Mowbray’s Future

[RevidgeBlue]

48 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Doesn't sound like total committment to me

No.

If we needed to win the last six games to stay up, he wouldn't be saying "Ah well it looks like we're going to go down, that's just the way it is" he'd be saying that the team would be fighting tooth and nail to the very last to try and pull off an unlikely escape.

The manager may think privately (as we all do) our play off hopes have gone. But he shouldn't be hoisting the white flag in Public with 14 games to go as that is sending a clear message to the players that it doesn't matter if we stink the place out between now and the end of the season as we wouldn't be going up anyway.

The message coming out from the manager is "Relegation isn't acceptable, any thing else is." and it's a very uninspiring one. He also doesn't give the impression that he has any desire whatsoever to improve the side from the level it is at now. He gives the impression he merely seems to just want to manage and look after players he already knows and likes and gets on with. 

[Mattyblue]

Interesting article. Obviously wants more than the young English route...

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17437465.mowbray-plans-to-bring-in-european-scouting-network-at-rovers/

 

[arbitro]

11 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Interesting article. Obviously wants more than the young English route...

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17437465.mowbray-plans-to-bring-in-european-scouting-network-at-rovers/

 

Another frustrating interview from Mowbray in my opinion. He talks like he has just come to the club and identified a weakness. He has been here for two years which should have been ample time to put the wheels in motion to scour Europe. 

[JacknOry]

Always downplaying us and lowering expectation is one thing that grinds me a little bit tbh. Making out that we should be happy to be on a par with Preston when just a few weeks ago we were streets ahead of them is poor form. Of all the teams in the league to choose as well.

Every team we play is bigged up like Barcelona - sometimes I think he persuades himself and that is why we always set up so negatively or in a manner to counteract the oppositions strengths rather than emphasizing ours and letting the opposition worry about us.

The was he talks I feel like we are a Burton or something or a team that has spent the last decade in League 1.

We spent 10 million in the summer - which is a lot more than at least half the division. Heck Millwall only recently broke their all time transfer record by spending 1 million on a player. I am not having it that we should be happy where we are. Yes, we would have taken our position at the start of the season and its progress but we should always be looking up and showing ambition. We are Blackburn Rovers Tony, we have won the Premier League, we have a cat academy and our facilities outshine practically everyones in this division - being on a par with PNE is not an accomplishment, they should be happy to be on a par with us.

Edited February 16, 2019 by JacknOry

[G Somerset Rover]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Interesting article. Obviously wants more than the young English route...

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17437465.mowbray-plans-to-bring-in-european-scouting-network-at-rovers/

 

That £50 million line is interesting. I have a feeling they’re getting a tad itchy about his reluctance to go for it (the PL, not the £50m btw).

Edited February 16, 2019 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[blueboy3333]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Interesting article. Obviously wants more than the young English route...

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17437465.mowbray-plans-to-bring-in-european-scouting-network-at-rovers/

 

It does beg the question what's he been doing for the last 2 years if he's only talking about setting up a European scouting system now?  The value is obviously abroad and has been for years, not in £7m 19 year olds from Forest.

It just adds to the picture of a bloke who lacks a bit of OOMPH. His comments about not being arsed about conceding late goals, his comments about giving up on the league, and now his comments about only just getting round to setting up a scouting system abroad after two years all strike me as very complacent. As someone else pointed out it's hardly the 'Total Commitment' the club keep preaching when trying to sell ST's. 

Obviously he may have already asked for a European scout and been turned down, but his comments over the last two years have suggested he has been happy to go British (especially players he's already worked with or have played well against his teams). 

Couple of interesting quotes in the article:-

"At this moment I’m being tasked with trying to take us back there (the Prem). If it is going to be me than I need the support to do it. Otherwise, as has been at clubs I have been at in the past, you don’t quite win enough games, someone else comes in, gets £50m to spend and they get the glory of ‘what a great manager’ when they get back in to the Premier League. That’s football."

Mogga sounds a bit frustrated there^. As has been obvious for sometime Venky's are desperate to get back to the Prem. Mowbray is obviously pleading for a bit of patience and support. However, £50m to get out of the Championship? The really good managers in this league (like Warnock) do it on not much more than free transfers. Mowbray tends to get his excuses early. If he taught his teams how to defend this season would have been a lot different. The Dyche's and Warnock's of this world do exactly that.  

"...if we have ambition at this football club to get to the Premier League, we need to invest and do it now. Mainly in infrastructure I would say. Infrastructure allows you to get players and when they come in the building they say ‘wow’ "

What's he referring to here? Have we not got one of, if not the, best set-up in the Championship as far a ground/training ground go? 

Edited February 16, 2019 by blueboy3333

[OJRovers]

It's a reality check that we are still miles off being a normal club and shows the extent that Venkys have destroyed the infrastructure of the club.

I can't believe we have gone and spent over £10 million under Waggot and Mowbray without looking at any foreign players. 

No wonder we haven't kicked on this season. English players are largely overpriced.

Funny that Mowbray mentioned Maupay, I mentioned him on here the other day. Sounds like we're not even looking for bargains like him.

We signed a lad from the Northern Ireland league, why have someone scouting there and not in Europe?

Surely Venkys don't need to approve the appointment of a scout on wages that are far lower than the players. Why after 2 years is this just being looked at (not even fixed yet)??

 

[blueboy3333]

7 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

We all know that if he was saying “let’s go for it we have a real chance” he’d be being called out for being deluded.

Straw man. All he had to say was 'we'll keep going and see where it takes us' NOT 'it's all gone to shit and we haven't achieved what we wanted' which is what he actually said. 

 

7 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

Blowing a few million and the wage structure apart in a January with an outside chance would’ve been stupid.

which is what he did on Brereton. I agree it was stupid. 

 

7 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

On paper we are a pretty weak team in this league

No we don't. We have a mid-table team. We can't compete with some clubs in the transfer market but as has been said a million times we went down with a mid-table Championship team that had been appallingly managed by Coyle and came back up with a mid-table Championship team. Where we are now is about right in this league for the players we have. 

 

7 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

We aren’t playoff winning quality yet and pretty much nothing could have been done in January to change that.

If Mowbray had sorted out a defence that has conceded 25 goals in 10 away games then we could well have been in with a shout of the play-offs. We still might if he can.

What he could have done in January is bring in a goalkeeper and CB to improve the squad, either on loan or a perm. But he didn't want to because he wants to be loyal to the 'group'. 

Edited February 16, 2019 by blueboy3333

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

7 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

No.

If we needed to win the last six games to stay up, he wouldn't be saying "Ah well it looks like we're going to go down, that's just the way it is" he'd be saying that the team would be fighting tooth and nail to the very last to try and pull off an unlikely escape.

The manager may think privately (as we all do) our play off hopes have gone. But he shouldn't be hoisting the white flag in Public with 14 games to go as that is sending a clear message to the players that it doesn't matter if we stink the place out between now and the end of the season as we wouldn't be going up anyway.

The message coming out from the manager is "Relegation isn't acceptable, any thing else is." and it's a very uninspiring one. He also doesn't give the impression that he has any desire whatsoever to improve the side from the level it is at now. He gives the impression he merely seems to just want to manage and look after players he already knows and likes and gets on with. 

Absolutely.  If anything, he should be telling this bunch that they have to up their game massively over the next 14  games.   If they don't look like they can - then they should be out in July and replaced by players who can.  That's recruiting for a promotion push surely?

[tomphil]

Sort that defence out, invest in that a bit and build from the back or we'll go nowhere unless you get serious fire power and try the old you score three but we'll score four routine.

As for European scouting I reckon these days it mostly amounts to watching live streams of games on a large screen in a comfy office with the odd foray across water to check out in the flesh someone you might like. Can't be that difficult or expensive to set up you just need a decent calibre of person doing the watching.

Let's face it though our forays into European markets haven't gone very well under this lot have they although the previous system was 'agent presents xyz to owner' probably. If they've moved away from that there might be a chance.

[arbitro]

Just now, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

Absolutely.  If anything, he should be telling this bunch that they have to up their game massively over the next 14  games.   If they don't look like they can - then they should be out in July and replaced by players who can.  That's recruiting for a promotion push surely?

I think Mowbray has painted himself into a corner with the contract extensions he handed out undeservedly to several players as a reward for promotion. They have the security of a longer deal on better money and some clearly aren't good enough to take us to the next step. From a playing perspective too many are at/above their level of ability. I really fear that Mowbray and several players have entered the comfort zone and we could tread water for some time now.

[Neal]

People might laugh but I honestly think there's probably enough people on here to develop a scouting network who could do a good job at scouting for the club and save them some money. I know there's one other poster who has good knowledge of Scandinavia and has recommended players that have turned into players we couldn't afford now, another who has good knowledge of Australia who recommended Aaron Mooy before he became a big name. My knowledge of Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and Eredivisie is pretty good also. I'm sure there are others out there who have knowledge of other leagues too. The amount of talent that comes out of France who don't make it at bigger clubs who then drop down and turn into good players... Is insane. 

[JacknOry]

More confirmation that he reads these boards - those two players are exactly the ones I mentioned that show that there are some gems out there in Europe that cost close to nothing.

“Or how do we find the players? I have talked before, we haven’t actually got a scout who covers Europe. So how are we going to find a Maupay at Brentford, or a Benrahma? How are we going to find them if we’re not even in the market and watching those games?

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

18 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I think Mowbray has painted himself into a corner with the contract extensions he handed out undeservedly to several players as a reward for promotion. They have the security of a longer deal on better money and some clearly aren't good enough to take us to the next step. From a playing perspective too many are at/above their level of ability. I really fear that Mowbray and several players have entered the comfort zone and we could tread water for some time now.

Inclined to agree.  I think that TM sees Rovers as his last job and wants to leave a legacy, culminating in promotion to the Prem.  Obviously, this is what we all want.

That said, he isn't tactically astute enough to over-achieve with a team that aren't good enough.  The only chance he has of promotion, is through having players that are as good as (or better) than other teams in the division.  That will only come (in the relative short term) by upgrading players and paying the associated costs.

If Venkys are willing to throw money at it, he should be snapping their hand off, as it's the only way he will succeed here.  

Oh, and Tony, highlighting how far behind clubs we were miles ahead of ten years ago, isn't a measure of progress.

[blueboy3333]

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17437488.rovers-boss-tony-mowbray-lifts-the-lid-on-switzerland-trip/

I thought he'd just gone to a FIFA museum?

He's certainly putting the ball in Venky's court. The 'L1 to stable Prem' team in 3 years quote is probably what is expected of him by the owners. He's saying he wants more money and time. Fair enough. Other managers have done it though. He needs to be careful of not coming across as defeatist. 

 

[JacknOry]

Just now, blueboy3333 said:

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17437488.rovers-boss-tony-mowbray-lifts-the-lid-on-switzerland-trip/

I thought he'd just gone to a FIFA museum?

He's certainly putting the ball in Venky's court. The 'L1 to stable Prem' team in 3 years quote is probably what is expected of him by the owners. He's saying he wants more money and time. Fair enough. Other managers have done it though. He needs to be careful of not coming across as defeatist. 

 

Does sound like he is under a bit of pressure to get us to the prem as quickly as possible - why wouldn't they want that though to be fair? I can sympathise a little if he feels they are not beiing patient enough but at the same time if they're making funds available, he should be using them as long as they represent good value to the club.

[tomphil]

For all the times he's said there was money to spend but he just hasn't spent it he doesn't half seem to be asking them for investment.  So far all he seems to have got is the extra revenue from going up back into this division. That seems to have all been tied up in the new contracts for him and everyone else and probably the yearly instalments for BB.

More smoke and mirrors from the V's ?  

[JHRover]

'Lifts the lid on Switzerland trip' basically an admission that the purpose of his trip was to meet the owners and Mowbray then setting out his vision which is more or less the same as he has previously. No real Intel about the meeting or what is going to happen.

At least he didn't refer to other stakeholders....

[G Somerset Rover]

35 minutes ago, tomphil said:

For all the times he's said there was money to spend but he just hasn't spent it he doesn't half seem to be asking them for investment.  So far all he seems to have got is the extra revenue from going up back into this division. That seems to have all been tied up in the new contracts for him and everyone else and probably the yearly instalments for BB.

More smoke and mirrors from the V's ?  

I’m not sure this time. You can imagine all their ‘hangers on’ getting in their ears with talk of the PL riches (wealth and access to people) being within touching distance. I reckon they’ll try to get TM to go for it in the summer or will get somebody in who will if he’s not game. I think it will be an interesting summer either way.

Edited February 16, 2019 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[47er]

23 minutes ago, JHRover said:

'Lifts the lid on Switzerland trip' basically an admission that the purpose of his trip was to meet the owners and Mowbray then setting out his vision which is more or less the same as he has previously. No real Intel about the meeting or what is going to happen.

At least he didn't refer to other stakeholders....

Let's hope his children don't want to progress to their doctorates!  

[AllRoverAsia]

15 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

What did people think of Mowbrays comments suggesting that we are doing well to be on level points with Preston?

I thought they were a little strange, we shouldnt be using a team of Prestons stature as one who it is a big achievement to be on par with. Prestons horrendous start to the season has meant they are having a poor season so its nothing to be boasting about in press conferences.

Interesting to see the PNE manager and players in the media bigging up a play off push and saying it is achievable, and ours is saying this:

“There’s still a long way to go but it looks like we’re going to fall short of what we would like to achieve."

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17434228.tony-mowbray-on-rovers-aspirations-for-the-final-14-games/

For a few weeks now my mobile chrome browser will not open the LT website, no idea why it used to be just the Daily Mail that was a problem.

The bonus is that I do not have to read this sort of crap from Mowbray.

We have allowed Preston to catch up with us due to our failings and now he's conceeding whilst Preston are up for a further push.

What sort of message is he trying to send to the players nevermind the fans.

I am a patient man but he is starting to get to me.

[Angry_Pirate]

2 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

"...if we have ambition at this football club to get to the Premier League, we need to invest and do it now. Mainly in infrastructure I would say. Infrastructure allows you to get players and when they come in the building they say ‘wow’ "

Is he talking about wanting a big screen that actually serves a purpose besides advertising? And the rebirth of Radio Rovers? 

Maybe he has been brainwashed by having to listen to BBC Radio Lancs (Preston) before and after every game. You'd think they would beat Man City, listening to that garbage.

I'm dreading that Preston game now. 5-5-0 formation and no striker on the pitch. 

Fundamentally for me, It's his team selections that are f***ing me off. Play our best (or young) players and lose for all I care... it's not like we're winning with Conway, Smallwood, Bennett and Williams, is it?

11 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

Still think Smallwood is underrated on here btw. Yeah he’s not Pirlo but there’s not much between him and Evans for me. 

2nd half: "Oh we've conceded a goal, Smallwood you're off." Says all you need to say about him as a player for me. He's not even in our top 5 CMs for my money. Think between being Jason Lowes replacement and his chant has saved his Blackburn career but even that has died as its embarrassingly ironic.

Middlesbrough is another chance for TM to show us he's up for it, as the last 3 games (from him #1) have been garbage. 

[tomphil]

41 minutes ago, JHRover said:

'Lifts the lid on Switzerland trip' basically an admission that the purpose of his trip was to meet the owners and Mowbray then setting out his vision which is more or less the same as he has previously. No real Intel about the meeting or what is going to happen.

At least he didn't refer to other stakeholders....

I thought TMs India trip was put off in summer ?  Sharpe seems to be projecting he went but i'm sure the LT reported that trip was shelved but didn't give a reason.

 

[Ewood Ace]

15 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

What did people think of Mowbrays comments suggesting that we are doing well to be on level points with Preston?

To me it shows just how unambitious he is. 16 games ago we were 8th and Preston were 21st and now they are ahead of us, comments like this from Mowbray are insult the intelligence of fans. Another reason for Preston going above us it that they are unbeaten since new years day after which they significantly strengthened their squad, if only Mowbray had thought of that.

[chaddyrovers]

4 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Interesting article. Obviously wants more than the young English route...

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/17437465.mowbray-plans-to-bring-in-european-scouting-network-at-rovers/

 

its looking that way. Plenty of bargains out there. 

How much did Benrahma cost Brentford? signed from Second division in French

But we need to make they are the right characters for the team and the team we are building

3 hours ago, arbitro said:

Another frustrating interview from Mowbray in my opinion. He talks like he has just come to the club and identified a weakness. He has been here for two years which should have been ample time to put the wheels in motion to scour Europe. 

when Mowbray 1st joined us we had Paul Senior who I would imagine was going to run the recruitment side of their club. 

It would be good if anyone who is going to Mowbray evening event next week talk to him about the scouting network and the work he done improving it and wants to do. 

When do Tommy Johnson left? how many scouts do we have? and how many would he like? 

What improvements has Stuart Harvey do since becoming Rovers chief scout to the scouting network? 

2 hours ago, OJRovers said:

It's a reality check that we are still miles off being a normal club and shows the extent that Venkys have destroyed the infrastructure of the club.

I can't believe we have gone and spent over £10 million under Waggot and Mowbray without looking at any foreign players. 

No wonder we haven't kicked on this season. English players are largely overpriced.

Funny that Mowbray mentioned Maupay, I mentioned him on here the other day. Sounds like we're not even looking for bargains like him.

We signed a lad from the Northern Ireland league, why have someone scouting there and not in Europe?

Surely Venkys don't need to approve the appointment of a scout on wages that are far lower than the players. Why after 2 years is this just being looked at (not even fixed yet)??

 

wasn't the Rovers scouting network destroy by Kean and Shebby by using agents? 

How can you sign Foreign players without any kind of scouting going on before. Also Mowbray has said he gets plenty of phone calls from agents offering foreign players but he is very worried about signing them without proper scouting them. surely this right? don't want to go back to Kean and Shebby days do we? 

It wouldn't just be one or 2 scouts would it? you probably want at least 1 in the countries he mentioned previous. If I remember correct the countries he mentioned was Belgium, France, Germany and Scandinavian 

3 minutes ago, tomphil said:

I thought TMs India trip was put off in summer ?  Sharpe seems to be projecting he went but i'm sure the LT reported that trip was shelved but didn't give a reason.

 

no that was the November/December meeting