Tony Mowbray Discussion

[CambridgeRover]

Given we are now in the situation where relegation is a distinct possibility, you would think Tony would self reflect and make some big changes. He should be questioning himself to look for better answers. Why are we struggling going forward? Why do we collapse mentally in games? Who needs to be dropped? 

Instead it feels like he is disconnected. Nothing significantly changes in his approach. In fact the only thing that seems to be happening is that he is becoming more entrenched in his system and refuses to consider the possibility he might need to change things. Why does Bennett play every game? Why does he continue to belittle younger players whilst playing favourites with older players? Why did he priorities a striker so much more than any other position?

I doubt he will ever change. Too stubborn to consider other approaches. And for that reason alone, he has a ceiling to where he can take us. Unfortunately that ceiling is our current position. He won't ever be the manager to take us to promotion or a playoff push. He will keep us in bottom half championship football for the rest of his stint here.  

However, as others have rightly pointed out, he is under no pressure, no pressure to change, no pressure to get us to the playoffs. Venkys are absent, and seemingly like him. It would take a major catastrophe for him to be sacked, perhaps a surprise relegation. 

So here we are, stuck in time, waiting for relegation to come with no way out. The club exists in this zombie like phase, lumbering around but with no purpose and until Venkys leave that is the way it will stay.

Venkys Out

 

Edited October 28, 2019 by CambridgeRover

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Just now, CambridgeRover said:

Given we are now in the situation where relegation is a distinct possibility, you would think Tony would self reflect and make some big changes. He should be questioning himself to look for better answers. Why are we struggling going forward? Why do we collapse mentally in games? Who needs to be dropped? 

Instead it feels like he is disconnected. Nothing significantly changes in his approach. In fact the only thing that seems to be happening is that he is becoming more entrenched in his system and refuses to consider the possibility he might need to change things. Why does Bennett play every game? Why does he continue to belittle younger players whilst playing favourites with older players? Why did he priorities a striker so much more than any other position?

I doubt he will ever change. Too stubborn to consider other approaches. And for that reason alone, he has a ceiling to where he can take us. Unfortunately that ceiling is our current position. He won't ever be the manager to take us to promotion or a playoff push. He will keep us in bottom half championship football for the rest of his stint here.  

However, as others have rightly pointed out, he is under no pressure, no pressure to change, no pressure to get us to the playoffs. Venkys are absent, and seemingly like him. It would take a major catastrophe for him to be sacked, perhaps a surprise relegation. 

So here we are, stuck in time, waiting for relegation to come with no way out. The club exists in this zombie like phase, lumbering around but with no purpose and until Venkys leave that is the way it will stay.

Venkys Out

 

A correct summary of the terrible situation this Club is in..we are in total Limbo.

[Paul Mani]

I hate to say it, but I think a lot of you are massively overreacting. Talk of relegation and limbo etc...this coming from a person (myself) who thinks we would benefit from a change of manager.

Mowbrays biggest issue is the pressure he’s heaped on himself by publicly aiming for a top 6 finish. Had he come out saying he was looking for incremental progress and maybe a top 10 finish then the hysteria and subsequent thirst for all and any evidence to back up his sacking would be much less. 
 

He’s naturally under pressure with the recent run of results because they have been poor. But he can quite easily mitigate those runs with key injuries in the new year and at present. More importantly, this pressure isn’t putting his job at risk. Not at the moment anyway. Because his employers, the players, coaches etc all know what is going on behind the scenes. In fairness, the only metric the fans have are winning or losing games...but surely most people can see that the club are going to stick with him until he has drained that professional bank account with everyone. 
 

I don’t even think that 20% of the fan base truly want him out. 

[benhben]

Just now, Paul Mani said:

I hate to say it, but I think a lot of you are massively overreacting.
 

I don’t even think that 20% of the fan base truly want him out. 

I guess it depends how much mediocre management and abject performances you're happy to accept and for how long.  

If this forum with many hundreds of members is a snapshot of the fanbase I would disagree only 20% want him out. I've not seen any positives given in his support for quite a while. Maybe I am wrong and this is a forum full of extremists. 

[Mercer]

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

You are correct Paul. 

I'm(and another Rovers supporting fan) spoken to Alan Nixon and Ken Lawrence over the 24 hours and they both say 

Ken Lawrence responses are

question asked:- Is Mowbray under any pressure?

KL Answer :- No. Venkys really like him. They know he is changing BR and it will take time. Consider where they were after rel to L1. Plus for right now loads of injuries. He’s seen to be doing a good job

next question asked :- about Saturday performance

KL answer :- I was there. Walton doesn’t miss a cross and there is no fight back. Mowbray trying to make BR a football playing side again. When Holtby gets back plus Lenihan and Cunningham they will be much better

Next question/comment asked:- Said we need a new keeper and Right back

KL Answer response:- Totally need a new GK

Nixon says his job isn't current threat atm

Last night/This morning via a Group chat containing people who are Rovers fans are mixed whether to keep Mowbray or not. Some say time to go, some say keep him for the season and some saying hes get 6 games or till Christmas time and some are undecided and would depend on who is his replacement. 

My view is the same but he is going nowhere at the minute so lets hope he can turn results around and get to January were we can sign the 3 or 4 players we need in the squad. 

 

That thought fills me with horror.

Without doubt, IMO, the manager is almost hopeless when it comes to player trading. 

[Amo]

19 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

 Had he come out saying he was looking for incremental progress and maybe a top 10 finish then the hysteria and subsequent thirst for all and any evidence to back up his sacking would be much less.  

Not for me. This club needs promotion and there's no reason why we shouldn't have been aiming for the playoffs. Poor recruitment in key positions and tinkerman tactics have put paid to that.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Amo

[unleaded]

20 percent !  More like ONLY 20 percent want him to stay and who are blind to his tenure and where he’s taking us .. 

Apart from Dack he’s wasted a lot of money ... he’s football is boring like his personality ... not for me ... 

If you can’t see that then carry on singing his song .... 

 

[JHRover]

15 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

I hate to say it, but I think a lot of you are massively overreacting. Talk of relegation and limbo etc...this coming from a person (myself) who thinks we would benefit from a change of manager.

Mowbrays biggest issue is the pressure he’s heaped on himself by publicly aiming for a top 6 finish. Had he come out saying he was looking for incremental progress and maybe a top 10 finish then the hysteria and subsequent thirst for all and any evidence to back up his sacking would be much less. 
 

He’s naturally under pressure with the recent run of results because they have been poor. But he can quite easily mitigate those runs with key injuries in the new year and at present. More importantly, this pressure isn’t putting his job at risk. Not at the moment anyway. Because his employers, the players, coaches etc all know what is going on behind the scenes. In fairness, the only metric the fans have are winning or losing games...but surely most people can see that the club are going to stick with him until he has drained that professional bank account with everyone. 
 

I don’t even think that 20% of the fan base truly want him out. 

Really? You think the pressure would be less if he had gone public and aimed for midtable? Who on earth aims for mid table in this garbage division? Look at what Neil is doing at Preston or what Warburton is doing at QPR. Ambitious managers who set out to win every week. 

Even if the aim was top 10 we aren't even going to get near that.

Mowbray is getting stick for a number of reasons none of them to do with his aims for the season. We are regressing. We are awful to watch. We collapse every time we go ahead. We are entering a relegation battle. His transfer dealings are awful. He's had a bigger net spend than most managers at this level.

No more excuses. It's not good enough and Mowbray is responsible.

[tomphil]

I don't know where this 'hysteria' around TMs words has come from ?  That's because there wasn't any most fans just expected a good go and improvement on last season with an outside stab at it with a bit of luck.

If he's put pressure on himself with the owners it's his own fault but there's been zero high expectations amongst regulars who've watched the last few seasons. The home crowds reflect that i'm afraid not many were buying into it. This MB and others alike have been awash with We Need New Defenders comments more than any talk of top 6 all summer.

Fact is its been poor for a side with 12th place aspirations not top 6 !!!

Edited October 28, 2019 by tomphil

[G Somerset Rover]

22 minutes ago, Mercer said:

That thought fills me with horror.

Without doubt, IMO, the manager is almost hopeless when it comes to player trading. 

Agreed. Said before that I wouldn't trust the bloke with a penny.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[Theaxe15]

I've been of the opinion that TM should go since that run of form last year February onwards and it was a clear indication that he has zero ability to turn around poor form. Last season we picked up a few consecutive wins in meaningless games towards the end of the season (apparently that was enough to convince Mowbray our defence is just fine), but still conceded in most of those, apart from Bolton at home who were playing their under 12s on the day.

What I can never get my head around is his obsession with saying it isn't about tactics and more about passion and desire. That's like approaching every game like a cup game and the results reflect that - goals at both ends and panicked football throughout. I've also never seen a manager negatively change a game from his substitutions as much as him. He literally can't do anything to create an upturn, be that in terms of form or in matches themselves. 

Anyone suggesting we won't get relegated, name 3 teams worse than us at the moment......

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, CambridgeRover said:

Given we are now in the situation where relegation is a distinct possibility, you would think Tony would self reflect and make some big changes. He should be questioning himself to look for better answers. Why are we struggling going forward? Why do we collapse mentally in games? Who needs to be dropped? 

Instead it feels like he is disconnected. Nothing significantly changes in his approach. In fact the only thing that seems to be happening is that he is becoming more entrenched in his system and refuses to consider the possibility he might need to change things. Why does Bennett play every game? Why does he continue to belittle younger players whilst playing favourites with older players? Why did he priorities a striker so much more than any other position?

I doubt he will ever change. Too stubborn to consider other approaches. And for that reason alone, he has a ceiling to where he can take us. Unfortunately that ceiling is our current position. He won't ever be the manager to take us to promotion or a playoff push. He will keep us in bottom half championship football for the rest of his stint here.  

However, as others have rightly pointed out, he is under no pressure, no pressure to change, no pressure to get us to the playoffs. Venkys are absent, and seemingly like him. It would take a major catastrophe for him to be sacked, perhaps a surprise relegation. 

So here we are, stuck in time, waiting for relegation to come with no way out. The club exists in this zombie like phase, lumbering around but with no purpose and until Venkys leave that is the way it will stay.

Venkys Out

 

Excellent summary save that I think it is extremely optimistic to assume TM can actually keep us bottom half championship.

Not that that would be acceptable in any event.

[unsall]

I can see a Graham Souness  scenario happening here, with Middlesbrough coming in for TM either to replace Woodgate or help him in a football director situation, still personally give him till Christmas if that doesn’t happen.  

[RevidgeBlue]

54 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

I hate to say it, but I think a lot of you are massively overreacting. Talk of relegation and limbo etc...this coming from a person (myself) who thinks we would benefit from a change of manager.

Mowbrays biggest issue is the pressure he’s heaped on himself by publicly aiming for a top 6 finish. Had he come out saying he was looking for incremental progress and maybe a top 10 finish then the hysteria and subsequent thirst for all and any evidence to back up his sacking would be much less. 
 

He’s naturally under pressure with the recent run of results because they have been poor. But he can quite easily mitigate those runs with key injuries in the new year and at present. More importantly, this pressure isn’t putting his job at risk. Not at the moment anyway. Because his employers, the players, coaches etc all know what is going on behind the scenes. In fairness, the only metric the fans have are winning or losing games...but surely most people can see that the club are going to stick with him until he has drained that professional bank account with everyone. 
 

I don’t even think that 20% of the fan base truly want him out. 

Absolute rubbish. The pressure such as it is is amongst the fan base is coming because Mowbray is doing a crap job, has performed extremely badly for the last twelve months and has recruited disastrously in the last 3 transfer windows.

It's nothing whatsoever to do with the fact he might have said we were aiming for top ten or top six or whatever. In any event, aiming to try and make the top six is a relatively modest target and should be every Club's aspiration. It's not like we're saying we expect one of the top two spots or saying we need 100 points or something which would be somewhat unrealistic.

If however the reports above are correct and the owners and those behind the scenes are burying their head in the sand and trying to pretend nothing is wrong then more fool them and I hope the Club  don't act all surprised when we are relegated and try and blame it on injuries or circumstances beyond our control when we were already short on quality in certain areas and compounded it by letting further players in those positions out on loan and sold our first choice keeper without an adequate replacement when we were under absolutely no pressure to do so.

[RevidgeBlue]

Just now, unsall said:

I can see a Graham Souness  scenario happening here, with Middlesbrough coming in for TM either to replace Woodgate or help him in a football director situation, still personally give him till Christmas if that doesn’t happen.  

If only.

We couldn't be so lucky like that twice though could we?

[martonrover]

3 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

You are correct Paul. 

I'm(and another Rovers supporting fan) spoken to Alan Nixon and Ken Lawrence over the 24 hours and they both say 

Ken Lawrence responses are

question asked:- Is Mowbray under any pressure?

KL Answer :- No. Venkys really like him. They know he is changing BR and it will take time. Consider where they were after rel to L1. Plus for right now loads of injuries. He’s seen to be doing a good job

next question asked :- about Saturday performance

KL answer :- I was there. Walton doesn’t miss a cross and there is no fight back. Mowbray trying to make BR a football playing side again. When Holtby gets back plus Lenihan and Cunningham they will be much better

Next question/comment asked:- Said we need a new keeper and Right back

KL Answer response:- Totally need a new GK

Nixon says his job isn't current threat atm

Last night/This morning via a Group chat containing people who are Rovers fans are mixed whether to keep Mowbray or not. Some say time to go, some say keep him for the season and some saying hes get 6 games or till Christmas time and some are undecided and would depend on who is his replacement. 

My view is the same but he is going nowhere at the minute so lets hope he can turn results around and get to January were we can sign the 3 or 4 players we need in the squad. 

 

"They know he is changing BR and it will take time".

Translation - They are still swallowing his bullshit, hook, line & sinker.

[RV Blue]

2 hours ago, DE. said:

Yeah indeed, thread is here:

His sources at the club obviously aren't that good!

Or if he thinks that when Cunningham is back we’ll improve... Cunningham is on loan and is out for the season.

[frosty]

I knew when Cunningham and Lenihan got injured that you’d start to hear ‘we’ve got a lot of injuries’ as a reason for our poor form.

Let’s not forget that in the two games before they got injured we got one point from two home games v Luton and Forest, a very poor return despite the likes of Bennett trying to big up a point v Forest because they were ‘right up there’ (why are we never up there ourselves, Elliott?).

Cunningham came off early at QPR but by the time Lenihan came off, the game had gone, and what’s now looking like a rot had clearly already set in.

[unsall]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

If only.

We couldn't be so lucky like that twice though could we?

Haha, think you want him out a little quicker than me, but ‘Boro are struggling at the moment with a young manager, and with TMs ties with them it could happen.

[K-Hod]

Really not sure why anyone is still asking Alan Nixon anything. He’s out of the loop and also very embittered about us.

Edited October 29, 2019 by K-Hod

[Husky]

He's STILL here then?

[roversfan99]

3 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

I hate to say it, but I think a lot of you are massively overreacting. Talk of relegation and limbo etc...this coming from a person (myself) who thinks we would benefit from a change of manager.

Mowbrays biggest issue is the pressure he’s heaped on himself by publicly aiming for a top 6 finish. Had he come out saying he was looking for incremental progress and maybe a top 10 finish then the hysteria and subsequent thirst for all and any evidence to back up his sacking would be much less. 
 

He’s naturally under pressure with the recent run of results because they have been poor. But he can quite easily mitigate those runs with key injuries in the new year and at present. More importantly, this pressure isn’t putting his job at risk. Not at the moment anyway. Because his employers, the players, coaches etc all know what is going on behind the scenes. In fairness, the only metric the fans have are winning or losing games...but surely most people can see that the club are going to stick with him until he has drained that professional bank account with everyone. 
 

I don’t even think that 20% of the fan base truly want him out. 

I totally disagree with that. He has 3 major player injuries at the moment, the likes of Grayson, Hart and Samuel are certainly not that. Ultimately we have a huge weakness in defence still because he chose not to sign defenders, we all knew that going into a season with 3 centre backs and 1 right back would cost him, but no, he chose to blow his transfer money on a striker. 

I dont think we will get relegated, but there is much more than 20% of the fan base IMO that would like him out now.

[gumboots]

6 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

I’m astounded by this sentence. So you’re that desperate for immediate gratification that you settle for a bad appointment for a 5-10 match boost in results? Wow...

I said I wasnt advocating a bad change. However, if it brought more points than not changing did then where's your problem?

[Stuart]

6 hours ago, JHRover said:

Ken Lawrence clearly hasn't watched very much of Rovers if he thinks a Walton save and Preston wouldn't have come back. 

I think 90% of fans there knew what was coming and the only issue was when and how. This time round a keeping error. Next time it will be a soft penalty or defensive error. 

The minute the half time team talk was over that game was going Preston's way. 

It’s an astonishing thing for anyone to do, to hang a 3-2 fight back around the neck of a goalkeeping error for the first goal.

Sadly, it is our manager who took the lead in that particular line. That’s just awful man-management.

There is a malaise at our club and Mowbray is becoming Teflon Tony when he should be the one taking responsibility for putting it right.

If our players have any kind of professional loyalty the will expose him big time in the coming games. Has he lost the players yet? We will see.

[Mattyblue]

Jim Wilkinson who’s an ex journo himself has tweeted...