Tony Mowbray

[Gav]

3 hours ago, Mellor Rover said:

All fair points Gav, but the situation he leaves us with has to be factored into his tenure.

Of those in bold, only one will be here next season. To say we've been on a five year 'journey' we're gonna need to sign 8 first team players in summer.

I'd wager Diaz and Dolan, but lets not split hairs, you're point is a valid one.

Several clubs in this league are filled with loan players, its the modern way for clubs with a limited budget, which we are. When the 3 stooges took over the club they vowed to get the wage bill under control and sacked some great players as a result. Here we are 11yrs later and its another broken promise.

The buck stops with the billionaire owners, we're in the loan market because they've failed to get wages under control, simple as that for me. The managers are given a budget to work to and they do just that, its the owners that set that budget.

The club have brought in well over £20m by selling Armstrong and the training ground, they need to put some of that money into the managers hand to buy some replacements, but I won't hold my breath.....

[roverblue]

From a squad perspective we are in a much better position now than when he took over. A combination of youth development and good signings have been one of the best parts of the Mowbray era.

I don't lay the blame for the upcoming out of contract players at his door, I am sure he wants to keep all of them but the exec/owners won't or can't pay the going rate for them. I think given our commercial income it's a fairly sensible approach in terms of our long term existence.

League position I think given the investment in the club he has done ok. The promotion season was one of my favourites as a rovers fan going to new grounds and seeing us win most weeks with some great atmospheres.

 

My biggest gripe with Mowbray is his lack of flexibility on the pitch which has been shown with the disastrous runs each season where we lose 10 in a row or something similar. He is so stubborn to just persist with the same formation, players and style until it just sorts itself out eventually. Its rank bad management and is the main thing that holds rovers back from getting higher up the league or maintaining our position this season.

In summary I think he has done a good job 7/10 but I am ready to say our goodbyes and let someone else have a go.

[rigger]

17 minutes ago, roverblue said:

From a squad perspective we are in a much better position now than when he took over. A combination of youth development and good signings have been one of the best parts of the Mowbray era.

I don't lay the blame for the upcoming out of contract players at his door, I am sure he wants to keep all of them but the exec/owners won't or can't pay the going rate for them. I think given our commercial income it's a fairly sensible approach in terms of our long term existence.

League position I think given the investment in the club he has done ok. The promotion season was one of my favourites as a rovers fan going to new grounds and seeing us win most weeks with some great atmospheres.

 

My biggest gripe with Mowbray is his lack of flexibility on the pitch which has been shown with the disastrous runs each season where we lose 10 in a row or something similar. He is so stubborn to just persist with the same formation, players and style until it just sorts itself out eventually. Its rank bad management and is the main thing that holds rovers back from getting higher up the league or maintaining our position this season.

In summary I think he has done a good job 7/10 but I am ready to say our goodbyes and let someone else have a go.

So he has done a good job, apart from the footballing side of things ?

[tomphil]

The main issue is if he comes back this summer with a shiny new 3 year contract then has a 1 in 10 run before Christmas...

That's entirely possible and we know he won't get sacked even if they wanted because it would cost to much. So any new contract should reflect what we've learned from his management and what they actually want from him. It should be nothing more than a one year rolling deal or two years absolute max.

I think it's nailed on we are in for a rerun of the last 4 years though with the chances of relegation again just as strong as any top 6 finish.

Fingers crossed for the remainder of this season because it is a pivitol point in the clubs recent history.  

[simongarnerisgod]

3 hours ago, tomphil said:

The main issue is if he comes back this summer with a shiny new 3 year contract then has a 1 in 10 run before Christmas...

That's entirely possible and we know he won't get sacked even if they wanted because it would cost to much. So any new contract should reflect what we've learned from his management and what they actually want from him. It should be nothing more than a one year rolling deal or two years absolute max.

I think it's nailed on we are in for a rerun of the last 4 years though with the chances of relegation again just as strong as any top 6 finish.

Fingers crossed for the remainder of this season because it is a pivitol point in the clubs recent history.  

to put it bluntly,id`e rather be waterboarded than have to endure another 3/4 seasons of mowbray

[rigger]

This season I have picked and chosen which games to attend. If Mowbray is still here next season, I won't be going at all.

[Upside Down]

A lot of fair scores on here. He’s been good for the club no doubt but he's definitely run his course here.

[47er]

8 hours ago, roverblue said:

From a squad perspective we are in a much better position now than when he took over. A combination of youth development and good signings have been one of the best parts of the Mowbray era.

 

We would be if we could keep this squad together.

We've spent 5+ years getting to this point only to find there was no point.

[XLM]

Don't forget, we're punching above our weight this season. Last season was the supposed crescendo of the journey... Where we achieved 6 more points than when we were relegated.

[Gav]

7 hours ago, rigger said:

This season I have picked and chosen which games to attend. If Mowbray is still here next season, I won't be going at all.

Sitting top 6 for most of the season isn't enough for you rigger?

[rigger]

2 hours ago, Gav said:

Sitting top 6 for most of the season isn't enough for you rigger?

Sitting top six is good enough for me. Tony Mowbray isn't. Like every one else, what I do with my money is my choice. Bye the way, sitting top six only counts at the end of the season.

Edited March 26, 2022 by rigger

[Gav]

29 minutes ago, rigger said:

Sitting top six is good enough for me. Tony Mowbray isn't. Like every one else, what I do with my money is my choice. Bye the way, sitting top six only counts at the end of the season.

I assume you'll not be going next season if we manage to make it into the Premiership?

[rigger]

5 minutes ago, Gav said:

I assume you'll not be going next season if we manage to make it into the Premiership?

If Mowbray is still manager, No. My opinion of Mowbray will not change whatever league we are in.

[Mattyblue]

Top 6 is good enough, but the manager who has the team in that position isn’t? And not only that, you won’t even go to matches because of the bloke who has the team in the position you deem good enough?

Doesn’t really compute that, sorry.

[JHRover]

As others have rightly pointed out it is a fallacy to persist with Mowbray purely because it is the easy/cheap option or because it could be worse. 

It is a fallacy because his departure is inevitable. It might be this summer, it might be next year, it might be in 3,4,5 years, but it will happen. It might be that we sack him, it might be that his contract runs down, it might be that he gives up and has a rest/retires, or it might be that another club comes along and offers him a move and he takes it. 

The latter two of those possibilities I think are unlikely any time soon, because there aren't many managers who give up a good number especially after a 'good' season, and I don't see there being many clubs willing and able to entice him away from his cushy number here. But it could happen and if it does then Mowbray is in control, not Venkys or Rovers. 

Such a thing could happen very quickly and unexpectedly. Hell he could sign a new 3 year deal tomorrow and then in a couple of months get a call from someone willing to pay to take him away. Nothing we can do about that.

So the only question is whether we accept our lot, drift along with Mowbray the one who decides when the time is right for a change and we are then scrambling around for a replacement from a position of weakness and under time pressure, or whether the Club comes first and dictates when that happens and makes a change at a convenient time when the next manager can be sourced from a wider market and is under less pressure to hit the ground running.

The outcome is the same either way. Whether it be tomorrow or in 3 years there is a future without Mowbray as manager and the Club has to have a plan for that. There also has to be some ambition in the Club to seize that opportunity, when it comes, to improve and progress rather than looking at it with dismay and concern. 

Some people on Social Media seem to be under the impression that Mowbray can and will continue forever, that he is doing such a stellar job here that there is no risk of any other club ever offering him a better deal than Rovers and that a managerial change here is the end of the world as we know it.

Most fans and clubs see a change as something to be embraced. Of course it doesn't always work out. In which case you make another change, and so on and so forth. Never making a change because you have no confidence in making one that works is insanity, especially when change is inevitable sooner rather than later anyway.

[47er]

4 hours ago, Gav said:

Sitting top 6 for most of the season isn't enough for you rigger?

Being second at Christmas then struggling to win games and even to score and throwing it all away?

No, not good enough.

[Mattyblue]

Is ‘the club’ (whoever the hell that is these days) succession planning right now? 

I would wager not, so we will in all likelihood be scrambling around in mid summer trying to find a manager… yet we’ve known for three years that the fella in situ is out of contract in June 2022, so every chance we’d need somebody in. 

STs, contracts, managers, you name it, all a late, tail chasing job, as we are totally at the whim of distant owners who seemingly decide everything in one summer meeting on the other side of the world.

Ridiculous way to run a professional football club…

 

[rigger]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Top 6 is good enough, but the manager who has the team in that position isn’t? And not only that, you won’t even go to matches because of the bloke who has the team in the position you deem good enough?

Doesn’t really compute that, sorry.

Correct, This isn't aimed at you, as I don't know you from Adam. I have a great passion for the Rovers, but I am not a robot, and I do not go to games just because that is what I have always done. If I don't like some of what I buy (in this case Mowbray), I don't buy it. If this doesn't compute with you, so be it ! 

[Mattyblue]

But if you are happy with the team’s position, why would you not even go to matches because of the bloke picking it?

[TimmyJimmy]

Here's a firecracker in your hen house - maybe TM staying is the best thing! Think Curbishley and Charlton. 96 until 06 I think and a few years before that in a joint role. Two promotions and a solid Premiership position when he left. Didn't do anything later at West Ham.

Success at Charlton was put down to his longevity at the club where year on year he got the internals right and brought through the players he wanted. 

Not putting TM in same class as Ferguson but the same applied to him. Nearly sacked, survived and improved over the years once he had knocked the club into shape and his image. Chalk and cheese obviously but the principle holds.

Maybe, just maybe TM staying would be a good thing, especially when you look at the possible replacements and how long it would take them to refashion the team.

Boom! Just saying 🙂

Edited March 26, 2022 by TimmyJimmy

[rigger]

3 minutes ago, TimmyJimmy said:

Here's a firecracker in your hen house - maybe TM staying is the best thing! Think Curbishley and Charlton. 96 until 06 I think and a few years before that in a joint role. Two promotions and a solid Premiership position when he left. Didn't do anything later at West Ham.

Success at Charlton was put down to his longevity at the club where year on year he got the internals right and brought through the players he wanted. 

Not putting TM in same class as Ferguson but the same applied to him. Nearly sacked, survived and improved over the years once he had knocked the club into shape and his image. Chalk and cheese obviously but the principle holds.

Maybe, just maybe TM staying would be a good thing, especially when you look at the possible replacements and how long it would take them to refashion the team.

Boom! Just saying 🙂

Forget what has happened elsewhere, do you think Mowbray staying, is a good thing for the Rovers . Boom! just asking. 

[Mike E]

12 hours ago, Upside Down said:

A lot of fair scores on here. He’s been good for the club no doubt but he's definitely run his course here.

Exactly that. He's basically done a Souness.

But a league lower.

And started with a relegation.

And didn't win a trophy.

Or place us in the top 6 of the league we were promoted (back) to.

[simongarnerisgod]

3 hours ago, Gav said:

I assume you'll not be going next season if we manage to make it into the Premiership?

thats the most optimistic quote ive` ever read🤣,you  have to score goals to win a football match and since tony has reverted back to type we don`t look like scoring ever

[Gav]

2 hours ago, 47er said:

Being second at Christmas then struggling to win games and even to score and throwing it all away?

No, not good enough.

The buck stops with the manager, no doubt about that, but to ignore all the factors that have played a part in this decline would be remiss of us all in my opinion. 

[rigger]

4 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

thats the most optimistic quote ive` ever read🤣,you  have to score goals to win a football match and since tony has reverted back to type we don`t look like scoring ever

The worst part is, we have looked like scoring, on plenty of occasions, but we haven't put the ball in the net.

Edited March 26, 2022 by rigger