Celtic hero Tom Rogic is facing a fresh battle for relevancy with promotion-chasing West Brom after his boss admitted even a place on the bench is no guarantee.
Carlos Corberan has the Baggies bouncing but there was no place in the matchday squad for the Wizard of Oz in the win over Coventry – something the Spaniard conceded was unfair. Rogic had forged his way into the West Brom reckoning but found himself on the outside looking a week after starting in the FA Cup defeat to Bristol City.
Rogic has made 16 appearances after leaving Celtic in the summer. The 30-year-old was not selected for Australia's FA Cup squad but he has shown flashes of his trademark ability at the Hawthorns. But now his boss – who signed a new deal this week to keep Leeds United at bay – admits Rogic's position in the team is far from a simple one. Corberan said: "It's complicated sometimes to give you the answer. I know how good a player Rogic is and how hard it is to leave a player out who could be in the first XI - not just someone who could be on the bench. We can play with a specific number 10, and then a specific 10 on the bench.
"Or, you play with a number 10 and a player who has a different profile, and you don't take two seats on the bench with two players who give you the same. It depends more on this than the player. I can only tell you that to leave Rogic out of the squad is totally unfair on him. Sometimes to leave out another player is unfair for him too.
"When you have a squad with lots of players, you have a problem - you're leaving out good players. When you have a squad without enough good first-team players, you don't have players who can play at the same level if someone is injured. At the end, I think fortunately we have very good players.
"Some players are going to manage difficulties very well, difficulties as a coach for me and for the players, it's all about our journey together. I only can involve 16 outfield players in the team every game, and I have 20 very good players. Four will be out of the group, when they're working well - as they are - it means that every decision you make might be the right one, but it's unfair. This is one of the worst parts for me as a coach - to make unfair decisions."
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