Birmingham City kickstarted life under Tony Mowbray with a 2-2 draw against Swansea City this afternoon.
Birmingham City began life under new boss Mowbray with a visit from fellow strugglers Swansea City, who also started life under a new manager today.
Luke Williams was in the opposition dugout and he and Mowbray watched on as the two teams played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.
Harry Darling had put the Swans in front before Siriki Dembele levelled things before half-time. Jamal Lowe then gave Swansea the lead once more after the break, though Jordan James scored his sixth league goal of the season deep into injury time to salvage a point.
There were definite positives to take from Mowbray’s first game in charge, and one was the performance of Scott Hogan.
Scott Hogan given unexpected lifeline in Mowbray debut
Hogan started just one of Wayne Rooney‘s 15 games in charge, then making just five more substitute appearances.
He previously fell out of favour under John Eustace after a string of poor performances in the second half of last season, so to see him start today was unexpected.
But Hogan led the line effectively; he was energetic throughout despite recording just 20 touches of the ball, completing 7 out of 11 passes (Sofascore).
And although he didn’t prove to be much of a goal threat, he was a nuisance for Swansea throughout, with his pressing constantly unsettling the Swans’ defence.
Birmingham Live rated his performance today as an 8/10, with journalist Alex Dicken adding:
“The recalled striker was involved in all of Blues’ best moments. His pressing was superb, particularly in the first half, and he combined with his teammates intelligently. Maybe Mowbray can get a tune out of him.”
Hogan can be secret weapon for Birmingham City under Mowbray
Hogan has all the attributes of a typical Mowbray striker.
At both Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland, Mowbray saw his side do best when playing with one striker who had the traits of a complete striker.
At Blackburn it was Ben Brereton Diaz and at Sunderland it was Ross Stewart; two strikers who are mobile, can run all day long, and who know where the back of the net is.
And so it’s not all that surprising to see Hogan given a go in Mowbray’s Birmingham City opener. It’s also no surprise to see him perform well and with more and more games under Mowbray, whose style of play won’t be too dissimilar to Rooney’s, Hogan could really start to flourish.
It’s been a tough past year or so for Hogan; he’s a tried and tested Championship striker and he’s been a consistent source of goals for Birmingham City over the past few years, but under the defensive Eustace and the frankly poor Rooney, Hogan couldn’t catch a break.
Now though under a more stable and rounded boss in Mowbray, it looks like Hogan could rediscover his best form.
Up next is an FA Cup replay vs Hull City on Tuesday.