Tony Mowbray Discussion

[broadsword]

Anyway the point is, in Roy's first season, if we'd had a second half of the season like the first half, we may well have won the title. And a lot of that in the first half was due to superior fitness. Ferguson admitted we'd given mean united a "doing " in one game. 

I think when things unravelled , Roy panicked and tried to spend his way out of trouble. I think we had a shocking injury list at one stage. 

Keith had a shocker in our relegation season, but played much better under souey. Brian was a decent man, but unfortunately bought players like harkness . 

 

Sounds was the right man at the right time. He bought much better. I seem to remember that friedel we got on a free. 

[Lucimo]

1 hour ago, broadsword said:

Craig Short was signed by kidd I think. I always thought perez was a great player but he didn't settle. 

 

 

I agree on Perez. Pity his time was so shortlived. 

[rog of the rovers]

I think the Preston managerial list is a good indicator of who we'd be looking at should Mowbray be shown the door, or leave at the end of the season.

Ryan Lowe (links to North West - Scouser, ex Bury)

Callum Davidson (obvious links to Blackburn Rovers - former player)

Gareth Ainsworth (obvious links to Blackburn Rovers - Blackburn lad and fan)

Michael Carrick (links to North West - ex Man Utd coach)

 

[broadsword]

56 minutes ago, Lucimo said:

I agree on Perez. Pity his time was so shortlived. 

Someone posted this on the forum a few years back. 

 

 

The sending off is absolutely insane. Shocking. But look how animated Roy gets. You can criticise him for how it all ended, but he really did care. 

 

Contrast that to Mowbray, we get a record home defeat and the wanker just shrugs his shoulders

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

27 minutes ago, broadsword said:

Someone posted this on the forum a few years back. 

 

 

The sending off is absolutely insane. Shocking. But look how animated Roy gets. You can criticise him for how it all ended, but he really did care. 

 

Contrast that to Mowbray, we get a record home defeat and the wanker just shrugs his shoulders

Roy’s got a nice line in watches - Rolex Daytona.

[lraC]

26 minutes ago, broadsword said:

Someone posted this on the forum a few years back. 

 

 

The sending off is absolutely insane. Shocking. But look how animated Roy gets. You can criticise him for how it all ended, but he really did care. 

 

Contrast that to Mowbray, we get a record home defeat and the wanker just shrugs his shoulders

Mowbray is not fit to tie Hodgson's laces. Uncle Jack appointed Hodgson and although he also appointed Kidd, you cannot fault him for wanting the very best for the club, which sadly is no longer the case.

[broadsword]

19 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Roy’s got a nice line in watches - Rolex Daytona.

Sharp eyes you've got 🤣 ⌚ 

 

That would be the same watch George wore in the Christmas bond movie

[broadsword]

21 minutes ago, lraC said:

Mowbray is not fit to tie Hodgson's laces. Uncle Jack appointed Hodgson and although he also appointed Kidd, you cannot fault him for wanting the very best for the club, which sadly is no longer the case.

I'd you get up in the morning and give everything your best shot with the best you know how, how can anyone ask for more? 

How these guys we've got now can look themselves in the bathroom mirror, I just don't know. Stealing a bloody living. Whatever happened to having a bit of pride

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

31 minutes ago, broadsword said:

Sharp eyes you've got 🤣 ⌚ 

 

That would be the same watch George wore in the Christmas bond movie

Which Bond movie ?

[Wheelton Blue]

Jack would have gone ballistic at the 7-0 result, that's for sure.

[broadsword]

43 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Which Bond movie ?

On her majesty's secret service. 

We have all the time, in the world. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

7 minutes ago, broadsword said:

On her majesty's secret service. 

We have all the time, in the world. 

Yes that’s right.

[roverandout]

Martin dahlin was pretty shocking for his talent.  Nathan Blake had a few good moments.  Christian daily was pretty hopeless. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

3 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Martin dahlin was pretty shocking for his talent.  Nathan Blake had a few good moments.  Christian daily was pretty hopeless. 

Jim Smith used to tell a story about the Dailly transfer. He’d heard through the football grapevine that Rovers were interested in Dailly. He mentioned it to the chairman at Derby who said “ If they come in for him tell them not a penny under £ 2 million Jim “.

Apparently Hodgson phoned up a day or two later and offered £ 5 million straight off the bat. Jim Smith managed to haggle the fee up to £ 5.25 million !
 

I remember watching Hodgson’s team in Italy. He had Zanetti, Djorkaeff, Ince and Aaron Winter in midfield and they were really poor to watch !

[booth]

2 hours ago, broadsword said:

Someone posted this on the forum a few years back. 

 

 

The sending off is absolutely insane. Shocking. But look how animated Roy gets. You can criticise him for how it all ended, but he really did care. 

 

Contrast that to Mowbray, we get a record home defeat and the wanker just shrugs his shoulders

If only Dahlin had showed the composure of Flo that day.

I was right in front of the unbelievable sending off incident but Le Saux was an absolute shit all match. He will forever be one of my favourite Rovers players but this match soured that. Considering he wanted to leave it made no sense that he should be so bitter towards his former team mates and fans.

Perez was having a brilliant game too.

One of the great Premier League referee muck ups along with those diddled losses against Manchester Utd.

Anyone remember this "famous" Man Utd fan? And no he's not that bloke from Hills Have Eyes, or Jimmy Somerville.

[Admiral Nelsen]

32 minutes ago, booth said:

If only Dahlin had showed the composure of Flo that day.

I was right in front of the unbelievable sending off incident but Le Saux was an absolute shit all match. He will forever be one of my favourite Rovers players but this match soured that. Considering he wanted to leave it made no sense that he should be so bitter towards his former team mates and fans.

 

I was given his book for Christmas when it first came out a while ago. Seem to remember that he wrote about feeling hard done to by how he was treated when injured, basically feeling underappreciated. I think there was something about Rovers demanding too much money after how much we paid for him too, but I've not read it in ages so I might be mistaken on that.

 

I like Le Saux too and it's good that he speaks fondly of his time here now, but I really don't think he comes across well at all in his book. You can't really begrudge him for complaining about how he was treated as a youngster at Chelsea and especially the notorious Fowler incident, but the overriding memory I have is that he paints himself as a bit of a victim throughout. Real contrast to how he seems whenever he's on the media these days.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

18 minutes ago, Admiral Nelsen said:

 

I was given his book for Christmas when it first came out a while ago. Seem to remember that he wrote about feeling hard done to by how he was treated when injured, basically feeling underappreciated. I think there was something about Rovers demanding too much money after how much we paid for him too, but I've not read it in ages so I might be mistaken on that.

 

I like Le Saux too and it's good that he speaks fondly of his time here now, but I really don't think he comes across well at all in his book. You can't really begrudge him for complaining about how he was treated as a youngster at Chelsea and especially the notorious Fowler incident, but the overriding memory I have is that he paints himself as a bit of a victim throughout. Real contrast to how he seems whenever he's on the media these days.

I think LeSaux crapped on us from a great height after he came back from that very serious injury. I was there the day he did that. Juninho spun him around and his boot stuck in the pitch. He must have had the best of medical treatment. Extremely good player but I’ve no respect for him as a person. 

[Admiral Nelsen]

1 minute ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I think LeSaux crapped on us from a great height after he came back from that very serious injury. I was there the day he did that. Juninho spun him around and his boot stuck in the pitch. He must have had the best of medical treatment. Extremely good player but I’ve no respect for him as a person. 

 

Very fuzzy memory about what he said exactly (reading over Christmas probably didn't help!) but I vaguely recollect that he took the hump about not being visited when he was in hospital, basically implying that Rovers didn't want to know once he was out of the picture. I remember thinking that it sounded like a pretty manufactured grievance anyway, whether that's fair or not. 

 

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Jim Smith used to tell a story about the Dailly transfer. He’d heard through the football grapevine that Rovers were interested in Dailly. He mentioned it to the chairman at Derby who said “ If they come in for him tell them not a penny under £ 2 million Jim “.

Apparently Hodgson phoned up a day or two later and offered £ 5 million straight off the bat. Jim Smith managed to haggle the fee up to £ 5.25 million !

 

Easy to forget how much of an extraordinary fee that was at the time. Had Jaap Stam not just signed for Man United, he would've been Britain's most expensive defender I think. I'm pretty sure he wasn't even getting that close to the Scottish XI at that time either. 

And to think it was the same window as Kevin Davies and Ashley Ward! People talk about us supposedly buying the title with Jack's money, but the real profligacy came with our slightly-too-late attempts to stay at the top. Some absolutely baffling signings.

[DE.]

I read Le Saux's book recently, from the chapter on his departure:

• Was disappointed that Kenny moved upstairs and Harford was taking over. Le Saux liked Harford but didn't see the need to change a winning formula. Harford was a lovely bloke but too nice to be boss.
• Robert Coar upset the squad by saying we'd won the league a season too early, which Le Saux perceived as showing a lack of ambition and gratitude. He took it as an admission Rovers couldn't deal with the success of 94-95 and were unprepared for a title defence.
• He says the club had no ambition beyond what had already been achieved - proven by the decision not to improve or strengthen the squad. Says that the club felt like it had lost ambition and it filtered down to some of the players as well. He says it became a less hard-working, less driven place without leadership. He also says the players didn't believe Rovers could sustain the success they'd achieved and some had their heads turned by offers from clubs they felt had more potential. 
• After a couple of months things started to get 'niggly' between players and cliques started to form. Players who pushed the boundaries (he names Sherwood, Batty, Sutton and Newell) got away with more than they would have under Kenny. Colin Hendy and Kevin Gallacher had a rough time with the other players. Hendry and Newell 'had a ruck' in training. The unity of the team broke down and the players began turning on each other. Le Saux says after three incredible years at Rovers everything had now changed. 
• He had argued with Batty previously about passing to each other, and Le Saux says after he nutmegged Batty in training Batty had 'come after him' for the rest of the session. The next game Batty accused Le Saux of being selfish and they argued at half time. Finally, in Russia against Spartak, Batty and Le Saux ran into each other trying to get a ball, and the infamous scuffle occured. Le Saux broke his hand punching Batty. Harford had a go at them at half time and said he was ashamed of them. Meanwhile Sutton and Fazakerley began arguing over how poorly we were playing. 
• Blames our pathetic showing in Europe on the club for not bringing in international class players who had performed at the highest levels. Felt the team were too young and too inexperienced to handle the Champions League.
• When Le Saux suffered his horrific injury at Boro at the end of '95, he says Rovers' physio Steve Foster didn't know what to do and 'panicked'. Says the Boro physio took over completely in that situation. Le Saux nearly fell off the stretcher on the way off the pitch because they hadn't strapped him in.
• Le Saux was devastated about missing out on Euro '96 and the overall seriousness of his injury, but says Rovers didn't offer much support. Says that the club's attitude towards him "beggared belief". Says the Rovers physio made no attempt to contact Le Saux after the injury. He says he never heard from the club either. Most of the players came to see him, but nothing from the chairman or any Rovers officials. 
• Bryan Robson & the Boro staff sent Le Saux a gift basket, which to him made Rovers' lack of compassion more hurtful. Does say that Kenny and Ray phoned, but nobody else from the non-playing side. The club didn't even ask him how he was going to get home from hospital.
• Says that after this experience he was 'emotionally' finished with Rovers. He refused to work with Rovers' physio when returning from injury. 
• Says Rovers 'knew what they had done' and were 'shame faced about the way they had abandoned me'. Knew he didn't want to be at the club from his first reserve game back. 
• Le Saux makes it clear he doesn't like Tony Parkes. Says he felt that Parkes was 'on a power trip' and felt like Parkes disliked him because he had stated he was unhappy with the club over how he had been treated after his injury. Says Parkes saw him as 'disloyal'. The lads' nickname for Parkes was 'BBC' - Balls, Bibs, Cones - 'because that's all he used to do'. 
• After telling Parkes he no longer wanted to be at the club, Parkes told Le Saux that if he was permanent manager he'd let him rot in the reserves. At one point Parkes and Le Saux supposedly nearly came to blows before the players intervened. 
• Jack tried to convince Le Saux to stay and flew over from jersey specifically to talk to him. By this time Le Saux had already handed in a transfer request. Jack was upset and took it personally, because he considered Le Saux 'one of his boys'. Le Saux was offered a lot of money to stay but told Jack it wasn't about the money. Says Jack 'took it quite hard'. He says the club wouldn't accept he wanted to leave which made things difficult. 
• When Hodgson arrived Le Saux made it clear he was going to be leaving, and that with his negative attitude towards the club Roy wouldn't want him around. Believes at that point Roy told the board to let Le Saux leave. Rovers originally priced Le Saux at £7.5m. He claims Arsenal, Chelsea, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan were all interested, but that the interest faded after Rovers attached such a lofty price tag. 
• Le Saux initially refused to be in the team photo for the 97-98 season, then eventually agreed to be on the end 'so that they could crop me out once I'd moved'. 
• He says he has 'no regrets' about leaving Rovers as he'd fallen out of love with the club. Although he always felt valued he couldn't forgive how he'd been treated after his injury. He says he may just be naive, but it genuinely shocked him how little the club seemed to care about him as a person.

Obviously the above is all from Le Saux's perspective, but gives an insight as to why he ended up with a chip on his shoulder in regards to the club.

Edited December 7, 2021 by DE.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

19 minutes ago, DE. said:

I read Le Saux's book recently, from the chapter on his departure:

• Was disappointed that Kenny moved upstairs and Harford was taking over. Le Saux liked Harford but didn't see the need to change a winning formula. Harford was a lovely bloke but too nice to be boss.
• Robert Coar upset the squad by saying we'd won the league a season too early, which Le Saux perceived as showing a lack of ambition and gratitude. He took it as an admission Rovers couldn't deal with the success of 94-95 and were unprepared for a title defence.
• He says the club had no ambition beyond what had already been achieved - proven by the decision not to improve or strengthen the squad. Says that the club felt like it had lost ambition and it filtered down to some of the players as well. He says it became a less hard-working, less driven place without leadership. He also says the players didn't believe Rovers could sustain the success they'd achieved and some had their heads turned by offers from clubs they felt had more potential. 
• After a couple of months things started to get 'niggly' between players and cliques started to form. Players who pushed the boundaries (he names Sherwood, Batty, Sutton and Newell) got away with more than they would have under Kenny. Colin Hendy and Kevin Gallacher had a rough time with the other players. Hendry and Newell 'had a ruck' in training. The unity of the team broke down and the players began turning on each other. Le Saux says after three incredible years at Rovers everything had now changed. 
• He had argued with Batty previously about passing to each other, and Le Saux says after he nutmegged Batty in training Batty had 'come after him' for the rest of the session. The next game Batty accused Le Saux of being selfish and they argued at half time. Finally, in Russia against Spartak, Batty and Le Saux ran into each other trying to get a ball, and the infamous scuffle occured. Le Saux broke his hand punching Batty. Harford had a go at them at half time and said he was ashamed of them. Meanwhile Sutton and Fazakerley began arguing over how poorly we were playing. 
• Blames our pathetic showing in Europe on the club for not bringing in international class players who had performed at the highest levels. Felt the team were too young and too inexperienced to handle the Champions League.
• When Le Saux suffered his horrific injury at Boro at the end of '95, he says Rovers' physio Steve Foster didn't know what to do and 'panicked'. Says the Boro physio took over completely in that situation. Le Saux nearly fell off the stretcher on the way off the pitch because they hadn't strapped him in.
• Le Saux was devastated about missing out on Euro '96 and the overall seriousness of his injury, but says Rovers didn't offer much support. Says that the club's attitude towards him "beggared belief". Says the Rovers physio made no attempt to contact Le Saux after the injury. He says he never heard from the club either. Most of the players came to see him, but nothing from the chairman or any Rovers officials. 
• Bryan Robson & the Boro staff sent Le Saux a gift basket, which to him made Rovers' lack of compassion more hurtful. Does say that Kenny and Ray phoned, but nobody else from the non-playing side. The club didn't even ask him how he was going to get home from hospital.
• Says that after this experience he was 'emotionally' finished with Rovers. He refused to work with Rovers' physio when returning from injury. 
• Says Rovers 'knew what they had done' and were 'shame faced about the way they had abandoned me'. Knew he didn't want to be at the club from his first reserve game back. 
• Le Saux makes it clear he doesn't like Tony Parkes. Says he felt that Parkes was 'on a power trip' and felt like Parkes disliked him because he had stated he was unhappy with the club over how he had been treated after his injury. Says Parkes saw him as 'disloyal'. The lads' nickname for Parkes was 'BBC' - Balls, Bibs, Cones - 'because that's all he used to do'. 
• After telling Parkes he no longer wanted to be at the club, Parkes told Le Saux that if he was permanent manager he'd let him rot in the reserves. At one point Parkes and Le Saux supposedly nearly came to blows before the players intervened. 
• Jack tried to convince Le Saux to stay and flew over from jersey specifically to talk to him. By this time Le Saux had already handed in a transfer request. Jack was upset and took it personally, because he considered Le Saux 'one of his boys'. Le Saux was offered a lot of money to stay but told Jack it wasn't about the money. Says Jack 'took it quite hard'. He says the club wouldn't accept he wanted to leave which made things difficult. 
• When Hodgson arrived Le Saux made it clear he was going to be leaving, and that with his negative attitude towards the club Roy wouldn't want him around. Believes at that point Roy told the board to let Le Saux leave. Rovers originally priced Le Saux at £7.5m. He claims Arsenal, Chelsea, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan were all interested, but that the interest faded after Rovers attached such a lofty price tag. 
• Le Saux initially refused to be in the team photo for the 97-98 season, then eventually agreed to be on the end 'so that they could crop me out once I'd moved'. 
• He says he has 'no regrets' about leaving Rovers as he'd fallen out of love with the club. Although he always felt valued he couldn't forgive how he'd been treated after his injury. He says he may just be naive, but it genuinely shocked him how little the club seemed to care about him as a person.

Obviously the above is all from Le Saux's perspective, but gives an insight as to why he ended up with a chip on his shoulder in regards to the club.

The injury didn’t happen at ‘ Boro, it happened at Ewood against Boro.  I was there. He got in a tangle with Juninho and the Brazilian dragged him around. LeSaux’s boot and foot stuck in the ground but his body and leg kept turning. He ended up with his foot at 90 degrees from where it should have been. He did well to come back from that.

[DE.]

12 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

The injury didn’t happen at ‘ Boro, it happened at Ewood against Boro.  I was there. He got in a tangle with Juninho and the Brazilian dragged him around. LeSaux’s boot and foot stuck in the ground but his body and leg kept turning. He ended up with his foot at 90 degrees from where it should have been. He did well to come back from that.

Yes, should read 'against Boro' rather than 'at Boro'... but if that's the only mistake I made typing that block of text I'll take it!

[chaddyrovers]

Thanks for sharing that @DE.. Very enjoyable to read that about Le Saux and that time at the club 

[tomphil]

Shame it ended with him feeling like that he was a great player for us and will always be well thought of.  There are two sides to all stories though and he didn't earn the nickname Le Brat for no reason you can bet.

[DE.]

20 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Thanks for sharing that @DE.. Very enjoyable to read that about Le Saux and that time at the club 

His book is well worth reading if you get the chance. Has some great details on his time at Rovers. 

[DE.]

8 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Shame it ended with him feeling like that he was a great player for us and will always be well thought of.  There are two sides to all stories though and he didn't earn the nickname Le Brat for no reason you can bet.

Yep, two sides to every story but he does say the first three seasons at Rovers were three of his happiest. It just sadly went downhill pretty rapidly after 94-95.