Tony Mowbray admits he is unsure if he has a future at Blackburn Rovers, who were relegated to the third-tier of English football on Sunday afternoon.
Although Rovers secured three points with a 3-1 win at Brentford on the final day of the Championship season, it wasn’t enough to secure their status in this division due to wins elsewhere for Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City. So, on the 22nd anniversary of their 1995 Premier League title success, the Ewood Park club suffered one of the darkest moments in their proud history.
This was a relegation which was met with sympathy from almost all quarters in football, due to the horrific time the club have endured since the Venky’s took over in 2010. At that time Rovers were a mid-table top-flight club managed by Sam Allardyce, yet he was sacked and six more have followed suit since, with Mowbray the latest instalment back in February of this year.
Whether the 53-year-old will still be at the helm when their League One campaign kicks-off in August remains to be seen. The Lancashire club would certainly benefit with someone of his experience, yet he admits he has never even met the owners and has only spoken to them twice on the phone. He is now expected to travel to India to hold discussions over his, and the club’s, future.
“I think those conversations are coming,” said Mowbray, who led West Bromwich Albion to the Championship title in 2008. “Let’s see whether the journey for me continues or not. If it does, and we keep the players, I can only see us being strong. It’s going to be a huge summer. I’d like to say we’re going to spend loads of money and win the league but that’s not the way it works.”
It is clear the Rovers squad needs a refresh, but the signs aren’t promising that the money will be made available to the manager – only £250,000 has been invested on players over the past two seasons, and many have departed. Right now, those days of competing with the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League seem a lifetime ago for the supporters.
