With a draw, two wins and three successive defeats, Tony Mowbray has reaffirmed the scale of the task ahead of him in his first month in Birmingham City’s hot seat.
Even as things looked rosy for the Blues, with back-to-back wins against Hull and Stoke, Mowbray knew tougher times were just around the corner. On the eve of the Blues’ 3-0 FA Cup defeat to Leicester City, he said: “I’m not sitting here thinking I’m a super coach. I’ve changed everything and everything is great now.” Told. Lost to West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield Wednesday.
Still, it’s clear there were positives over the past three games. The Blues have taken 57 shots without scoring, but Mowbray is confident this won’t continue. “We’re going to score goals and win games. There are still 16 games left, but we’re not worried about anything.”
According to the law of averages, if the Blues continue to create this many chances, they will lose the team. The first half against Leicester was the Blues’ best 45-minute performance this season, and they were more than equal to fifth-placed West Brom in 85 minutes.
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The Blues were close victims in these two games, but Friday’s loss to Sheffield Wednesday was believed to be unfair and it was difficult to recover from the loss. The Blues also created chances, but it was the Owls in 23rd place who created the better chances. Ike Ugbo scored two points when he should have scored four.
In Mowbray’s first four league games as manager, the Blues attempted 58 shots, with 20 on target. To add a little more context, the Blues have attempted 40 shots in Wayne Rooney’s last four games, but only 14 have gone on target.
The Blues are shooting more regularly than they have all season, but they still show weaknesses defensively. There was a feeling that this team would always give us a chance, and six clean sheets in 30 league games backs that up.
Mowbray’s side have had 51 shots on goal in those four Championship games, four fewer than Rooney’s (55) in his last four games. The most important thing to take away from these stats is that while the Blues may still be allowing chances at a similar rate, he’s creating enough shooting opportunities for himself to outscore his team.
Another statistic we should keep in mind is the fact that the Blues had the majority of possession in half of Mowbray’s matches. The Blues averaged 48.1% possession per game under Mowbray, compared to 41.4% under Rooney and 44.9% in John Eustace’s 11 league games.
Despite yet to see results for the Blues, the fruits of Mowbray’s efforts are already being seen on the training ground. As well as Mowbray overseeing every training session, the 60-year-old also watches over every training session along with his trusty sidekick Mark His Venus.
“I’m not a dictator. I want to hear the voices of the coaches and I want to hear their voices,” he explained. “We know things like that happen. Young coaches need to have their voices heard and they need to develop on the grass.
“And yet, when I don’t like something, I shut it down and go into the scene and tell them what I think needs to happen. And whenever I’m angry and screaming, I’m like, this is human I am trying to set the standards right, not as someone else.
“To be a top football club you have to have certain standards. Today we tried a little bit. At first we had Rondo and we were 6-2 in 10 meters square, but it wasn’t enough. There wasn’t. They think of it as a bit of fun and a bit of a laugh, a backflick, a look-aside pass, giving up the ball and turning the ball over too often. That’s not enough. 20, 30, 40 passes. Should be able to sustain, but the two never get a kick.
“I tell them to stop doing that and enjoy training. Training is meant to be fun, learn, and grow, but you have to get good at it. You have to make the training work, stay focused, and focus.” I’m just trying to plant the seeds of what’s acceptable and what’s not.”
Standards are important at a football club where the default setting is a relegation battle for seven seasons, or eight if results don’t improve quickly. Mowbray is trying to change a culture of mediocrity.
“I like the people, I like this place, and I feel comfortable here,” Mowbray added. “I usually go into a football club without a blueprint. I don’t take my laptop and show everyone how it works. I go in there and myself, I bring my character, my personality. I try to create the value that I expect. Everyone is in favor.
“I try to make people relaxed and I want everyone to have fun coming to work. I want the chefs to have fun coming to work, I want the operations to have fun, and I want the hiring manager to have fun coming to work. (I want them to have fun) too. I want the sports science department to know that I’m working with them. I watch their warm-ups and make sure the players are all prepared. I strive to create an environment where people want to come to work, where people can’t wait to get out of their cars and walk into the building, because it’s a happy place.
“That’s how I develop a football club. I try to create an environment where people can grow. I took it really seriously and started that process.”
On the pitch, the Blues need to trust the process and wait for the results. A victory over one of his predecessors would be a great way to mark Mr Mowbray’s first month in office.