Mowbray back in football

[hibbeedavid]

According to BBC Mowbray will be replacing Pressley at Coventry

Hopefully he'll do well, still thankful for the good times he gave us, one of the most exciting times to be a Hibs fan in my lifetime was under him

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/31694467


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[matty_f]

There's a blog here http://wp.me/p46wFN-2W from a Coventry fan who collected views from fans (including me) of Mowbray's former clubs. Quite a good read.

[Speedy]

"A relative success" - think he deserves more credit than that.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Nice to hear I wish him all the best.

There are a number of sleeping giants in England, Leeds Utd, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield Utd and Birmingham City are obvious ones, but of all of them the demise of Coventry City is the most remarkable. The fans of the four I mentioned have stuck by their clubs in decent numbers, the fans of Coventry City appear to have deserted them in droves. Even the initial boost they got from their return to the Ricoh Arena has faded like snow in spring and their average of 9,000 is about the same as Hibs .... That's pretty bad in a city of 300,000 people where they are the only club.

But ye gods, what an opportunity it could end up being for the manager who gets the fans back on board and the club heading in the right direction.

[Matty_Jack04]

I think a lot of his work at hibs is scaled down because it was the time of the 'golden generation' forgetting the mess blooby had us in, personally love the man some great times watching his team good luck to him

[snooky]

"A relative success" - think he deserves more credit than that.

Sorry, I disagree. The golden eggs were laid on a plate for him. Without them, his goose was cooked.

[Hibby Bairn]

Sorry, I disagree. The golden eggs were laid on a plate for him. Without them, his goose was cooked.

Perhaps. But he had Hibs playing some brilliant attacking football.

[bingo70]

Sorry, I disagree. The golden eggs were laid on a plate for him. Without them, his goose was cooked.

How do you think these golden eggs would have developed playing long ball football?

He got the best out of them and that's not an easy thing to do.

He also brought in some class players.

Zibbi ****ing malkowski though, extending his contract was one of the most bizarre decisions I've ever seen.

[#FromTheCapital]

There's a blog here http://wp.me/p46wFN-2W from a Coventry fan who collected views from fans (including me) of Mowbray's former clubs. Quite a good read.

Enjoyed that, thanks for posting.

All the best to Tony. He gave me some of the best times of my life watching hibs. Such a shame his reign coincided with Romanov throwing mega bucks at the pink scarf twirlers or there would have been many more great memories. Had us playing some beautiful stuff at times and for that I'll always be grateful.

[The_Exile]

If he could've picked a good goalie we'd have won the World Cup IMO :greengrin

Going forward we were fantastic, but defensive/goalkeeper issues prevented us from competing where we should've been.

[CallumLaidlaw]

Beuzelin
Murphy
Shiels
Sproule
Hogg
Rocastle
Jones
Benji
Zemmama

On top of the great youngsters we had, Mowbray made some brilliant signings. Ok, there was some absolute dross signed too, but the good ones were absolute gems.

[Walter]

Beuzelin
Murphy
Shiels
Sproule
Hogg
Rocastle
Jones
Benji
Zemmama

On top of the great youngsters we had, Mowbray made some brilliant signings. Ok, there was some absolute dross signed too, but the good ones were absolute gems.


He he also got players playing above themselves, must have had some inspirational skills.

[JimBHibees]

He he also got players playing above themselves, must have had some inspirational skills.

Certainly did, was there not a story of TM doing a Hibs fan meeting and the place burst out laughing when he said that Garry O'Connor would score loads of goals that season.

[The_Exile]

Beuzelin
Murphy
Shiels
Sproule
Hogg
Rocastle
Jones
Benji
Zemmama

On top of the great youngsters we had, Mowbray made some brilliant signings. Ok, there was some absolute dross signed too, but the good ones were absolute gems.

What's Rocastle up to these days? :greengrin



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybEgaO9XB1c

[Smartie]

The much maligned Blobby laid the foundations imo. He flogged off all the high-earners and replaced them with the youngsters with the odd solid pro thrown in (Stephen Glass).

Ok the football was a bit "direct" but he gave all of that generation their debuts, he'd settled them into their best positions (remember Brown playing up front to begin with, Whittaker in midfield etc).

I do think he'd taken them as far as he could but that was a helluva base for someone else to start from.

Mowbray landed on his feet at Hibs with the squad he inherited but he still had to work out how to play to their strengths. And apart from goalkeepers his transfer dealings were largely superb too (Jones, Murphy, Beuzelin, Sproule). He was a goalkeeper away from having a magnificent team and it punched above its weight against a decent Celtic side and a financially-doped Rangers and financially-offtheirtits Hearts.

There was probably a lot being done well "behind the scenes" that led to this being a relatively successful period rather than it being down to any individual manager too.

I have to say I thought Mowbray was the real deal and I've been surprised that it has been a bit mixed for him since leaving us.

I wish him well though because few Hibs teams have given me as much pleasure as his.

[The_Exile]

I wish him well though because few Hibs teams have given me as much pleasure as his.

Think we would probably all agree with this, I was gutted when he done the huddle with the Celtic team on our pitch, I thought that lacked class and he'd have known how us, the fans, would've perceived it. Apart from that tiny bit of bad feeling (granted it was after he left us) the Mowbray experience was entirely positive and he would be the first to speak highly of the club, good luck to him.

[jacomo]

I think he did a pretty good job at West Brom (Classic yo yo team with a tight chairman who have only just abandoned their previous strategy and turned to Pulis) but Celtc and Boro must go down as failures.

I was surprised at the time that Boro didn't pinch Mowbray from us but appointed Southgate instead. By the time he got there they were in decline and the fans were impatient.

I remember Mowbrays time with us with fondness, but the team were undoubtedly a bit soft, with a poor away record and it took JC to add the trophy.

[Bad Martini]

Think we would probably all agree with this, I was gutted when he done the huddle with the Celtic team on our pitch, I thought that lacked class and he'd have known how us, the fans, would've perceived it. Apart from that tiny bit of bad feeling (granted it was after he left us) the Mowbray experience was entirely positive and he would be the first to speak highly of the club, good luck to him.

:agree:

I agree with most of the post you agree with though have mixed feelings on Mowbray.

He had Hibs playing well most of the time and did get some fine results in his time here.

He made some shrewd transfer moves.

He also made a good few mistakes, the biggest of which was his handling of the Riordan transfer. Leaving us a few days before a derby with the mutants stuck in my throat and the above mentioned huddle showed no ****nig class.

Proves why NOBODY (with a few exceptions, living and mostly dead) are as big as the club and nobody is bigger.

GGTTH

[cabbageandribs1875]

he certainly had us playing some pretty decent football but one thing he disappointed in(for me anyway) was his inability to organise a decent defence, it was very much a case of if they score one we'll score two etc which bugged me considering he was a defender himself(as was yogi/butcher after him and they both failed with the defence as well) as for his choice for goalkeepers, well...zibi ****** malkowski :grr: and of course leaving us a going away present...an extra couple of years with that clown, which of course the club didn't even inform us about until the rumours started and it finally appeared in a newspaper, cheers Tony





wish him well though, decent guy and manager

[The_Exile]

he certainly had us playing some pretty decent football but one thing he disappointed in(for me anyway) was his inability to organise a decent defence, it was very much a case of if they score one we'll score two etc which bugged me considering he was a defender himself(as was yogi/butcher after him and they both failed with the defence as well)

Pretty much all old fashioned centre halfs (such as Mowbray, Butcher, Yogi etc) will struggle with organising a modern day defence considering how vast the difference in how a defensive unit now plays, actually that might be a bit unfair, I'm sure they've all got sound coaching knowledge of modern methods but perhaps the fact there is a conflict of playing styles from their own era is what makes things difficult? In their day it was bulldoze everything in front of them, whereas now a defensive unit has to play much more in the way of football, passing and technique, and are involved in attacking phases of play. That's one of the reasons i'm so happy with Stubbs, he's obviously come from a more technical way of playing at the back and that transfers to our performances this season. Long may it continue :thumbsup:

[hibsfan7]

Add Antonio Murray and Killen to that list

[J-C]

Was never the same manager when Mark Venus went his own way, seemingly Venus was the main man in the partnership, players loved him.

[KeithTheHibby]

Also need to give Mowbray some credit regarding the training centre. I would have imagined he would have been involved in this.

[jacomo]

Also need to give Mowbray some credit regarding the training centre. I would have imagined he would have been involved in this.

True. He said a proper training facility would be the most important 'signing' he could make.

[Zazu62]

I liked tony Mowbray but we took some right spankings of hearts when he was manager , wasn't it three 4-0 defeats ?

[matty_f]

I liked tony Mowbray but we took some right spankings of hearts when he was manager , wasn't it three 4-0 defeats ?

Had some memorable wins against them too, which was your favourite?

[hfc rd]

Had some memorable wins against them too, which was your favourite?


2-0 "your not unbeatable game" was brilliant. The atmosphere and the roar when Boozy & Gazz scored was deafening!

[#FromTheCapital]

I liked tony Mowbray but we took some right spankings of hearts when he was manager , wasn't it three 4-0 defeats ?

Funnily enough though, none of those defeats happened before Romanov came to town and the hardcore cheating that eventually led to them going bust, began. Remember they finished 2nd above the old Rangers who were reigning spl champions that season.

He gave us some great derby wins as well, including the last time we beat them by more than a single goal.

[Zazu62]

Had some memorable wins against them too, which was your favourite?

When we beat them at the PBS

I remember reading the sun/daily record the next day and the headline was its GALASHIELS to Europe now

[NYHibby]

Was never the same manager when Mark Venus went his own way, seemingly Venus was the main man in the partnership, players loved him.

Where has he ever managed without Mark Venus? Wasn't Venus caretaker at Middlesbrough after Mowbray was sacked?

[J-C]

Where has he ever managed without Mark Venus? Wasn't Venus caretaker at Middlesbrough after Mowbray was sacked?

You are indeed right, I thought they had done more since Middlesbrough but obviously not, my apologies but from what I remember Venus was the main man at training.

[eastterrace]

How do you think these golden eggs would have developed playing long ball football?

He got the best out of them and that's not an easy thing to do.

He also brought in some class players.

Zibbi ****ing malkowski though, extending his contract was one of the most bizarre decisions I've ever seen.
yes tony been the best manager we have had since mcleish he had us playing some great football but i would like to ask him were the **** did he get that clown zibi from as he cost us games against that lot and why oh why did you extend his contract just before you left that was as you said truly bizarre.

[#FromTheCapital]

yes tony been the best manager we have had since mcleish he had us playing some great football but i would like to ask him were the **** did he get that clown zibi from as he cost us games against that lot and why oh why did you extend his contract just before you left that was as you said truly bizarre.

Mowbray could almost be forgiven for bringing Zibi to hibs - I always said he was a good shot stopper on his day. However extending his contract after the numerous howlers in a hibs shirt was truly astounding.

[eastterrace]

Mowbray could almost be forgiven for bringing Zibi to hibs - I always said he was a good shot stopper on his day. However extending his contract after the numerous howlers in a hibs shirt was truly astounding.

sorry mate all i can remember is the howlers 4-0 semi final and 3-2 defeat at tynie when collins called them the pub team spring to mind finding it difficult to think of any good games he had he was never a goalie. even his first game against them at tynecastle when we lost 4-0 he was at fault with the third goal.

the guy was just a clown and i wish we had never even heard of him.

[Dashing Bob S]

sorry mate all i can remember is the howlers 4-0 semi final and 3-2 defeat at tynie when collins called them the pub team spring to mind finding it difficult to think of any good games he had he was never a goalie. even his first game against them at tynecastle when we lost 4-0 he was at fault with the third goal.

the guy was just a clown and i wish we had never even heard of him.

Don't want to start another Zibi v Clown debate, but Clown was at least as bad.

[hfc rd]

Don't want to start another Zibi v Clown debate, but Clown was at least as bad.

Who's clown?

[Dashing Bob S]

Who's clown?

Si

[Billy Whizz]

Si

Who brought in Maka

[overdrive]

Who brought in Maka

Collins

[Zazu62]

Funnily enough though, none of those defeats happened before Romanov came to town and the hardcore cheating that eventually led to them going bust, began. Remember they finished 2nd above the old Rangers who were reigning spl champions that season.

He gave us some great derby wins as well, including the last time we beat them by more than a single goal.

Really? I'm sure the 2006 semi final was full of players they couldn't afford?

[#FromTheCapital]

Really? I'm sure the 2006 semi final was full of players they couldn't afford?

Exactly. We didn't suffer any heavy defeats to them in the season before Romanov started spending, they all came in season 05/06 - Mowbray's second season in charge

[Pretty Boy]

sorry mate all i can remember is the howlers 4-0 semi final and 3-2 defeat at tynie when collins called them the pub team spring to mind finding it difficult to think of any good games he had he was never a goalie. even his first game against them at tynecastle when we lost 4-0 he was at fault with the third goal.

the guy was just a clown and i wish we had never even heard of him.

Zibi had more than a few good games for us, the unbeatable derby and the 1st 0-3 at Ibrox instantly spring to mind. I'm not going to pretend he was a good goalkeeper for Hibs, he wasn't, but he had a good career after leaving us and was highly rated before he came in.

I think a lot of people who have never played the position don't understandhow important confidence and mental strength is. Jim Leighton is a great example. Was outstanding for Aberdeen, lost his confidence after several high profile errors at Man Utd, ended up in the reserves at Dundee before finding somewhere he was comfortable at Hibs. He was, for the most part, outstanding for us. Regained his Scotland place and went on to end his career back at his first love. More recently Richard Wright is another who was at one point being talked about as the England keeper for years to come and potentially the best young keeper in Europe when he was at Ipswich. An ill fated move to Arsenal later and he was never the same keeper.

[Kato]

Had some memorable wins against them too, which was your favourite?

Given the amount of money the cheats were spending compared to Mowbray's side (£5000 for Sproule, £150,000 for Jones) we should never had a chance of beating them at all. Speaks volumes that we won a few and that Collin's side also won a few.

[Smartie]

Zibi had more than a few good games for us, the unbeatable derby and the 1st 0-3 at Ibrox instantly spring to mind. I'm not going to pretend he was a good goalkeeper for Hibs, he wasn't, but he had a good career after leaving us and was highly rated before he came in.

I think a lot of people who have never played the position don't understandhow important confidence and mental strength is. Jim Leighton is a great example. Was outstanding for Aberdeen, lost his confidence after several high profile errors at Man Utd, ended up in the reserves at Dundee before finding somewhere he was comfortable at Hibs. He was, for the most part, outstanding for us. Regained his Scotland place and went on to end his career back at his first love. More recently Richard Wright is another who was at one point being talked about as the England keeper for years to come and potentially the best young keeper in Europe when he was at Ipswich. An ill fated move to Arsenal later and he was never the same keeper.

Good post.

Zibi chose the worst possible occasions - the biggest games, the derbies - to make his biggest errors and it's impossible to see past that. He made a lot of good saves and had a lot of good games for us but ultimately he'll always be a figure of ridicule.

The mental strength point is an interesting one and I think that that is what really sorts the wheat from the chaff in goalkeeping terms. Everyone makes mistakes but the ability to bounce back after a setback and not dwell on it is the sign of a top class keeper.

Whilst everyone would surely agree that Goram is a bit of a walloper (since he went to Ibrox he seems to have turned that way anyway) he had the best resilience of any goalkeeper I've seen. He made less mistakes than any other keeper but when he did it was forgotten about immediately and he could go on to have a storming game in spite of it. A top, top class keeper but much of it was in the head. He had to be too, given he was (relatively speaking) quite small for a keeper.