As the Blues make their return to Ewood Park for their second game of the 2018-19 Championship season, Tony Mowbray sat down with the media team to preview his side’s clash with Millwall, whilst also reaffirming the importance of a potentially large home backing, as well as reviewing last Saturday’s 2-2 draw away at Ipswich Town.
“I always try to be positive after a game, because the players have tried to do what I’ve asked them to do. Their organisation and structure last Saturday, was good at times, but I just felt that, we were unable to consistently retain possession of the ball when the play transitioned in our favour. Saying that however, Ipswich had the same problem, which I can only put down to the fact that it was the opening day of the season and the adrenaline levels were high.
“The main frustration for me, was that, I thought we managed the second-half pretty well. Ipswich only had 1 or 2 opportunities to score and that came through a slight mix-up on our behalf, which led to David (Raya) pulling off a good save, but apart from that, I don’t really remember Ipswich causing us a threat during the second-half and yet, a hopeful cross into the box has missed everybody, gone in and earnt them a point.
“We’re all left frustrated by the result, but in the grand scheme of things, an away point in the Championship is always one we’ll take before a ball has been kicked. Although we go into every game looking to come away with a win, if we can create a consistent run of winning at home, and getting at least a point from away games, we’ll be in a good spot in the table.
“The plan now, is to turn that point on the opening day, into an even better one by coming out on top against Millwall, who, I believe, are a very tough nut to crack. I would suggest that they have a set way of playing, meaning that we know what to expect from them come Saturday. I’ve been watching their game against a strong Middlesbrough team from the weekend, from which they lost a 2-0 lead, to draw 2-2. Although they failed to see out the game, their ability to go ahead against such a side, who were in the Premier League a few seasons ago, suggests they’re strong, physical and are capable of asking questions of any defence in the league. We have to be ready and show great resilience against them in the hope that we can get all 3 points.
“I think the players believe that we have an identity regarding how we play. There was a ‘culture change’ at our club after around 11 games last season, which we tried to build on, throughout last season, as we got a lot of positive results. We’re going to continue with our identity and how we play into this season and see how we do. The players believe in what we’re doing. It’s not a style of play that has 50 passes before a goal, or one that sees us rely on direct balls forward, it’s a balance between the two which sees us try to play in the opposition half and try to create as many chances as we can.”
Mowbray was asked, mid-way through the interview, about how the Ewood Park atmosphere would be, in comparison to the first home game of last season.
“I think the first home game of last season, the 3-1 loss to Doncaster Rovers, had a lot of positivity before it. We’d obviously kicked off the season with a negative result in the 2-1 loss to Southend United, and yet, the expectation and need of wanting to put the negative result right, hurt us. Doncaster came with a very good game-plan and punished us. If anything, we were a bit too attacking in that game, which left us susceptible to the counter-attack, in addition to a few poor individual performances. We’ve recovered from that however, and we are where we are. I think the players now, understand their jobs, both home and away as we look to play how we did against both Liverpool and Everton. They were two different teams, and we produced two different results by putting in similar performances, against high-class sides who contain players who command a lot of money. I thought that, for an hour, before making the wholesale changes against Liverpool, we were pretty competitive, whereas against Everton, we remained competitive for the full 90 minutes, which is what I expect from the players against Millwall this Saturday.
“I expect the players to pump their chests out on Saturday and to show the Rovers fans in the ground that we’re here in the Championship to play and to win games. I hope we can get similar positive turnouts in the stands, as the players really do thrive off the energy they get from the fanss, which was shown on more than one occasion last season. I do understand that results on the pitch will dictate the figures in the stands, and it’s not easy for me to appeal to the supporters who – for one reason or another – have stopped attending gamed as a result of the negativity that has spanned across several years.
“The players have to go out there every week, fighting for the red rose and make the fans proud of their club. They have to fight for the shirt, they have to run, they have to play with their heart and emotion and they have to score goals, so hopefully that will be enough to bring the fans back into Ewood Park, which in-turn will help the lads push on.”
