Albion boss blasts the pundits
Friday 27th February 2009, 11:42AM GMT.
Albion manager Tony Mowbray has delivered a passionate defence of his under-fire team and hit back at the pundits questioning their fight.
The Baggies boss reacted angrily ahead of the trip to Everton to suggestions from some fans and former players that his bottom-placed team are a soft touch.
He once again questioned television analysts, after Sky pundit and Everton old boy Andy Gray became the latest to pick holes in his struggling side.
Mowbray said: “My team is a football team. For me it’s an easy cop-out to say ‘they are not fighting’ or ‘they don’t do this or that.’
“This team scored 100-odd goals last year and has had the success it has had in its short life by following a certain philosophy.
“You don’t need to go around kicking people, fouling all the time or being overly aggressive to be a good team.”
Ex-Villa and Wolves striker Gray criticised the Baggies at Fulham, questioning the number of tackles and fouls they made.
Yet the Hawthorns chief – not for the first time this season, after previously taking Alan Hansen to task – has given short shrift to a pundit’s views.
He said: “I can see what he is trying to get at but I don’t see the relevance. Yes, you have to tackle, but do people want us to foul?
“The quality of footballer wins and loses matches, full stop. Andy Gray showed two examples of our defending, yet you could take 50 examples where we had lots of men behind the ball and the pitch wasn’t spread out.”
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mowbrays losing the plot
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He is slowing turning into Mad Mick!
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quotes of losing the plot.lack of passion usually come from idiot fans like phil.
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Bad signs when the manager starts to talk like this
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In the words of Skinner and Baddiel “It’ll never work – It’ll never work”
Mr Mowbray needs to learn that no manager (no matter which club you support) will ever win against the media pundits – and making them a focal point for your comments is suicide
NB* The pundits WILL make it worse for you – the more you say – the worse it gets!
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There’s only one CRAZY Mowbray!
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The Pundits are right. Our defending is pathetic. Not one good Prem player amongst them, and we are weak. You do need to at times, change the way you play to get the results you need. Pretty passing isn’t getting us anywhere. Sometimes we need to kick our way to 3 points and there is not 1 person in our team capable of that.
Our defensive flaws should have been attacked in Jan’s transfer market as it was clear back in September our defense was worse than useless.
If Mowbray couldn’t see that, or Venus, and they still haven’t sorted it, then theyn should go.
A-Z of Crystal Palace, Coventry, etc at the ready
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taxi for Mowbray
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I think these comments are born out of frustration.
Frustration with the defenders, pundits, results and fans who are losing faith with his footballing philosophy.
People have commented on these boards that he isn’t animated enough or show enough passion. Now he’s saying things like this people are liking him to Mad Mick……make your minds up people!!
We’re not defending well at the moment and it’s down to a lack of bite in midfield essentially leaving the defence too exposed in my opinion.
The best way to keep pundits quiet is to perform well and pick up results, so shake em up Mogga, install some grit into them and let’s go upset Everton and pick up 3 points tomorrow.
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9; That was quite rousing how about….let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if West Bromwich Albion and its supporters last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.” (With apologies to Winston Churchill, 18th June 1940)
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i think its disgusting that (fans) think its all over, 6. and 1. i bet u were saying the same thing this time in 2005. when you were saying that its all over we are down but when we stayed up u were probably saying i told you we would stay up. its not over till it is over! we should know that by now! well beat everton tomorow i bet you. and just remember what team you support!
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I agree with Nedball, it is frustration. Trying to get things right and start winning matches is frustrating enough when you keep drawing a blank, but then to have so called professional pundits, all with sofisticated equipment to help them analyse and magnify the errors, you can understand why.
I feel sorry for Mowbray, he is trying hard to create a team that can stay in the Premiership and I do not envy him his job, but what he must not do, is rise to those who critisise him and his players.
Lets not forget, there are 25 to 30,000 Andy Gray’s at every home match, if he is going to rise to anyone, it should be them, its they who pay his and the players wages.
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For the first time I have got to sat TM must go.I am fed up with his stupid team selections and the same excuses week after week.The most disturbing observation is that the majority of our players do not look that bothered and are just not good enough for this level!
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This team did not score 100 goals last season!
It was a different team by around five or six players!!
Most people agree that playing in the Prem. is a massive jump in skill and speed of play and players of Prem quality were needed, not the the largely untried ones we have bought!
The money spent could have bought two, maybe three yes older Prem. players and their wages may have caused problems BUT they may have given us a better chance than the “bought for the future” or the ones learning how to cope with the Prem. types. However Meite was supposed to be a player with Prem. experience. Gary Megson must have laughed all the way to the bank when we bought him!
AND what about Phillips??
You don’t have to foul opposition players, just get close and put them under pressure so that they make a few mistakes and we get the ball back. Some of the teams we play must think they are in a training session as they seem to have loads of time on the ball and can pick their passes far too easily. Thats what makes a difference TONY.
Get the ball and play some higher tempo football which has a number of those passes going forward!
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The guy is living in cloud cuckoo land,Mobes get ya coat.Rickshaw for Mowbray.
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fair play to mogga for having ago back at the tv pundits,but its no use putting your head in the sand and trying to defend the mistakes that the squad are doing when its plain to see.were i in his place i would be very disturbed about whats happening when these players cross the white lines,they seem to be losing their footballing brains.heres to a victory against the toffees.THE BIG R IS NOT BY US YET…
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ANY BETS? WHO’S GOING TO MAKE THE TELLING MISTAKE TOMORROW?
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The only problem with Tony’s philosophy, is you only get the ball when picking out of your net or the other team lose possession in the third of the pitch you are defending. From what I have seen there is no chance of the midfield making a tackle so you are always building from the back and the opposition have re-organised in strength.Doh!!
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Time to go Mowbray, you’ve overstayed your welcome!! Last season K.P. scored one quarter of our goals, its a different team this season, a team full of crab passing midfielders and clueless defenders!!
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If I recall correctly, didn’t Mr Gray mistake the Hawthorns for a retirement home?
Anyway who, apart from Richard Keys, listens to him?
Okay, so he’s right about the lack of tackling…
Probably going down, the Mowbray way…
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18 – We’re too slow in getting the ball forward when we do have it, that’s why we can’t keep it in the opposing final third as, like you say, the opposition has recovered and are ready and waiting for us.
When we had a decent run at home in December / January it was because we were mixing it up and getting the ball wide and up the top quickly as well as doing all of the pretty football trying to pick out holes.
The main reason why TM’s philosophy isn’t working at the bottom of the league is because teams set up against us differently than when we were seen as the better team in the Championship.
When we were often the favoured team in a match, teams sat back and we had to constantly move the ball around in midfield to try to move defenders out of position and create chances. In the Prem, the opposition is happy for us to do this knowing that we will eventually give the ball away and struggle to get it back off them, without them needing to sit back in great numbers. They instead break against us quickly and in greater numbers and we’re getting caught.
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mobray this season was awful in the summer he never brought a striker and he never plays our best players eg dorrans cech donk bednar aand he needs to give mulumbu a try instead he plays barnett robinson and valero
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barnett and metie are poor
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This team would probably still score 100 goals in the Championship unfortunately gulf in class to Premiership requirements has clearly shown us up ! .
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Makes me sick to read some of these posts, instead of moaning and getting on the teams back show some support. Really dissapoints me when i see fans turning against the manager and players.
Sort yourselves out… WE are albion!
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21. Spot on Ned.B
Question!!
Why does our Prem. manager not understand this and change things accordingly??
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Last week on MOTD, I heard Alan Hansen say ‘where Arsene Wenger is going wrong is…’ this is the Arsene Wenger who has developed some of the best players in the world and managed Arsenal to numerous trophies and the Alan Hansen who has managed er… nobody to win nothing. Likewise on here Tony Mowbray is a fool not listening to all these wallies with oodles of experience at winning things on ‘Championship Manager,’ does their knowledge count for nothing?
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These pundits were good players in their time but haven’t a clue about management that’s why they’re pundits.Put them in charge of a mid table side and they’d be relegated in no time.
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17. if Barnett or Meite are at the back tomorrow i will put down a £100 bet that they cock up at least once in the game that costs us.
Defence is shocking and after how long we spent searching for defenders in the summer, its pathetic, for the last 3season or so our defence as been shakey and clean sheets have been few and far apart.
Im albion till i die but lost the will with them at the moment, dismal display tomorrow and poor against Arsenal, i can see the crowd and me then starting to get on players/manager backs.
Everton 2 – 0 Albion (confidence in Albion is None exsistance)
Valero in midfield, were certainly going to have a solid tackling midfield there aint we
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We had the same problem with the defence last year conceding stupid goals, but last year the teams we played against we were out scoring them and winning 4-3, 3-2 and so on. this term were playing against better opposition and do not have the quality up front to outscore any of them, hence the problem with the defence is more apparent. we have no quality at the back and that as now been the case for two plus seasons, and what as been done to solve the problem. NOTHING. 3 to 4 transfer windows have been and gone and what happens we go and get third rate midfielders and strikers. Clueless the lot of them.
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So Carson speaks.Bloody hell he,s the frightening goalie we have had since i can remember.How on earth he keeps his place i will never know,Kiely forever.xx
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C’mon you Baggie fans, get behind the team, they need you now more than when you won the coca cola.We want those DERBIES next season, Just make sure you are there. We will be. GOOD LUCK at Everton.
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Thanks for that No.32. You have your own worries and wobbles but you can still find time to wish us well and show some OPTIMISM! I am waiting patiently for Olsson and Greening to return. Then we shall stand a chance to win some games. We haven’t a leader on the pitch at present and it shows, but my one prayer is that we DO win enough and stay up, just so I can come on here and GLOAT LIKE MAD OVER THE MISERY GUTS SHOWER OF OUR SO-CALLED SUPPORTERS!
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Tony Mowbray has answered his own question as to why the pundits and fans are berating this team.
TM Quote – “The quality of footballer wins and loses matches, full stop.”
Well Tony, you have failed to sign any real quality players in two transfer windows. You have wasted money on the likes of Moore, Valero and Meite who obviously do not possess the quality you talk about.
Surely you deserve criticism for that alone, apart from your questionable team tactics.
For once, be a man, admit your mistakes!
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COME ONYOU BAGGIE BOYS AND GIVE THE PUNDITS ABIG SLAP IN THE GOBS BY GETTING 3PTS TODAY AND GIVE US BAGGIE SUPPORTERS A GOOD REASON FOR A RIGHT SESSION THIS AFTERNOON FED UP OF GOING HOME DEPRESSED,WOULD RATHER BE GOING HOME TIPSY AND HAPPY…YOUVE SEEN THE LIGHT NOW KEEPTHE FAITH…
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