Tony Mowbray Discussion

[G Somerset Rover]

1 hour ago, roverblue said:

Wow, didn't really think he was under much pressure but changed my mind after that press conference.

Reading between the lines, IMO he's lost the direct line into Pune, knows they were looking into replacements at the back end of last season (clearly that failed), and suspects he's on the way out at the end of the season. 

Edited October 22, 2021 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[BigUts]

I've just tweeted this out but I think it sums it up nicely 

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, roverblue said:

Wow, didn't really think he was under much pressure but changed my mind after that press conference.

Totally agreed and he should be under pressure in my opinion now. 

2 hours ago, JHRover said:

Passion and enthusiasm only gets you so far in this game.

Plus just by being from the town doesn't automatically mean he would be any more passionate than anyone else about the job. I'd hope there was more going into the search than appointing someone because they are passionate or enthusiastic about it. I'd qualify on that basis.

I just find the obsession with him bizarre. We should ignore his Blackburn connections and focus purely on his CV. Close to 10 years at Wycombe Wanderers, 9 spent in Leagues One and Two. Plenty of other options in that category.

Not the worst contender and he's done well there but by no means a stand out candidate - there are many lower division managers who have overachieved or done well - Gary Johnson did it with Yeovil -  maybe there's a reason why no bigger club has taken him on.

Didn't Bristol City take Gary Johnson on? 

I find people's obsessions with Hughton or McCarthy or Roy Keane totally bizarre. 

Rovers need a manager with fresh ideas, tactical aware, can sort the defence out and motivate these players to out perform the opposition. Steve Cooper is achachieving that at Forest

3 hours ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

I had an exchange with Jaquob Crooke on Twitter this morning as I sensed from the piece that Mowbray was very defensive. He said that Mowbray didn't like the questions at all. Good.

Here's the article. 

Yes I heard from Jaquob tonight. I get the feeling he is under pressure from the owners. He knows the club tried to find a replacement and failed with those discussions. But I think he was surprised he was still in the job come pre season. Expect the club will review his position shortly. 

[islander200]

39 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Totally agreed and he should be under pressure in my opinion now. 

Didn't Bristol City take Gary Johnson on? 

I find people's obsessions with Hughton or McCarthy or Roy Keane totally bizarre. 

Rovers need a manager with fresh ideas, tactical aware, can sort the defence out and motivate these players to out perform the opposition. Steve Cooper is achachieving that at Forest

Yes I heard from Jaquob tonight. I get the feeling he is under pressure from the owners. He knows the club tried to find a replacement and failed with those discussions. But I think he was surprised he was still in the job come pre season. Expect the club will review his position shortly. 

Will they review his position shortly though?

I think it is his last season here but don't see him leaving  until his contract is up.

[SuperBrfc]

It's about time he was asked some proper questions. His answer to the question about the club's long term ambition says it all. "Is that a leading question" before going on with the usual buzzwords of "pandemic", "young side" and "difficult". That's a man who knows he has ballsed up and is now using any excuse he can think of to explain why we are nowhere near the promotion picture. Next summer the pitiful state of his 'journey' is going to be clear for everybody to see and he will have no place to hide. If the Ewood crowd turns on him at any stage this season, he'll walk, I'm convinced about that.

What's clear from that interview is that he believes we have no chance of being promoted, but he won't say that directly. Andy Bayes asked him whether we were aiming for the top 6 this season, back in August. Mowbray's response was to laugh at the suggestion, which angered me at the time. It was the type of laugh you hear which translates as "don't be silly", before he then went on with the same "pandemic", "young side" and "difficult" speech.

I'd take anybody over him right now. Anybody with a genuine drive to take the club forward and who will respect the club and the position that they are in as manager. There are managers out there who would relish the challenge and who would motivate our squad. This passive shit of "it's difficult" does nobody any good and filters down to the players. People like Keane, Wilder, Neill, Ainsworth, would roll their sleeves up and say "let's have a go" and it's that mentality which we badly need at the club.

As it is, the club is going nowhere, the manager has no desire to take us anywhere, yet acts as if he is doing us a favour by being here. You couldn't make it up.

[Cherry Blue]

Quote TM on question do you want to stay ".......I think those conversations are to be had when time's more appropriate...."

We are sliding down the league Tony so the players need to respect you as a demanding football manager.

[JHRover]

42 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Totally agreed and he should be under pressure in my opinion now. 

Didn't Bristol City take Gary Johnson on? 

I find people's obsessions with Hughton or McCarthy or Roy Keane totally bizarre. 

Rovers need a manager with fresh ideas, tactical aware, can sort the defence out and motivate these players to out perform the opposition. Steve Cooper is achachieving that at Forest

Yes I heard from Jaquob tonight. I get the feeling he is under pressure from the owners. He knows the club tried to find a replacement and failed with those discussions. But I think he was surprised he was still in the job come pre season. Expect the club will review his position shortly. 

As I recall it Bristol City appointed Gary Johnson whilst in League One. He did a good job for a while, got them to the Championship but was then sacked.

Later on in his career he returned to Yeovil and performed a miracle in getting them to the Championship but they were relegaed after 1 season. He hasn't been back and has since managed Cheltenham and Torquay in League Two/Conference.

The point being that there are many, many examples of League One and Two managers who have done well at small clubs with low expectations but haven't ever moved up and succeeded in the top two divisions. Maybe Ainsworth will one day but surely if he was such a good option then a club bigger than Wycombe would have made a move for him by now?

I'm still waiting to hear what sets him aside from say John Coleman, Ryan Lowe, Darrell Clarke, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Nigel  Clough, Michael Appleton or Karl Robinson - all of whom have very impressive records at small clubs in the lower leagues but not above. Just because Ainsworth was born in Blackburn? Is that really the sum total of analysis?

In the last 10 years or so Hughton has won automatic promotion twice to the Premier League as well as had two play-off campaigns. He also kept Norwich and Brighton in the Premier League.

Mick McCarthy had Wolves in the Premier League, Ipswich challenging for the play-offs, managed Ireland and rapidly turned Cardiff around. Even now his record at Cardiff is better than Mowbray's here in the Championship.

[JHRover]

Just watched that Mowbray interview through and I'm surprised at how forlorn and beaten he looks. Talk about looking and sounding totally fed up. He appears to be a beaten man. He's been similar to this before and bounced back from it but this time he looks worse.

I almost feel sorry for him, but then I remember that he has been very well paid for the last 5 years and could walk away to a cushy lifestyle any time he wants if this is too much for him, but no he would prefer to hang on.

Mowbray's time was up 18 months ago IMO and it is hard to get past that, but the lowlife that are above him in the chain of command have left him out to dry. He should have been potted and replaced many months ago and the club able to move forward, but instead the cowards have just left us to rot.

[martonrover]

7 hours ago, unsall said:

I like Ainsworth but don’t think he’s the answer, yes he’s Rovers through and through just don’t think he’s the one, of the up and coming managers the lad at Blackpool seems to be doing a good job, talks sense and like how he sets up.

Ainsworth got Wycombe in the Championship, when they were favourites for relegation from League One.

I think even the likes of Klopp, Guardiola and Tuchel would've been hard pushed to achieve that at such a small club.

Okay, they fell short and went back down last season after a poor start, but even then they made a decent fist of it, and are now pushing to come straight back.

I agree that it isn't wise to appoint purely on a Rovers connection, but in Ainsworth's case I see that as a healthy bonus, rather than being the main reason for appointing him.

I do think his personality and enthusiasm would help the club to re-engage with the supporters.

It would get me back at Ewood for starters.

[martonrover]

6 hours ago, booth said:

What we need is the best man for the job whether he’s young, old or unemployed. Sadly venkys are still employing our managers in the same way they do their factories. They clearly don’t see the manager as important as it should be.

If they understood football in any way they’d be spending a big fee on investing in the best option, not the easiest.

All they need to do is have a look at Jack Walkers successes and failures. The training manual is there if they’d just show some interest.

 

I agree, but with the best will in the World, we would now struggle to bring in someone from the top draw.

Ainsworth is realistic and would be a good fit.

[chaddyrovers]

54 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Will they review his position shortly though?

I think it is his last season here but don't see him leaving  until his contract is up.

Fans will voiced their opinion and if we play poorly tomorrow and get beat I would the fans to turn on him. 

I would expect. I said i think they sack him around the November international football break. I stick with that opinion

[chaddyrovers]

36 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Maybe Ainsworth will one day but surely if he was such a good option then a club bigger than Wycombe would have made a move for him by now?

Maybe he waiting for the right Club to go for him?

36 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I'm still waiting to hear what sets him aside from say John Coleman, Ryan Lowe, Darrell Clarke, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Nigel  Clough, Michael Appleton or Karl Robinson - all of whom have very impressive records at small clubs in the lower leagues but not above. Just because Ainsworth was born in Blackburn? Is that really the sum total of analysis?

Already explained why Ainsworth should be an option/choice for us as other people like @martonroverhas. I also said people like Alex Neil, Neil Critchley, Ryan Lowe and Chris Wilder should be on the shortlist. Cooper was the one I really wanted to be honest

36 minutes ago, JHRover said:

In the last 10 years or so Hughton has won automatic promotion twice to the Premier League as well as had two play-off campaigns. He also kept Norwich and Brighton in the Premier League.

Mick McCarthy had Wolves in the Premier League, Ipswich challenging for the play-offs, managed Ireland and rapidly turned Cardiff around. Even now his record at Cardiff is better than Mowbray's here in the Championship.

Hughton just been sacked by Forest. No plan B and not tactical aware or motivator we need. Look at the difference Steve Cooper has made there in 5 games with 13 points. Has a Plan B and had motivated the players there with his coaching and man management. That's is what we need here. A manager on the up, fresh ideas, tactical aware, sort the defence out and motivator. 

What's his Cardiff record this season under McCarthy? What's his plan b? 

Edited October 22, 2021 by chaddyrovers

[booth]

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

 

Oh dear... Did I just decipher that interview as, "Please sack me, I don't want to play this game any more and I want paying off?"

Imagine owning a football club and being happy to allow that to manage the staff you pay handsomely every week.

It's as if he completely begrudges having to put any effort in. I imagine he doesn't begrudge his massive wage packet though.

There's no way that man has any ambition for the club at all, which would explain a lot. He could not give two f***s.

He actually looks and sounds like a man doing community service and he can't wait to get home.

Get out of the club you charlatan.

[booth]

15 minutes ago, martonrover said:

I agree, but with the best will in the World, we would now struggle to bring in someone from the top draw.

Ainsworth is realistic and would be a good fit.

Money talks, but the penny hasn't dropped with Venkys that they have to invest in buying a manager like they would a quality player. It all starts with the manager. Jack knew that.

[DE.]

I don't think the average age of a squad is really correlated to league position. 

Teams with the oldest average age of players used so far in the division:

Sheff Utd (27.6) - 17th
Birmingham (27.4) - 19th
Millwall (27.3) - 11th
WBA (27) - 3rd
Derby (26.8) - 24th
Fulham (26.8) - 2nd

Teams with the yougest average squad age in the division:

Barnsley (23.1) - 23rd
Rovers (23.7) - 13th
Bournemouth (24.2) - 1st
Hull (24.6) - 22nd
Forest (25) - 14th
Swansea (25) - 15th

Even if you take out the recently relegated PL teams and Derby's points deduction I don't think there's going to be a particularly strong correlation between average age of the squad and league position. In fact I'd posit that it's very weak, even moreso when you take into account that the minimum is 23.1 and the maximum is 27.6. We aren't talking a very large variance there as far as the average is concerned. 

I can't be bothered to do a regression against the data but I am fairly sure it would not yield a statistically relevent correlation. I think it's just an easy excuse for him to make. 

Edited October 22, 2021 by DE.

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

4 hours ago, ben_the_beast said:

All I see is Chilean flags and chillies

Mental isn't it. Shame none of the clowns in situ will have a clue how to make the most of it 

[Mercer]

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

 

Would have sacked Mowbray on the weakness of that interview alone.

IMO, conforms what a turgid and uninspirational bloke he is.

Three games a week he said - another misleading statement I think.  Playing on a Tuesday or Wednesday followed by Saturday is two games a week unless my abacus isn't working!

 

[RoversClitheroe]

11 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Maybe he waiting for the right Club to go for him?

This is correct, spoke to him for a while (lives where I live and see him sometimes)

His number 1 job is QPR but he'd love to manage Rovers one day, which is his dream.

[Silas]

"It's very hard to criticise the football club and heirarchy........because they lose 20 million pound a year......"

 

Wtf is this nonsense. That's the exact reason to criticise it.

If losing money is the criteria for success he must think Derby County are the best run club in the Country.

In fact, at least Derby took the gamble and tried to achieve something, got to a playoff final and it could well have turned out different for them. 

We lose the money without even trying anything. Like bumping into your pal at the pub: "Had a nightmare today, lost £50 at the bookies, really weird cos I didn't even put a bet on." 🤔

That's how big a losers the club is at the moment, and he's trying to justify it like we're the idiots. Infuriating. 

[glen9mullan]

Problem here is, the clubs current league position is probably far more than I expected given the horrendous transfer window, and departure of decent loans and Armstrong from last season.

You cannot polish a T###!!!

Unexpected bonus's which without we'd probably be sat in the relegation zone.

1. Rejuvenation of Ayala, totally unexpected and gone from zero to first name needed on team sheet.

2. Brereton, his transformation into goalscoring threat has been major, its given the fans something to cling to, whilst masking the awful hash of the transfer window.

When we look at what we have cut from the wage bill and what we've spent or more the case not spent, then there is the underlying problem. I dont believe any sort of credible transfer budget was there in the first place.

This club and squad has been on a steep decline since we came out of the first lockdown, the need for major investment in the squad was very evident. Would any other manager have us any higher with no funds? I don't think so, but that just my opinion.

Its about Managing expectations and after witnessing the poor summer, my expectations were we'd probably go down. Thats not because of the manager, but because of the lack of investment into the playing squad.

TM is a symptom of the problem, which has and will always be the owners.

They appointed people like Waggott, people like Suhail (come on whats his footballing background?).

We have lowest ticket sales since before Jack Walker, and a shocking product.

I believe we are currently getting more from our squad, than perhaps we should be.

It frustrates the life out of me each game, I will be there again tomorrow probably saying "ffs". Its that frustration that will have me playing football manager stating

"Why is such a body not playing"

"Why is he playing him wide again"

"6.4 and cant head a ball, get him off ffs"

"I'd take such and such off and bring on"

"More touches than anyone but no end product"

"Had 80% of the game, then 1 shot 1 goal and we are chasing game again"

"£7.20 For a brew and pie, foooooking scandalous"

To put all the above in one sentence it would be:

Venkys have and always will be the problem, Their money may aswell be universal credit, it buys food, but will never get you a decent standard of living.

[Rogerb]

Not beyond the realms of possibility Venkys offer mowbray a rolling twelve month contract at the end of his current deal.  If it was possible to loan a manager Venkys would.

[toogs]

57 minutes ago, booth said:

Oh dear... Did I just decipher that interview as, "Please sack me, I don't want to play this game any more and I want paying off?"

Imagine owning a football club and being happy to allow that to manage the staff you pay handsomely every week.

It's as if he completely begrudges having to put any effort in. I imagine he doesn't begrudge his massive wage packet though.

There's no way that man has any ambition for the club at all, which would explain a lot. He could not give two f***s.

He actually looks and sounds like a man doing community service and he can't wait to get home.

Get out of the club you charlatan.

I’ve felt this to be the case for at least 3/4 years. 

[Silas]

58 minutes ago, El Tombro said:

I can't bring myself to tune in much after a defeat but is that what Mowbray said? If so, isn't the irony there that part of the reason the club is losing so much is because he is still in situ?

Pretty much word for word, I've just cut out his waffle of "errr from my point of view....errr at this moment in time.."

Yeah, we know Tony. Because you're in a press conference...being asked your point of view....right this moment in time! 🤬🤬

While we're on time he asked: "How far do you want to go back, do you want to go back 3 years, or do you want to go back 30 years?"

What's with the stupid riddles? He's one step off chatting about seagulls and trawlers.

God what I'd do to be the reporter. My answer would be: "I'm mainly interested in 2 very specific times Tony, 5 years ago when you took over the club, and right here today. Can you run through what progress has been made at the club in between those two points?" 

No doubt the answer would be: "Errr pandemic, errr young players,  3 matches in a week, clubs relegated from the Premier League, errrr Shearer/Sutton, 1995.......errr I respect the fans and they're welcome to their opinion.." 

[Miller11]

The main reason I’d be more than happy with Ainsworth isn’t simply that he’s from Blackburn, it’s that he actually gives a shit about the club. It wouldn’t just be a job to him. 

He wouldn’t need to make stupid and untrue claims about walking away if he became a burden, he’d actually just do it. He’s one person who would attempt to tell Venky’s a few home truth instead of being all servile and subservient.

It’s been us v them since day one. It’d be nice to have one of us in a position of influence. However, our overlords would not like this and would probably bin him within a fortnight.

[den]

5 years of Mowbray for what exactly? 5 years and £100m of Venkys money totally wasted in my opinion.

He just shows total disdain for any suggestion that we might do better.

Edited October 22, 2021 by den