After Rovers came from behind to win 3-2 against Oldham Athletic in the Carabao Cup first round, to book a place in the next stage of the competition, Blues boss Tony Mowbray spoke with the club’s media team with tentativeness following a poor performance from his side, that saw the inspired substitutions of Bradley Dack, Joe Rothwell and Harry Chapman change the course of the tie in Rovers’ favour.
“I was very angry at half-time, but I didn’t want to offload on the players. You have pictures in your mind about how you want to play and how quickly you want them to move the ball against a team that we knew would sit in with a lot of men behind the ball and make things difficult for us, and yet, we were so slow, so pedantic and we kept throwing away possession with silly passes, which allowed them to break on us.
“I would have said, had we not won the game, that everyone should have blamed me, because I picked the team and decided that wholesale changes was needed, which is what I believe you should do in the cup competitions, especially at home against lower league opposition as it allows the squad players who haven’t been getting the play time in the league, to get some minutes under their belt in the cup. Although, having said that, if you can’t perform against Oldham Athletic at home, then you probably shouldn’t be at Blackburn Rovers.
“It was a frustrating and disappointing night for me sat watching, because I had mentally prepared myself not to overindulge in the game, because I wanted the players to assert their dominance over the game, with us being the better team, due to the gap in divisions between the sides. Unfortunately, such a plan never materialised. We almost reverted back to how we’ve been playing, over the past few years, hitting the diagonal ball into Danny (Graham) who knocks it down into the path of Bradley (Dack). Incredibly, Dacky missed a one-on-one with their goalie, that I don’t think I’ve ever seen him miss one as easy as that, but we eventually found a way to win on a night where a lot of Championship teams fell against lower league opposition. We shouldn’t dwell to much on the performance. We should take the first win of the season, put it in the bag and move onto preparing for the next game at home to Middlesbrough in order to make sure we’re a lot better at the weekend.
“They’re a brilliant bunch of footballers who will always give their all. They are brilliant lads who we know won’t throw in the towel, even if they’re down, like they were tonight. I had no fears about them potentially giving up, and yet, to be fair, it never looked as if we were going to score 3 goals and win the game. Had Bradley scored his one-on-one, and the offside goal that, I’m not sure if it was offside, had been given, then we could have ended up winning 5-2, and yet for long spells, it didn’t look as if we were going to score to save our lives.
“We were potentially helped by the fact we tried to stretch the game by playing both Dack and (Stewart) Downing in the centre of the park, which gave Oldham the chance to break away, but also give us the chance to utilise the space they left in behind for our advantage. It was tough at times to watch that display tonight, without getting involved, because there’s an expectation to win, and do what we work on every day, in order to clinch victory, because we’re better than them. Yet, when that doesn’t happen, you can potentially show fury and anger, which could possibly damage relationships between yourself and the players or damage the belief and confidence of a lot of the young lads who were playing. I’ve just tried to strike a balance by telling them that their performance tonight, regardless of the fact we sneaked through, wasn’t good enough and that we have to find different ways to win games. I don’t want to be a team that just hits 60-yard diagonal balls into a 34-year old Danny Graham, because, there will be a time, over the next few years where Danny is no longer here, so we need to try and find an alternative way of scoring goals, through better build-up play.
“We’ve ended up with more questions than answers from this game. I’ve got a long 2-hour drive home tonight to see my family, so I’ll have a lot of time to ponder tonight’s result and contemplate what’s right for the weekend and for the future, which includes trying to find a balance between what’s been so successful for us, over the past few years, whilst also not letting go of what we’ve spent all pre-season working on.”
The visibly frustrated manager was then asked about the draw for the second round of the competition, which saw Rovers drawn away against Premier League new boys, Sheffield United.
“I would have preferred a lower league team at home, to be honest. Let’s hope Sheffield United make a lot of changes on the night, and we go there and put on an away performance that we know we’re capable of. Obviously, they were the second-best team in the league last year, and they have a deep squad now that they’re in the Premier League so we know it’ll be a tough ask, but I don’t think it’ll be one of those nights where the stadium is bouncing, and they will be right up for it. They’ll probably, being a Premier League team, play a second-string team, with their fight for survival being their main priority. For us, we need to get the balance of experience and youth right, yet, for us, this year we’ll be ultimately judged upon how close we can get to the playoff positions, once we get up and running and start winning football matches. Saying that, we won’t go to Bramall Lane, disrespecting the competition, we’ll go with a team we think is capable of overcoming such a tough task.”
