Koroma's comeback - Assessing Josh Koroma's road to redemption
Zak Armitage, Feature Writer
Twitter: @SportWriterZak
If you ask me to reflect on the 2020-21 season, Josh Koroma would be the first name to spring to mind. He was excellent. He hit a hot streak of form early on in that campaign and it looked like Town had unearthed a gem.
We’d seen glimpses of his undoubted talent in the previous season (2019-20), his first at the club, but it was clear that he was raw. A brief loan spell at Rotherham ensued from January, while he waited in the wings for his Town chance.
The departures of Karlan Grant, Steve Mounie and Elias Kachunga at the end of that season, opened up a trio of vacancies in attack for Town and JK grabbed his slot in the team with open hands, inheriting Karlan Grant’s spot on the left wing. Big shoes to fill…
His eight league goals that campaign, which undoubtedly would’ve been more had it not been for a mid-season injury, were instrumental in keeping Town in the Championship. They were instrumental in keeping Carlos Corberán in a job.
Sadly for JK, the injury couldn’t have come at a worse time and by the point he’d returned to full fitness at the start of last season, Sorba Thomas was now the new kid on the block and Carlos Corberán seemed to prefer Danel Sinani to start on the opposite flank.
Despite this, Koroma managed to rack up 34 outings last season, with a vast amount of those off the bench. But in less than a year he’d gone from being a star player to an impact player. He was a shadow of his former self. The ignition had gone.
His chance to put things right this season and get back to his best couldn’t have got off to a worse start, he made zero impact in the opening games of the season and Town opted to ship him out on loan to Portsmouth before the deadline, to make room for incomings. At that point, with his contract due to expire in the summer, I thought we’d seen the last of him in a Town shirt. I think we all did.
While JK was getting game time on the South Coast, Town were sleepwalking into relegation, and a barren run of form leading up to January had left the squad in turmoil. The player who seemed to be struggling the most was Sorba Thomas, who, like Koroma the previous season, was struggling to reach the dizzying heights he’d set himself.
Sorba seemed to reach breaking point in January and with Town’s main attacking outlet heading for the exit door, it offered an unexpected second chance to the now-recalled Josh Koroma, one he has taken, so far at least, with open arms.
I, like many, was surprised to see Koroma return to the fold and the comments made by Portsmouth fans on the news of his return to Town certainly didn’t fill me with confidence. I’d long since resigned myself to the fact that we wouldn’t see Koroma return to prominence for us. I didn’t have much faith. How I was proven wrong.
A goal off the bench in just his second match away at Blackpool set the tone for Koroma’s renaissance, and while the trip to Blackpool proved to be the end of the road for Mark Fotheringham, it proved to be the start of JK’s road to redemption…
Fast forward a week and Neil Warnock had returned to HD1, for everyone in the squad it offered a much-needed clean slate, with the golden opportunity to work their way into his plans. Koroma has certainly done that and has featured in seven of Warnock’s first nine matches at the helm.
It’s in the last four of those games where JK has been particularly impressive, playing an instrumental role in a Town team that has taken 10 points out of a possible 12 and climbed out of the relegation zone for the first time since August.
When Warnock arrived at Canalside and assessed his troops, he clearly saw that Koroma was starting to turn a corner and he used his renowned man management skills to the best of their effect on JK. Town’s number 10 has his mojo back and that’s very much owed to his character, mindset and his willingness to prove himself again, as well as a bit of Neil Warnock’s coaching aptitude.
Seeing Koroma back at his best has been a true joy and it’s come just as the Town chapter in his career seemed to be reaching its conclusion. Regardless of whether Town get their happy ending and fulfil their great escape or not, they should ensure that Josh Koroma is retained over the summer. It would seem like a waste otherwise.
Second chances are rare in the cutthroat world of football, and with JK seizing his, I find it paramount that Town ensure he remains in HD1 beyond the summer.
Next season will be a new dawn for Town, a new era. I see Koroma as part of that future, I think he could play a key role in it.
Set your watches to JK time Town fans, because it’s well and truly upon us…
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