Following Rovers’ final game of the season, which saw them bow out in style, following a 5-2 victory over Birmingham City, at Ewood Park, Blues boss Tony Mowbray was full of praise for his side. In addition to the praise, the gaffer offered an analysis on the upcoming summer which he believes will be vital for Rovers ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.
“This result and performance was a pleasing way to round off this season. We went a goal down, even though they hadn’t really had a touch of the ball and yet Thomas (Kaminski) has held his hands up and apologise for dropping, what looked like a comfortable cross which the boy poked in. My own thought patterns, after conceding, was that ‘we were fine and were going to come back and win by a couple of goals’ which was due to how the game had started and how much of the ball we dominated. Then, big Juke (Lukas Jutkiewicz) came on, who I signed for Middlesbrough years ago, and headed in an equaliser. Even though we were brought back to level terms after half-time, I still felt confident that we could go on and win because we looked threatening. I was pleased that the substitutions came on and made a difference. Harvey (Elliott) scored and Corry (Evans) got two assists, which was good. I’m pleased for Adam (Armstrong) after he got his third hattrick of the season. He was moaning in the dressing room, to me that he should have had more. He ended up putting the ball in the back of the net five times today, which is encouraging, even though some were ruled out for offside.
“I’m happy enough. To score ten goals in our last two home games is good. It’s been really tough for us all to keep going through the COVID protocols. Getting two coaches everywhere, getting changed in corridors and executive boxes, having to walk through concourses to get to the pitch, etc. I know then the focus is on the game, but the game is about supporters and atmospheres. Some teams have missed them more than others, of course, but I feel like every team would have more points from their home games, had the fans been in grounds supporting, or moaning at their team. Both aspects of a support base drive a team on, because footballers want to win, and if they get moaned at, it inspires them to keep going.
“I love my job, I love working here. I love working with young players, trying to improve them and coaching a team, yet the results, overall, haven’t been good enough this year, for whatever reason maybe it is due to the lack of crowd driving us on? Our home record hasn’t been anywhere near as strong as it has been in recent years. Is that because of the fan’s absence? Is it because of the pitch? I probably shouldn’t mention the pitch, but is it a coincidence, that now it’s lush like it was at the start of the season, we’re scoring lots of goals on it and moving the ball really quickly on it? I personally don’t think it’s a coincidence. I think we need a good pitch and I know we live in the North West and it rains a lot, but it does the same in Manchester and the only difference between us and them is the financial side, as they’re able to keep spending money on keeping their pitch in good condition. I think, behind the scenes, the club are working really hard to try and give us the best surface on which to play football. It’s not an accident that I said we were going to be more possession-based and try to score more goals and yet, that’s really hard to do when the pitch isn’t in pristine condition as it evens things out a bit. That’s the end of my moaning on the pitch, but I try to bring hard work, integrity and honesty with my team and I try to be honest with the supporters.
“I’ve tried to change the mentality of this group, this season by publicly coming out and saying we should be getting into the top six and yet, we’ve fallen short. Football is about today, about the next game and trying to win the next match and the current group of players need all the motivation and drive that you can give them. I don’t know how the team is going to look come pre-season. We’ve got targets and we’ve worked hard on recruitment. I’ve pushed hard on recruitment ever since I came through the door. The only way, in my opinion, that this club gets out of this division, is through good recruitment and those players push on as quickly as we hope they can. We’ve recruited some young players and we need them to develop. Armstrong’s a young player who’s entering his peak. (Ben) Brereton is a young player who’s not quite at his peak, but he’s scored today and scored a few throughout the campaign. I can see him developing, I’m not sure whether other people can, but I can.
“That’s what young players are like. John Buckley is another example. Has he played enough, this year? John would probably want to play every week and yet, I think, he’s got wonderful attributes, but also a lot to learn. When to release the ball, when to run with it, when to pass it, etc. He’s a young player who’s got wonderful talent that needs nurturing. I would say the same thing about (Jacob) Davenport and a lot of our under-23s who I watched play on Friday. We have some good players, but we can’t expect to throw them all together and expect them to help us, but their time is coming.”
