
Marshall is still a spectator on the sidelines, but both clubs should take responsibility for believing that Albion was the ideal place for him.
This experience will undoubtedly have damaged the confidence of the Northern Ireland international, and if he had been loaned to a League One team vying for promotion or a lower division team fighting relegation, more growth might have been seen.
Marshall’s first loan stint in senior football under Corberan looks like it will end badly right now, and more time will have to be taken away from his playing days to make up for this poor decision.