Tony Mowbray

[G Somerset Rover]

3 hours ago, Dan said:

Gross incompetence/stupidity. No plan B. Stumbled across a formation/lineup that worked and then didn’t have a clue when the key element was missing. 

 

 

And that key element (injuries a huge part of course) only scored once since the turn of the year. I still really do think the bloke is a half season wonder.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

Genuinely think we may look back ten games into next season and see how good we had it with Mowbray. And that in itself could not be a bigger slight on our wretched owners. 

[Upside Down]

4 minutes ago, oldjamfan1 said:

Is it too early to say I saw Wayne and Colleen looking at houses in Wilpshire the other day?

To be honest I'd be happy to have Colleen in charge at present. 

[bigbrandjohn]

1 hour ago, imy9 said:

I honestly think we may look back at this period as our only period of stability.

Thank you Tony for five years of progress imo- on and off the pitch. Bought us a lot of good players and developed loads of others.

i am in no doubt that he had to go but the manner is poor and he deserved better.

I have sympathy with this sentiment.
The problem is that stability can breed complacency and caution. 
Tony Mowbray took the long term view which was admirable, but what was needed was a full on, pedal to the metal short term strategy in January to boost our strike force and provide quality competition to get us over the line. 

[bluebruce]

10 minutes ago, oldjamfan1 said:

They are medics though, not football people as such, to be fair. All depends what job they are moving from/to I suppose.

Aye, might be alright if they're now the gynaecologist.

(Kidding, ladies)

[booth]

8 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

To be honest I'd be happy to have Colleen in charge at present. 

One of the houses would do.

[booth]

10 minutes ago, CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber said:

Genuinely think we may look back ten games into next season and see how good we had it with Mowbray. And that in itself could not be a bigger slight on our wretched owners. 

Remember that season with the record breaking 7-0 loss at home followed by that capitulation from 2nd place to 10th in four months? The pinnacle of Venkys ownership.

Ah, those halcyon days.

[Blue blood]

Personally I am highly impressed with TM. 

I'm impressed that after 5 years he leaves us in scarcely any better place than when he arrived. 

I'm impressed so many people think he is honourable despite having told enough whoppers to feel at home in the government and having slated the fans repeatedly. 

I'm impressed we have had so many death spirals. I didn't think it was possible to implode after Christmas year in year out. 

Im impressed we somehow missed playoffs despite our strong position and our rivals all slipping up plenty. 

I'm impressed that he has played players in positions even a 4 year old would balk to play them. 

Well done Tony, it's a belting job you have done. Surprised me left right and centre. 

[Tugay-is-God]

1 hour ago, Silas said:

Considerate of you to further explain the concept of level. 

You can be level after a different number of games, no?

[Paul Mellelieu]

47 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

Personally I am highly impressed with TM. 

I'm impressed that after 5 years he leaves us in scarcely any better place than when he arrived. 

I'm impressed so many people think he is honourable despite having told enough whoppers to feel at home in the government and having slated the fans repeatedly. 

I'm impressed we have had so many death spirals. I didn't think it was possible to implode after Christmas year in year out. 

Im impressed we somehow missed playoffs despite our strong position and our rivals all slipping up plenty. 

I'm impressed that he has played players in positions even a 4 year old would balk to play them. 

Well done Tony, it's a belting job you have done. Surprised me left right and centre. 

He could have done a lot worse under the mad regime we have.  Have a look at the teams below us and in the third division.

[booth]

1 minute ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

He could have done a lot worse under the mad regime we have.  Have a look at the teams below us and in the third division.

That's actually true and frustrates me more about Mowbray. On occasion he's shown he can do a decent job at getting the team to play but then he'll follow that up with baffling tactics, teams and subs. If he could reign in his giddy inner Pep and was a bit more pragmatic he could be a decent manager.

[Bluerover78]

I think it's a shit show having no statement from the club, but listening to Simon Jordan on talk sport on Friday he said he would not have come out and spoke to the manager regarding a new contract whilst in our position and said it would be upto the manager to contact the owners if he was wanting clarification on a new contract. Seems like he's been sacked  but not until his contract has finished hence not having to pay severance pay. Hear it lots now, some manager is potted and a new manager is named before the desk is cleared, which is similar to Tony in that he hasn't a clue what the owners want and is in the dark whilst plans have been made for the future without him knowing. Doubt that will be the case with us I'm afraid, we will advertise for a replacement half way through pre season. As many have often said though regarding Waggot and Mowbray being close I find it very odd that they haven't spoke about future plans. Maybe they are both mushrooms being kept in the dark. Hopefully the local media can find Waggot and ask the question of does the club have a plan and timescale for a replacement? I'm not actually sure what Waggot does day to day, no one ever seems to see or hear from him, he's certainly not out and about engaging with fans like John Williams seemed to do. Odds on we get a 1 paragraph written statement saying "thanks Tony we wish you all the best and good luck we will provide a further statement in due course". 

Edited May 1, 2022 by Bluerover78
Poor wording

[Sparks Rover]

1 hour ago, Bluerover78 said:

I think it's a shit show having no statement from the owners, 

Hold on a minute.   I'm no fan of the owners but they have placed a CEO in charge who should be doing this type of shit....its Tony's mate isn't it , so why hasn't he come out with a load of platitudes and positive noises so Tony gets a new job, you know like a good reference and good PR for his mate..."thanks for all you've done, promotion blah blah....'  he could do it tomorrow but choosing not to..why?

Why is it being left to the owners and giving them bad publicity?.....this is Mogadon and Tesco last fingers up before they both fuck off, or even worse bag themselves another 3 years each.

A disgrace the pair of them.

Edited May 1, 2022 by Sparks Rover

[AllRoverAsia]

3 hours ago, davulsukur said:

Still here but sounds like his contract ends shortly after that game. Venus, for some reasons seems to have a longer one and will be here for a few months more. Totally pointlessly, of course, which is just the Venkys way.

Massive concern that Venus tries and succeeds in getting the job. That'll be me done if he does.

30th June 2022.

The exact same date as Venus.

He's still fishing for a contract. His family values a bargaining chip.

[RevidgeBlue]

3 hours ago, OldEwoodBlue said:

I'm not clear he has fucked off.... he is still in the dugout at Brum isn't he ?

This is potentially all a sick negotiating game of which we are all now participants / victims. 

This is what worries me slightly when I read the headline about his interview I thought he must have said he was definitely leaving but he said nothing of the sort, all he said was that he'd had no contact about a new contract therefore he was drawing the obvious assumption.

I'm just hoping and praying that the owners haven't assumed it would be acceptable to open discussions at the end of the season bearing in mind the doubt at one time over which division we'd be in next season and that this isn't a devious ploy by Mowbray to get them to feel sorry for him despite the abysmal results and emotionally blackmail them into saying "Tony OF COURSE we don't want you to leave!"

But.....but.....Tony is "a man of honour" (so we keep being told) so surely he wouldn't carry on after saying he was leaving.

Would he?

[AllRoverAsia]

1 hour ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

He could have done a lot worse under the mad regime we have.  Have a look at the teams below us and in the third division.

Fuck them. We are Rovers.

[AllRoverAsia]

That interview is absolutely not a final confirmation that he is leaving.

Plenty of doors are open for him to be given a stay of execution.

[Sparks Rover]

15 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

30th June 2022.

The exact same date as Venus.

He's still fishing for a contract. His family values a bargaining chip.

Yep....why hasn't Waggot come out like this chap at QPR

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.qpr.co.uk/news/club-news/warburton-to-leave-at-end-of-season-280422/%3fdisplayMode=GoogleAmp

A statement on the website to clarify the situation is Tesco's job, wonder why it hasn't happened.  Owners wouldn't even get involved in posting stuff on the website.

 

Edited April 30, 2022 by Sparks Rover

[AllRoverAsia]

11 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

This is what worries me slightly when I read the headline about his interview I thought he must have said he was definitely leaving but he said nothing of the sort, all he said was that he'd had no contact about a new contract therefore he was drawing the obvious assumption.

I'm just hoping and praying that the owners haven't assumed it would be acceptable to open discussions at the end of the season bearing in mind the doubt at one time over which division we'd be in next season and that this isn't a devious ploy by Mowbray to get them to feel sorry for him despite the abysmal results and emotionally blackmail them into saying "Tony OF COURSE we don't want you to leave!"

But.....but.....Tony is "a man of honour" (so we keep being told) so surely he wouldn't carry on after saying he was leaving.

Would he?

Mainly by Mowbray but also the brainwashed.

[AllRoverAsia]

1 minute ago, Sparks Rover said:

Yep....why hasn't Waggot come out like this chap at QPR

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.qpr.co.uk/news/club-news/warburton-to-leave-at-end-of-season-280422/%3fdisplayMode=GoogleAmp

A statement on the website to clarify the situation is Tesco's job, wonder why it hasn't happened.  Owners wouldn't even get involved in ousting stuff on the website.

 

My gut is screaming a major fallout between Mowbray and Waggott and maybe Venus too.

Was Kean's back stabbing knife left in the building.

[Sparks Rover]

38 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

My gut is screaming a major fallout between Mowbray and Waggott and maybe Venus too.

Was Kean's back stabbing knife left in the building.

It's either that or a half cooked attempt to bag another 3 years for all of them on the good ship lemon drizzle 

[AllRoverAsia]

Just now, Sparks Rover said:

It's either that or a half cooked attempt to bag another 3 years for all of them on the good ship lemon drizzle 

Yeah, I thought about that but didn't want to develop the idea, too scary

[SuperBrfc]

7 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

 

 

The key thing I take away from this is when he says:

"But I also understand for the support base, just get somebody who wins. Let's wait and see. The correlation of that isn't quite right, so if you just want to win and you get somebody who just wants to win you have to spend money and bring in some players who can help them do that".

Reading between the lines, he's trying to tell us that the owners won't spend the money. We (the fans) want somebody who wins, but the owners don't care and won't spend the money bringing such a person in and the quality of players required. If you just want to win you can't rely on a group of young lads like I have to, is what I take from that.

That does not excuse his own lack of a winning mentality, him passing up golden opportunities and his stubborn tactics that have cost us vital points this season and in years gone by. None of that is excusable by pointing to budgets.

I've spent the last few hours trying to calm down and look at the situation without losing my head. To try and understand why Mowbray has said or done certain things.

This isn't me making excuses for him, far from it, but I'm trying to look at things the way he might see them, using today's post match press conference. The following is my interpretation of Mowbray's approach and mindset, not what I feel personally about the situation:

1) Mowbray believes that he needs a big budget in order to do well e.g. to achieve a play off spot or to win promotion.

2) Because that big budget hasn't been forthcoming from India, Mowbray believes he can't go for promotion as he doesn't have the quality of squad for it. He hasn't received the budget he needs, so in his view, the best he can do is develop these young lads, try to win football matches and "see what happens". That might explain the change in tack to "development", his apparent lack of care and the shoulder shrugging when we don't win (not that that is ever acceptable). Call it a petulant sulk at the owners for not giving him money to spend, maybe. A 'what can I do with no money' kind of attitude.

3) Mowbray has never believed that this group of lads is good enough to achieve a top 6 finish or win promotion. How often has he talked about the "young lads needing a bit of help"? I take that to mean the owners needing to spend money to bring some quality in. This belief might explain why Mowbray laughed when Andy Bayes asked him whether the top 6 was a realistic aim back in August. Of course, it was disrespectful and insulting to hear that, but it shows that he didn't believe this squad was capable of achieving that aim. Is that why he didn't seem all that bothered when we slipped down the table? Maybe. It's still an unacceptable stance, obviously.

We can argue against all of the above and say he had £15m for three strikers and so on. That is true, but it's also true that he has spent peanuts on permanent transfers since. He wasn't given a significant transfer kitty in January. He had something to spend, yeah, and it could have been used better, but it wasn't a significant amount either.

The budget argument can be countered though by pointing out the likes of Luton, Millwall and Barnsley in recent seasons who have produced better results and shown more hunger than Rovers on low end budgets. Their managers have shown a heck of a lot more nous, determination and a will to win than Mowbray has, so it's not all down to money.

I've consistently said that giving Mowbray a big budget would make no difference as, IMO, he doesn't have what it takes to push us on to the next level. I just think him not getting the money he wanted caused him to bin off any talk and hopes of promotion a while ago. We've been strung along ever since as there has been no ambition to go up from the club, but we've still maintained that hope.

The ultimate blame for all of this lies with the owners who have given no direction, set no aims or goals, held nobody accountable and who just let things bumble along until a footballing bomb site stares them in the face.

They and Mowbray are both to blame for these 5 years that have been wasted. The problem is, the next guy is likely to have problems too if this lot carry on running the club in the same vain. Spend some money on a proper manager if you want success! And bloody communicate with that manager! I'm not hopeful of much changing though. Mowbray has gone (so it seems) and rightfully so, but a major problem still remains.

Venky's out!

Edited May 1, 2022 by SuperBrfc

[OldEwoodBlue]

You have to laugh at the club news blackout. It's like Russian State news.

Alternative reality.

It is almost unimaginable that there will be no club statement put out today.

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

8 hours ago, booth said:

Remember that season with the record breaking 7-0 loss at home followed by that capitulation from 2nd place to 10th in four months? The pinnacle of Venkys ownership.

Ah, those halcyon days.

Exactly. Imagine looking back at that from the relegation zone in Jan 2023, with some clown at the helm, and thinking how lucky we were. 

Edited May 1, 2022 by CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber