As the curtain came down on football at Ewood Park for the 2019-20 season, a satisfied Tony Mowbray spoke to the club’s media team about his side’s thrilling 4-3 victory against Reading, in a game which mainly highlighted the quality Rovers had in attack as well as the talent and promise within their youth setup, given there were eight academy graduate within the matchday squad.
“We got the victory that our performance deserved, today. We started really sharp, really well and then got knocked back a bit by their goal from the free-kick, which came out of nothing. I felt, even when they made it 3-2, it was probably only their second or third time they’d been in our box, in about an hour, it was a strange game. Maybe the fact neither team had a lot to play for reflected the 4-3 scoreline, but thankfully we got the points we deserved. We dominated possession and created a lot of chances to score, so there were a lot of pleasing aspects to the game. Saying that, I can be annoyed because we conceded three goals at home, but to score four and create more chances on top of that, was really pleasing. I’m pleased for Adam (Armstrong), Ben (Brereton), Sam (Gallagher) and Joe (Rothwell). Sam’s header at the back-post was brilliant and Joe, although it’s a bit too late on in the season, is starting to look like a real goal threat and hopefully that’s a good sign moving forward for Joe. He created one and scored one today and that needs to be the norm for us. The attackers really showed us their quality today.
“Although I’m frustrated that we lost three goals, I thought Hayden Carter was really steady and solid today. He looks like a proper centre-half to me. He’s a thickset boy, but he can run and he’s comfortable with the ball at his feet. The frustration and disappointment are that the team lost three goals on his debut, which might not reflect well looking back despite winning the game. I’ve tried to drill into all the centre-halves that it has to hurt and be personal when you concede a goal, even when you’re not directly involved in the goal. If you’re a defender at this club, the ball cannot go into our net. I’m trying to drill that mentality into the group, and I think Carter has that about him. I think, once he grows some confidence and starts to get some games under his belt, he might begin to believe that he’s a leader on the pitch and his voice will begin to take control. He’s been knocking on the door and in and around the squad for a few weeks now. He’s mobile, confident on the ball and he’s 6’2” or whatever he is. His upper body is strong, which allows him to win headers, so fingers crossed that he can have a steady progression moving forward. There’s every chance that he’ll start on Wednesday for us, so we need to keep going and see what happens. Tyler (Magloire) was on the bench who had a little sniff of the first-team last season, we have Scott Wharton as well as Joe Grayson. We’ve got some options from the academy system, but whether we feel whether we need to get a man to slot in there and do the job, if we’re going to really compete at the top end of the table, is another question. Ultimately, there were plenty of positives from today. For the strikers to score and be involved, is important. We need to keep focussed and look to see whether we can finish the season on Wednesday on a real high.
“I’m happy for Ben and Sam getting their goals, today. I hope their goals give them the confidence going into next season. I can’t disguise the fact that we signed those two for big money, and things haven’t been as smooth as we’d all like. I think that’s the nature of football because sometimes, it takes people time to settle, whether that’s things like buying a house and getting to know the area you’re living in or getting to know your teammates. I know Sam had been with us before, but we’d had a big change in the dressing room, so I’m hoping they can kick on from here into next season. We can all see the physicality levels of Brereton are better. He’s looking more like a man and he showed that by scoring a great goal today, and he worked his socks off. The more Ben plays, the more confident he’ll become. Sam has to do what he did today. He has to be a steam train arriving into the box and provide a bullet header into the net. We need to keep rolling and working with them and see where it takes us. Ben is looking like a beast nowadays, and he can score goals. I see it everyday in training, I’ve just been waiting for him to improve his physique and ‘fill out’. He’s a brilliant character as well, our lads love him. He’s going to work so hard for this team, and he’s technically gifted, so I’m confident that given game time, because he still has to fight for his place, he’ll start repaying the fee. We paid quite a few quid for him and for Sam and they ultimately have to earn their corn and put the ball in the net when we’re on top.
“The absence of Tosin (Adarabioyo), Dominic (Samuel) and Danny (Graham) from the squad wasn’t down to injury or anything. I’ve had long chats with the three of them and I think the right thing to do was to blood some young players in, to look forward and see how these young players react to a first-team environment. If Jack’s (Vale) strike had gone in, instead of coming back off the bar, it would have been the perfect debut for the kid. As I’ve said about Carter, I think Vale also has a bright future. I like some of these young lads, the likes of (Jacob) Davenport, (John) Buckley got game time today and (Joe) Rankin-Costello is showing what an asset he’ll be to the club. We need to see moving forward how we can balance things up. I do think, with (Darragh) Lenihan, (Lewis) Travis and (Bradley) Dack, we have a core of players, almost the spine of the team, that know what we’re all about and we have to build around those players. The team will have a different feel about it, eventually. I think every team has a lifecycle, as do managers. The managerial cycle is usually down to when the team doesn’t change, because the same voice and the same messages become less heard. I’m not being self-protective, but for the club’s benefit, you have to keep re-energising a team you have to keep bringing new blood in, you have to create different leaders in dressing rooms and the voices have to change as the message stays the same, if it has a powerful impact on the people in the dressing room.
“My idea would be to blood some of these boys who have come through the system, who we have tried to instil over the past few years, in the academy system, and make it a seamless transition into the first-team where the message stays the same. If we can do that, if we can integrate them, it’ll be good for the academy. The Owners put a lot of money into our academy each year, and there has to be some production otherwise it’s around £3.5m wasted per year. With that investment, you have to have more ‘Phil Joneses’, we can’t just sit and talk about Phil Jones, however long ago that was, we have to have some talent coming through and of course, they have to be given the opportunity, otherwise they never become a first-team player and never have a value. Saying that, you can’t just play players from the academy each week, if they’re not good enough, because the team will get beat every week. It’s about trying to find the right balance, and I’m hoping that these lads can step forward and do the job, which would mean that I have to keep them in the team because of the good stuff they’re doing.
“The number of academy graduates we had in the squad is great to hear, although I didn’t consciously pick the players for that stat. I just wanted to freshen up and re-energise the side, hence the absence of Tosin, Dominic and Danny. The right thing to do, not for my benefit, but for that of the club’s was to keep evolving the team on the grass and that’s what we did today with the addition of the youngsters. I think it’s important to keep promoting from within, but it’s ultimately down to the players whether they can get good enough to oust other players, but that’s the challenge every player faces. Every player makes a debut and has to face the challenge of whether they’re good enough to keep their journey with a team going, or whether they fall by the wayside. Ultimately, their talent, desire and drive is what will decide whether they stay with a team or potentially drop out of the game altogether. I mentioned Phil Jones earlier because he’s the main one that stands out when someone mentions Blackburn Rovers’ academy to me. Our academy hasn’t been a top production line since Jones, but I do think there’s a good crop there now and we have to try and utilise it. From what I know, when I’ve watched the youth games this season, the crop we have underneath this group that’s currently in and around the first-team. So, I think the future over the next few years looks bright for people coming through the academy, so let’s hope there will be some more debuts on the horizon.”
