Tony Mowbray is our new gaffer. But how has he done at previous clubs?
Mowbray was a great defender as a player, most notably playing almost 400 games for his hometown club Middlesbrough. But after playing over 100 times for Ipswich, he was given the role of caretaker manager as he had already been in a coaching role at Portman Road. He steadied the ship in between the exit of former Sunderland player George Burley and the appointment of Joe Royle as manager.
In 2004 he was given his first permanent role as a manager, going north of the border to manage Hibs. Mowbray won the Scottish Football Writers' Association manager of the year award in his first season, helping Hibs achieve two consecutive top-four finishes in his two full seasons at the club. He also put great emphasis on domestic cups – something which would boost morale on Wearside as it’s been a while since we’ve had a proper cup run, in a proper cup.
West Brom were relegated to the Championship in the 2005/06 season, and in October 2006 Tony Mowbray was tasked with dragging the Baggies back up to the Premier League. He brought an ability to grind out results away from home, although results petered out at the end of the season. They finished fourth though despite a pretty poor financial situation, and got to the play-off final although they lost to Derby County.
Sunderland and Mowbray crossed paths during that 2006/07 season, when Roy Keane’s men went to the Hawthorns and won on their way to the Championship title. In a bitter post-match interview, Mowbray said: “I want to be gracious in defeat but I know who was the better side on the day - the team with more control and trying to force the game. Sunderland are a very organised, defensively set up team and you’ve got to give them credit for that. But over the next 10 games I would suggest we will end up with more points than them because of the way we play. We will score more goals than them.”
The following season, amid reports of a divided dressing room, Mowbray oversaw a major squad overhaul that saw the departures of big Championship names such as Jason Koumas, Diomansy Kamara, Curtis Davies, Paul McShane, Nathan Ellington, Darren Carter and Steve Watson. He received some big fees, with Koumas, Kamara and Davies all joining Premier League sides, and reinvested that money in 14 new signings including Chris Brunt (£3m), Leon Barnett (£2.5m) and James Morrison (£1.5m).
Most of his signings worked out well, with Brunt spending 13 years at the Hawthorns and Morrison making over 300 appearances for the Baggies. Given Sunderland’s seemingly self-imposed financial restrictions, we might see a large squad turnover this summer as Tony wheels and deals to get the right players for his system.
In the 2007/08 season he managed to make these new signings click, and they were crowned champions of the second tier. A certain Kevin Phillips was the side’s top scorer! As well as finishing top of the Championship though, Mowbray continued to value the cup competitions as West Brom reached the FA Cup semi-final. They were relegated from the Premier League the following season though, finishing 20th. Despite this Mowbray remained a popular figure at the club – supporters wore masks with his face on at the last game of the season!
In June 2009, following West Brom’s relegation, Mowbray went back to Scotland to manage Celtic, where he was already a fan favourite having played for the Hoops in the early 90’s. But he didn’t fare so well in the dugout. Like West Brom before, he was in charge of an overhaul and brought in the likes of Robbie Keane and future Sunderland man Ki Sung-Yueng. But despite a positive start they eventually fell 10 points behind SPL rivals Rangers, and was sacked after a shocking 4-0 defeat to St Mirren.
He was sacked in March 2010, but found a new club by October as he returned to the club he supported as a lad and captained as a player, Middlesbrough. As a player for the club, Mowbray was ever-present as the team completed a memorable rise from the old Division Three to the top flight between 1986 and 1988.
He replaced gaffer Gordon Strachan with Boro 22nd in the league, and achieved his short-term goal of keeping them in the Championship. The following season they improved on that, finishing 12th. It was another steady improvement the next year, with Middlesbrough just missing out on the play-offs in 2011/12 in 7th place. Mowbray was already a legend at the club due to his playing days, but his time in the dugout made him even more popular. The Saltburn-born boss understood the passion of the North-East fans, and they bought into his ethos.
However in the 2012/13 season, after a poor run of two wins in 12, Mowbray was sacked by chairman Steve Gibson. The popular chairman believed the club could have been dragged into a relegation dogfight, and Boro released a statement saying: “The club would like to place on record their sincere thanks to Tony Mowbray for all of his substantial efforts, dedication and integrity. He leaves with the very best wishes of all at the club.”
After a brief stint at Coventry, during which time he won promotion from League One, Mowbray took over at Blackburn Rovers in 2017. The side was relegated, although he was hardly to blame as he arrived in February and actually changed their form for the better. Rovers spent just one year in League One under Mowbray's stewardship, with the side finishing in second place.
During his time at Blackburn, the former Boro man led them to a number of steady seasons, including 15th and 11th placed finishes. He managed to get Danny Graham scoring goals, which is no easy task, and also utilised the talent of some young stars like Ben Brereton-Diaz. More notably though for Sunderland fans, he was always full of praise for Blackburn midfielder and now Sunderland captain Corry Evans.
Evans was the longest-serving player at the club having spent eight years at Ewood Park. He put in several man of the match displays under Mowbray, and when Evans returned from a horrible injury, the gaffer said: "If you see the pictures you wouldn't have recognised Corry two or three weeks after the initial injury. His face was all swollen, his eyes were closed, his hairline was stretched and he had a huge scar on top of his skull. But here he is playing at that level with that energy, drive and commitment. It's a fantastic story, and he's a credit to himself, his family and the football club."
Even when Evans left the club, Mowbray had this to say: "I am sure he will have plenty of options. Corry is an immense young man, an international footballer. He has plenty going for him. Let's see, but I am sure there will be a lot of takers for him. I have no doubt that not only will he find a new club, but it will be at a good level. I think the best way with Corry is to love him. A club where he will feel really important. I pigeon-hole Corry as a destructive, simplistic footballer rather than being creative. He is brilliant at reading people's eyes, anticipating and stepping in front and nicking the ball.”
It was an amicable end when Mowbray’s contract ended, and he’s still held in very high regard at Ewood Park. He may not be the most exciting name to replace Alex Neil, but he’s got a very solid record at this level and if there’s one guarantee, it’s that we won’t get relegated.
I don’t know about you but already this season I’ve had enough of the extreme highs and lows of supporting Sunderland AFC! Maybe a season of calmness in mid-table is exactly what we need, and in the background the staff can work on identifying transfer targets and maybe push for the play-offs next year. He would be the safe bet (and the cheap option because he's surprisingly only 58 despite looking 20 years older, and unemployed so the club wouldn't have to pay a compensation fee to any clubs, but that’s another argument). We need to get behind him and see what he can bring to the football club. Alex Neil arrived to little fanfare, but look at how successful his appointment turned out to be. It doesn’t take much to become a cult hero here, and with Mowbray we have a man who knows and understands the area, and has the experience to not let expectations overwhelm him.
