Following a bizarre game, which saw Richie Smallwood finish as Rovers’ goalkeeper, Tony Mowbray reflected on the 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion, with the club’s media team, as the former Baggies boss gave his thoughts on the strange game he had just witnessed.
“If you’re looking for an adjective to label today’s game with, I’d go for ‘heroic’. Today’s performance is what our club is about. Everybody played their part and put 100% in, whether that being those who started, or those who came off the bench. I’m delighted that nearly 2000 supporters made the trip down to see that performance, because whilst there was a mixture of spirit, heart and desire, there was also some good quality football being played, which included good individual performances. We made changes prior to kick-off because the lads had put in an immense amount of effort this week, especially following the Swansea game, which included around 6 hours of travel.
“We gave some of the lads who were chomping at the bit and were training really hard, an opportunity to show me what they had in their locker. We gave the likes of Craig (Conway), Kasey (Palmer) and Joe (Rothwell) a run out and as I expected them to be, they were fantastic as they put in the work that I needed of them. I’m happy for the lads because if you break the game down, we should have had a stonewall penalty in the first-half, which the referee has somehow missed. In addition to that, we had a great chance after they had scored, with Rothwell, but he couldn’t find the net. I remember telling the lads at half-time that I couldn’t really remember West Brom troubling us going forwards, bar their goal. I think overall, we deserved the point, so we need to put it in the bag and move onto next weekend at home to Queens Park Rangers.
“At the break, we felt that us being a goal behind, was a bit of an injustice to be honest, because I don’t think they gave us any real problems. I was frustrated at half-time because, after Charlie (Mulgrew) had gone off, the players made a decision about who would be marking who at set-pieces. I was a centre-half all my life, who stood at 6’5” and attacked the ball, although (Craig) Dawson might not be 6’5”, he attacks the ball better than anyone on their team, and I was left annoyed and disappointed at their goal, because Amari’i (Bell) was left with him and I don’t even think Dawson put any real power behind the header, as it looked like he simply forced it into the net and I’m not sure, that had Derrick (Williams) been marking him, he would have ended up scoring. We have to move on however, we need to take the point after what has been a hectic day and move on.
“We’ve had some bad luck today in terms of injuries. Darragh Lenihan failed a fitness test yesterday, which is why he wasn’t available, Charlie came off early, Jack (Rodwell) had a back spasm and David (Raya) came off on a stretcher. Our team is about heroic performances, and it’s going to take a good team to beat us this year. Sometimes games can run away from you as it did against Swansea City. We were disappointed not to get anything from that game, because I felt that we probably deserved something with our overall performance, but that’s football, sometimes individual quality is what separates teams. What I can see though, is a team who have a desire not to lose football matches, and that’s not a bad asset for this team to carry.
“It was an interesting conversation on the pitch, once we realised that David couldn’t continue due to the facial injury he had. Bradley Dack was offering his services, as was Elliott Bennett, but Richie Smallwood took charge of the situation and said that he would go in goal. It was the right decision in the end, from my view, because although Richie has a whole host of brilliant attributes, we needed legs and athleticism during the final 15 minutes, especially with us going down to 10 men, which are attributes that Richie isn’t blessed with. So, we decided to bring Bradley deeper, and keep Benno (Elliott Bennet) at right-back, which allowed Richie to go between the sticks and from my perspective, I’d have to say that he did really well for the 15 or so minutes we needed him in there. I’m delighted for Richie, I’m delighted for the players and I’m also delighted for the fans who made the trip down. We need to be proud of today’s performance, especially due to the difficult circumstances we found ourselves in.
“I’d probably summarise Harrison Reed’s performance today as ‘immense’. He’s been fantastic ever since he’s come in and since coming in, he’s been playing in a wide position for us, acting as a trojan; running around, marking his wide player, helping his fullback and so on. In contrast, he played in the centre of midfield today and showed where his true position is on the pitch. Saying that however, when I’ve got (Corry) Evans and Smallwood, who have been a central midfielder partnership for nearly 2 years, it’s hard to withdraw one of them and replace them with Reed. Reed is a fantastic player, and beyond his playing abilities, his personality is one that fits with the squad. The lads love him to bits and I think he’s really settled. He’s put in an immense performance today and topped it off with a great goal. I’d like to keep Harrison quiet to be honest, I’d like to not tell the world about him, we need to keep him under the radar, keep going collectively and see where this season takes us.
“David’s injury has seen him go to hospital and I’m pretty sure that he’s going to be okay because he’s surrounded by great medical professionals. It’s a bad injury and the players were almost sick looking at it. Charlie has taken a knee right in the ribs which has seen him get very sore and almost caused him to struggle breathing. We’ll have to wait and see whether he gets x-rayed on it. Jack was feeling a bit of discomfort before the game, but he had to play because of Lenihan’s absence, and I think Jack’s back went into spasm in the second-half which caused was discomfort. He should have come off at half-time, because he was really struggling, but he wanted to continue because he knew that we didn’t have another centre-half on the bench. We replaced Jack with young Lewis Travis, who is a midfield player by trade, but has the ability to play all over the park. He’s athletic and determined, he’s also a great character and brilliant for versatility. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t expecting to come on at centre-half, but he did a good job when he did.”
The manager rounded off his interview by talking about his emotions following his return to the Hawthorns and the club he guided to the Premier League, nearly a decade ago.
“I have great memories of my time at West Bromwich Albion. It’s a fantastic football club, with great people at its core. It’s amazing to think that I left almost a decade ago, and yet the same people have remained around the club now, from nearly 10 years ago. It’s nice to see a lot of old faces again, it’s a nice football club who employ great people and I can only wish them well. They have a fantastic manager in Darren Moore, who I can’t speak highly enough about. He’s an amazing guy at a human level, but also a good footballing man. Hopefully both, Rovers and Albion can have good seasons.”
