As Rovers readied themselves to play in-front of their biggest home crowd of the season, which has been estimated to contain around 25,000 supporters, Tony Mowbray spoke to the clubs’ media team regarding his overall thoughts on the season, the unrivalled support from the stands, the commitment of the team and Saturday’s game against Oxford United, which is Rovers’ final game of the League 1 season.
“I think it’s important that we’re going into the final home game of the season with the job of promotion, already achieved and hopefully we can find a good result and potentially put the icing on the cake by nicking the league title away from Wigan, but it won’t matter if Doncaster don’t beat them. What’s important is that we win our own game, put on a good show, and hopefully entice some supporters, who have been away for a long time, to come back and support the team. I’m looking forward to the atmosphere, as I haven’t seen over 20,000 supporters at Ewood Park ever since my playing days, so it’ll be nice to have the top tiers open and hopefully we can give the fans their money’s worth with a good result.
“We’ve spent a lot of this season near the top of the league, so it will be nice to go into next season’s Championship and try to be competitive. The supporters have recognised, throughout this season, that the supporters are giving everything that they’ve got on the field, and although we might not pay the highest salary or have the most talented players in comparison to some teams in the Championship, what the supporters will know is that we can beat anybody, on any given day with the effort and desire the players put in. The players deserve a lot of credit for their performances this season. I think they’ve put the smiles back on a lot of the supporters’ faces and they’ve been great in terms of the performances and the results they’ve produced, especially away from home, so hopefully we can build on what we’ve got and give the supporters more to cheer about next season.”
Mowbray then preceded to talk about his outlook as a manager on the touchline and how his focus changes through the course of the long, demanding season.
“In football management, the job is never finished until it’s finished. My focus, once the final whistle has been blown, is always on the next game, which is why I never get emotionally invested in goals or get animated on the touchline, because I know that we still have a job to do. When I’m on my way home after games, my mind has already turned towards our next fixture in terms of the team, travel arrangements and opposition playstyle. Saturday will be nice, because there will be nothing to focus on next week and with us coming into the game with our goal for the season achieved, it will be nice to enjoy the celebrations with the supporters. The team getting 93 points this season, is a massive achievement; one which is worthy of promotion in any league. I’m hoping that we can finish on 96 points, but regardless, I have to give credit to the players and the supporters who stuck together when times were hard early on, and got us to this position.
“My overriding emotion from this season is one of relief. Coming into the campaign, I set the sole goal of gaining promotion, and to achieve it with games to spare, after putting enormous pressure on myself, the staff and the players, is great, but also relieving. Achieving promotion is a lovely feeling as it makes all the effort and time we’ve put in, worthwhile. My focus now, and after the final whistle on Saturday, turns to next season. I’ve already had a number of agents in my office who have been talking to me about players they represent and who might be available, so now we’ve got to focus on the personnel and the contracts at the club in order to strengthen before entering the Championship. I’m sure that the dressing room will want to give their all, to end the season off with a victory. The players should take the confidence and belief from their positive run at home, into the last game, and put on a performance for the fans.”
The manager rounded off his final pre-match interview of the season by praising both his squad and Wigan Athletic, with the destination of the league title, still to be decided.
“I have no plans on keeping an eye on what’s happening at with Wigan at Doncaster, but I’m sure the crowd will let me know. I have to give great credit to Wigan, who have managed to get themselves in the advantageous position they’re in. We should be kicking ourselves however for dropping some points which we could have easily gained, but saying that, I’m extremely proud of the boys for their commitment, desire and work-ethic, which has allowed them to battle back from a 12-point gap at the start of the season and end the campaign back in the Championship.”
