Huddersfield Town's Carlos Corberan succeeding where Marcelo Bielsa is faltering at Leeds United

Carlos Corberan has had to be a patient man since arriving at Huddersfield Town.

In among some encouraging signs in the first half of last season were some indications of the precipitous decline that followed. It is only over the past few months, after an excellent summer’s recruitment, that the head coach has started to see a side emerging in his vision on a consistent basis.

Town’s current 16-game unbeaten run is the reward for 18 months of diligent work by the head coach, and has led to a playoff push that was the furthest thing from anyone’s minds at the start of the season – or anyone outside the club, at least.

That kind of patience is also reflected in how willing Corberan has been to put up with questions about Marcelo Bielsa.

It was months into his tenure at Town before a press conference went by that didn’t involve an irregular member of the opposition’s local media sticking up their hand to ask about the role the Leeds United boss had played in Corberan’s rise to his current position.

With the spotlight now on Town more and more, there has been growing attention from the national media, who invariably bring up the B-word – even if somewhat apologetically.

Corberan is always obliging, as though answering it for the first time; and as much as it may rankle with some Town fans, the Spaniard has nothing but good things to say about Bielsa and what they achieved in their two years helping Leeds United into the Premier League.

Pleasingly for a fanbase who would prefer to have nothing in common with their hated neighbours, though, Corberan has increasingly proved himself to be his own man with his own ideas about how the game should best be played.

Those who see Corberan as Bielsa-lite are mistaken – as tends to