Tony Mowbray Discussion

[chaddyrovers]

11 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Correct. They do show form though. And we have played teams in poor form, almost exclusively.

6th in the league. 

We played our part in those teams being in poor form

[Sparks Rover]

21 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

6th in the league. 

We played our part in those teams being in poor form

This time last year we were 4th.

Mowbray Out!

[simongarnerisgod]

to be fair to tony,he does seem more intense on the touchline this year and we do look more solid,i thought we`de struggle badly so im`e quite happy at the moment,can`t say id`e be happy if he got a new contract though🤥

[tomphil]

There's one simple reason why he's more animated this season....fans in the ground.

It was like he took a season off last season but back to playing to the gallery now. He's a crafty old sod he knows all the moves.

[bluebruce]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

6th in the league. 

We played our part in those teams being in poor form

We have. Most of them would still have had poor starts even with more points against us.

Yes we are 6th but you don't honestly expect it to last do you? I know you're a very positive person but you also know the manager isn't up to scratch and the squad is thin.

[bluebruce]

10 minutes ago, tomphil said:

There's one simple reason why he's more animated this season....fans in the ground.

It was like he took a season off last season but back to playing to the gallery now. He's a crafty old sod he knows all the moves.

In fairness, whilst it could be cynical, it's also possible that he simply was bored by it all last year. If you've been working in football your whole life at his age, with the fans in every game, it was probably difficult to keep his motivation going.

Of course on the other hand he is paid handsomely to do his absolute best. But we are all human no matter what you pay us.

[tomphil]

4 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

In fairness, whilst it could be cynical, it's also possible that he simply was bored by it all last year. If you've been working in football your whole life at his age, with the fans in every game, it was probably difficult to keep his motivation going.

Of course on the other hand he is paid handsomely to do his absolute best. But we are all human no matter what you pay us.

That's neither an explanation nor an excuse that would hold up with any football fan. In fact it's a disgrace and would only come about because there are no fans to bend your earhole.

What happens this season when he gets bored ?

I don't believe he's suddenly got his mojo back he is just aware of what he can get away with and what he can't here. That comes from being somewhere a long time and knowing how it all ticks.

[riverholmes]

The better Armstrong and Harvey Elliot do (on his return from the serious injury) the more embarrassing last season looks for Rovers management.

We finished 15th with two, apparently, Premier League quality attackers and a potentially topflight standard keeper. (And but for the January/Feb signing of Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who made a difference at the back, it would've been worse.)

Edit: To make an analogy, us finishing 15th last season with the second top scorer and the fourth top assister in the league (joint third to be precise), would be like a team that had Mo Salah (second top scorer in the Prem last year) and Jack Grealish (fourth top assister) finishing in the bottom half of the Premiership. It's an analogy only, as Salah and Grealish are both more complete players than Armstrong and Elliot but it is, I feel, revealing of how much we underperformed considering the quality available.

Edited September 18, 2021 by riverholmes

[JacknOry]

Our 4-year journey under TM can be summed up by this. 

TM walked out on Coventry after 1 win in 10, leaving them bottom of League 1. He signs for us, gets us relegated, barely finished second with the biggest ever League 1 budget. Fast forward a few seasons to now. Coventry are in 4th position, 3 points ahead of us in the Championship with 1/10th of the budget we have.

Herald the King.

[roverblue]

15 hours ago, bluebruce said:

You can spin it how you want, yes, but it's this season not last season. It's the Championship - it doesn't matter how good they were last season, they could easily finish at the other end this season, and so far they are. Them being down there now, regardless of where they finish, shows they have started the season badly. So at the least, we played then when they were in bad form.

So you agree that by us being 6th we are in good form then and should enjoy the moment?

[TheRoversReturn]

We might as well enjoy the moment as if he wasn't potted after last season's death spiral, he certainly ain't going anywhere while in the play-off positions.

I reckon the percentage chances of TM leaving or of him receiving a new contract are about 10/90.

He's going nowhere, and I'm not even sure the majority of Rovers fans want him to leave (BRFCS is not a good barometer, just look at all the LET comments and Facebook claptrap) so we may as well lump it.

[JohnGo]

I want him gone, but I’m sure he’ll be here next summer giving the same old excuses. Injuries, limited budget, dealing with agents, DEFENDERS ARE COMING, etc, etc, etc. I think if we can keep Ayala fit we could be near to the playoffs, which the Venkeys will look at as progress. The only way he’ll be gone is if we either get relegated or just survive. The lesser of two evils Mowbrays stays or Rovers get relegated 😥

[Sparks Rover]

1 hour ago, roverblue said:

So you agree that by us being 6th we are in good form then and should enjoy the moment?

Just loving a 0-0 draw at Barnsley and letting a lead slip last minute to the mighty Luton.  Mate, this time last year we were 4th, let's not get too carried away with your "moment'

[chaddyrovers]

9 hours ago, bluebruce said:

We have. Most of them would still have had poor starts even with more points against us.

Yes we are 6th but you don't honestly expect it to last do you? I know you're a very positive person but you also know the manager isn't up to scratch and the squad is thin.

Tbh, Bruce you want to find excuses after excuses to be negative and criticism the good start we had cos many people thought we wouldn't have 13 points from 8 games for sure. 

Who knows what will happen in this league in the next 38 games. I ain't going to predict it. Are you? But I hope if we are close to the top 6 then we sign 2 or 3 quality players to push for that top 6 finish

Maybe Rovers have younger squad is bringing the best out of Mowbray. I watched Mowbray yesterday as he was walking down the tunnel at half time talking to Dolan about his position on the pitch and at full time him and Rothwell was talking as they go down the tunnel. Not seen that before. I think him having a younger squad has rejuvenate him as a manager where he has to coach them more than manage them. 

 

[alex l]

12 hours ago, oldjamfan1 said:

We are only 8 games in, league positions don’t really mean that much at the moment.

Whilst I agree it's early to be reading massive amounts into league position, would you say or feel the same if we were bottom?

I doubt most would be claiming it's early etc and be calling for Mowbray to be sacked even more than they are now. Therefore it's only fair to say we've had a good or at least very solid start, which probably defies the expectations of most on here. 

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

18 minutes ago, alex l said:

Whilst I agree it's early to be reading massive amounts into league position, would you say or feel the same if we were bottom?

I doubt most would be claiming it's early etc and be calling for Mowbray to be sacked even more than they are now. Therefore it's only fair to say we've had a good or at least very solid start, which probably defies the expectations of most on here. 

Here's my frustration with Mowbray.  The pragmatic 'defend first' and counter approach means we are picking up points in games where we wouldn't have last year. 

We are clearly a goalscorer short of really benefitting from this approach. 

Last year we had one.  A more suited to counter attacking striker you'd struggle to find.

Set the team up this way last year and I bet we finish a damn sight higher.

His stubbornness is often to the detriment of the team.

 

[Sparks Rover]

3 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Maybe Rovers have younger squad is bringing the best out of Mowbray. I watched Mowbray yesterday as he was walking down the tunnel at half time talking to Dolan about his position on the pitch and at full time him and Rothwell was talking as they go down the tunnel. Not seen that before. I think him having a younger squad has rejuvenate him as a manager where he has to coach them more than manage them. 

 

360 degree turn all done and dusted.  It was on the cards, you could see the signs over the last couple of weeks. 🤷‍♂️😄

Mowbray In!!

Edited September 19, 2021 by Sparks Rover

[tomphil]

5 minutes ago, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

Here's my frustration with Mowbray.  The pragmatic 'defend first' and counter approach means we are picking up points in games where we wouldn't have last year. 

We are clearly a goalscorer short of really benefitting from this approach. 

Last year we had one.  A more suited to counter attacking striker you'd struggle to find.

Set the team up this way last year and I bet we finish a damn sight higher.

His stubbornness is often to the detriment of the team.

 

This 100%

Also we only seem to have a real go once we go behind that's another marker of the ToMo dour philosophy.  Yesterday it was clear as day 60 mins ah we'll take the point the subs pretty much confirmed it.  Why oh why though not just reshuffle and have a bit more of a go we've seen it work a couple of times this season. If we'd conceded he'd have done it almost straight away.

We aren't talking going gung ho just getting people in the correct positions to have a go. Yet again his priority seems just to get some players some mins instead whilst remaining pragmatic and maybe hoping to nick something. Game yesterday was there for the taking for either side and they nearly took it a few times. We offered nothing really.

A points a point can't be too choosy but the fact a lot feel deflated again tells it's own story. These are the things like the surrender to Luton that sort the underachievers from the punching above their weights over a season.

It's an absolute cast iron recurring theme under his reign that a little bit more ambition and drive at certain times we'd have a lot more to show for it.

The whole thing is just set up to plod though and you only have to look out at Ewood on matchday to see the town knows this.

[47er]

Its true that we are playing better, (or rather getting better results) than many of us expected. But I remember last year so I don't expect this to last.

But, contrary to what those writing to the LT believe, I will be delighted to be wrong.

[matt83]

This is nothing new under Mowbray. 1 defeat in 8 could easily be followed by 1 win in 8. Whether we’re in the middle of the former or the latter run my opinions of him don’t change. He is not good enough to manage rovers. 

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Tbh, Bruce you want to find excuses after excuses to be negative and criticism the good start we had cos many people thought we wouldn't have 13 points from 8 games for sure. 

Who knows what will happen in this league in the next 38 games. I ain't going to predict it. Are you? But I hope if we are close to the top 6 then we sign 2 or 3 quality players to push for that top 6 finish

Maybe Rovers have younger squad is bringing the best out of Mowbray. I watched Mowbray yesterday as he was walking down the tunnel at half time talking to Dolan about his position on the pitch and at full time him and Rothwell was talking as they go down the tunnel. Not seen that before. I think him having a younger squad has rejuvenate him as a manager where he has to coach them more than manage them. 

 

Why would I want to find excuses to be negative? I'm just pointing out all angles. Of course I wouldn't have thought we would have 13 points or be in 6th by now, and of course I'm happy about it. But we've had good runs of form before under this manager only to death spiral, I'm not about to be conned again when our squad is paper thin, the teams we have played have all started poorly and we've rode our luck quite a bit.

Yes I'll have a crack at predicting it, why not? Just because you don't know the future doesn't mean you can't make guesses at it. I think we will death spiral once the injuries and better teams come along, and I think we will be back around mid-table by Christmas, probably finishing bottom half at the end of the season. Which is an improvement on my pre-season prediction of relegation. If we somehow end up in the playoffs, feel free to drag up this post and say I got it wrong, I'll be more than happy about it. It will, however, just have been a prediction. I predict roughly the right area of the table correctly most seasons, including the last two times we got relegated, but nobody gets it right all the time.

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

Here's my frustration with Mowbray.  The pragmatic 'defend first' and counter approach means we are picking up points in games where we wouldn't have last year. 

We are clearly a goalscorer short of really benefitting from this approach. 

Last year we had one.  A more suited to counter attacking striker you'd struggle to find.

Set the team up this way last year and I bet we finish a damn sight higher.

His stubbornness is often to the detriment of the team.

 

I've also had this thought lately, that we are finally setting up to counter attack now we have lost our best counter attacker, and what we could have achieved playing on the counter last season. Big wasted opportunity.

[oldjamfan1]

15 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Correct. They do show form though. And we have played teams in poor form, almost exclusively.

If being near the bottom of the league after 8 games means you’re a poor side or in poor form, surely the converse applies and Rovers sitting in 6th must be a decent side or in decent form? You can’t have it both ways. 
 

Its too early to get hung up about league positions.

 

PS - I don’t disagree with your predictions as far as how Rovers season is likely to go necessarily.

Edited September 19, 2021 by oldjamfan1

[RoversClitheroe]

7 minutes ago, oldjamfan1 said:

If being near the bottom of the league after 8 games means you’re a poor side or in poor form, surely the converse applies and Rovers sitting in 6th must be a decent side or in decent form? You can’t have it both ways. 
 

Its too early to get hung up about league positions.

 

PS - I don’t disagree with your predictions as far as how Rovers season is likely to go necessarily.

Pretty sure in Readings 106 Championship season they were in the bottom 3 after 6 or so games.

[bluebruce]

12 minutes ago, oldjamfan1 said:

If being near the bottom of the league after 8 games means you’re a poor side or in poor form, surely the converse applies and Rovers sitting in 6th must be a decent side or in decent form? You can’t have it both ways. 
 

Its too early to get hung up about league positions.

 

PS - I don’t disagree with your predictions as far as how Rovers season is likely to go necessarily.

It only shows form this early, not the real standard of the side. And yes, the converse applies that we are in good form, I've never suggested otherwise. I'm not trying to have it 'both ways'. Form is temporary, class is permanent as they say.

We have beaten teams in poor form, which has contributed to us having good form. We're doing well. All I'm saying is it doesn't make us a top side in this league, which you seem to agree with. Hopefully we are wrong and it continues.