After Rovers kicked off their season by beating last season’s losing playoff finalists, Swansea City by a 2-1 scoreline, boss Tony Mowbray reflected on the wet August afternoon that saw the return of fans to Ewood Park as Rovers won their first opening day fixture since the 2010-11 season.
“I hope we’ve sent the fans home happy, today. The supporters aren’t stupid. They can see how light we are on numbers at the moment, and they can see that when they look at the team. Every football supporter is a manager in their own minds and I’m sure that, when they see the team tiring, they look to the bench to see who they can put on. I felt a little bit like that today because the game shouldn’t have been as tight as it was at 2-1. We should have really put it to bed and been out of sight with the number of chances we had. I respect that they’re a good team, but we had so many chances to pull the trigger on transition after we pressed them when they were overplaying.
“Although I do know that we need to strengthen our numbers, I do feel that the positive vibes that the fans bring to the stadium will help drive the team on. I hope that the team initiate it with their play and the work-ethic of the team get the fans excited, because they want to see their team fighting, winning tackles, having shots and I think that’s what we did. There are going to be some days where we actually get beat because the teams who have some quality in their ranks will be able to pick holes in us, but I think the fans reacted to a young team who was out there fighting for their club and their badge. The likes of Tyrhys Dolan and John Buckley were sensational, today and I thought young Dan Butterworth made a great impact off the bench. I enjoyed today’s game and I hope the fans did as well.
“I genuinely stand on the touchline at times and think, ‘What a good club this is’, and we need to keep striving to get back to where Blackburn Rovers Football Club deserves to be and yet, it’s a long, tough journey, but we have to keep striving. We shouldn’t see the potential departure of Adam Armstrong as a negative, really. In an ideal world, Adam would sign a five-year deal and score loads of goals with us, but if that’s not going to be the case, then we need to try and strengthen off the back of his departure. It’s brilliant that Sam Gallagher and Ben Brereton scored today, whilst Tyrhys was like a wasp at a picnic who won’t leave you alone with his relentless pressing(!) We need to keep moving forwards and continue building this club, if we can. I know it’s difficult at the moment given how young and small the size of the squad is, but sometimes, in adversity, a smaller, tight-knit group could help by sticking together and fighting together, which was evident today.
“The team can get the crowd going and then the crowd in-turn keep the team’s spirits high, which allows you to go on a roll where the team are functioning well, having shots and driving forwards, but we also need the fans during moments like the final few minutes of today’s game, where we’re on the back foot and are hanging on, even though I never thought it should have been that close at 2-1. In that scenario as we all saw, the fans were driving the team, through every tackle, every throw-in, every clearance, and they were all cheered as if they were goals. That backing is incredibly important, particularly for a young side, as these players need to know they have the support from the stands. I would like to personally thank the fans for being so positive with this young team.
“If we’d have played this game without fans, like we did last season, all you would have heard is my voice echoing around the ground, the players wouldn’t have felt any pressure from the opposition’s fans, the referee wouldn’t have been swayed in is decision-making and Swansea would have played their very positional passing game and probably would have gotten more on top, than they did today. We kept the emotion in the game, thanks to the fans, which turned every tackle into a big decision for the officials and that wasn’t there last year. Last season felt almost cosmetic, or plastic, but today was a real football match, with the team and fans reacting off each other. The most important thing from today’s game was the three points, so we’ll take them and move on.
“I’m very proud of all the players, both individually and collectively. The front three worked really hard at pressing their midfield. Joe (Rothwell) played a slightly deeper role today, but he did it well and in a very disciplined manner. I know he liked to get on the ball and run forwards, but he did what was asked of him, today. One complaint I’ve always had of Joe is that he lacks discipline in the position he’s been asked to play because he always wants to get on the ball and make things happen, but he did his job brilliantly today. Joe Rothwell’s threat is there for everyone to see, when he bursts past the first challenge, like he did on multiple occasions today and runs into the space in-behind, nobody’s catching him. His performance deserved a goal at the death, but he skewed it slightly past the post.
“I thought the whole team did really well. It was great to see Daniel Ayala out on the pitch, winning headers, doing what he does best and what he was brought here for. I thought Darragh Lenihan’s natural leadership qualities shone through and Ryan Nyambe showed his worth as a man mountain of a right-back. When Ryan Nyambe is on the pitch, you never worry about the opposition’s left-winger, because Ryan’s playing. I also thought young Harry (Pickering) had a steady game at left-back. His deliveries are going to be good for us over the course of the season and we’re going to score a lot of goals off his deliveries. Thomas (Kaminski) made some good saves and stood up when he had to with some fine saves with his feet. Their quality sliced us open, which will happen sometimes, yet Thomas was there to do his job and stop the ball from going into the back of our net, but as I’ve always said, that’s what a goalkeepers’ meant to do. Saying that, we love Thomas, he’s an amazing goalkeeper and collectively, it was a good performance and a well-deserved three points.
“John Buckley is a good player; I’ve always said that. I think he’s the type of player who divides opinion, especially amongst fans or those who haven’t been in football at a professional level. I see John play and he takes my breath away. He sees passes others don’t, and his range is fantastic, as he showed during the build-up to the opening goal. On top of doing the running in order to win the ball back, the dink to eliminate the defender and find Brereton was fantastic. He’s done quite a few similar passes since becoming part of the first team, which is encouraging. We’ve challenged John a lot, both last season and during pre-season. It was on a toss of a coin regarding whether he or Jacob Davenport would be in the team. John has trained really well and needs to be given confidence and showed today that he’s more than capable of playing first-team football at this club.”
Alongside offering praise to the players who put in a fantastic performance in, in order to get the three points, Mowbray also had time to discuss the future of Premier League target, Adam Armstrong, who was absent from the matchday squad. The gaffer also briefly touched upon his own transfer targets, noting the need for fresh faces within the squad.
“Adam’s situation rolls on. We have had and continue to field some offers from the Premier League, but as of yet, none of the bids have matched the club’s expectations and the valuation that we, including the Owners have set. If these Premier League clubs want to sign Adam, then I think they should just pay the asking price and get on with it. That would then allow us to continue the process in order to build a team. Let’s see what the next week brings. In my mind – and I’m going to continue to talk to Adam every day, as I do – if things aren’t concluded pretty quickly, even though the deadline is at the end of the month, I would hope that he be available for selection against Millwall, if he is still a Blackburn Rovers player. I don’t think this can rumble on for three weeks without him playing. I must say that Adam’s absence from the squad today, wasn’t his decision, it was mine. He’s not sulking and refusing to play or train, he’s a fantastic lad and a great human being. I decided to give Adam a mental break and go with Tyrhys down the middle given who the opponents were. I think sitting Adam out was a good step, given how much pressure would have been on him, given the speculation. If these bidders don’t hit his valuation, then Adam will be involved over the next few weeks.
“I hope there will be an incoming to announce over the next week or so. We’ve worked hard on a lot of deals and sometimes, the bigger clubs will keep their young players during pre-season to fill in for those filtering back after international duty over the summer. It’s been a waiting game for us over the summer, as a result. I do think we’re a few bodies light. I don’t sit here and think, ‘Oh let’s replace him and him’, it’s a case of creating competition to help everyone reach their maximum. Bringing in new players also helps flesh out and strengthen the bench, so that when you do make changes, someone really needs to fight hard in order to get back into the team.
“I’m hopeful that we’ll fill our quota of loans. Finances are a bit difficult, and I don’t think people out there should be thinking; ‘Oh, if we get x amount for Armstrong then we can spend it all on this player or these three.’ That’s not going to happen. We’ve all been through a very difficult 18 months and the Owners have been paying the wages of the whole club despite not having any income. I’m not fighting them, or stamping my feet or getting upset, they’ll look at the squad and see how much we need to re-invest back in, if Adam does go and hopefully, we can find another diamond. You need to put these things into perspective, because we signed Adam for just under £2m and that shows that these diamonds are there for cheap, but we need to look hard in order to find them.
“I think Brereton and Gallagher have both shown today that they can play up top. We also changed formation midstream, which is something we’ve worked on in pre-season, which shows the versatility and fluidity we have in the squad. If need be and Armstrong does leave, we can play Sam and Ben down the middle. Dolan also showed today, what a wonderful asset he is for our club. We’re trying to strengthen various areas, such as in midfield, up-front and in the wide areas. As I’ve said, we’re not looking to replace anybody, we’re just looking to boost our numbers and help this squad as the games come thick and fast, in order to make sure that the quality doesn’t drop if players are rotated.”
