Birmingham City are reportedly closing in on appointing ex-Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray.
Mowbray, 60, looks like the frontrunner for the vacant Birmingham City job after the club axed Wayne Rooney earlier this week.
And Mowbray has only been out of work for a few weeks after previously being at Sunderland for more than a year; achieving a 6th place finish last season and having the Black Cats in 6th place of the table upon his sacking last month.
The experienced Football League boss has had spells with all of West Brom, Coventry City, Middlesbrough, Blackburn Rovers, and Sunderland, enjoying the most success with West Brom, Blackburn, and Sunderland; he won promotion with both West Brom and Blackburn (Championship and League One promotion respectively).
What a Tony Mowbray Birmingham City XI might look like
Mowbray is regarded as a top coach when it comes to working with younger players, which was probably a key reason why Sunderland hired him last season.
That, as well as his experience in the second tier and his attacking mantra, makes him a very exciting boss despite an influx of younger, more ‘contemporary’ coaches in the Football League in the past few years.
Whilst at Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers, Mowbray favoured a 4-2-3-1 formation.
In terms of style, Mowbray liked his teams to be very fast in the transition, often boasting a very quick counter-attack with very fast players on the wings in particular, but often more defensive-minded full-backs.
Mowbray’s Sunderland wingers were often Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts and they were regularly cutting inside and running at goal, either scoring themselves or creating goals, so that could be a key element of Birmingham City’s attack if he takes charge.
And at Sunderland, Mowbray more often than not boasted a defensive midfield pairing of Pierre Ekwah and Dan Neil; Ekwah the enforcer and Neil pulling the strings, so we could expect to see a similar pairing at Blues.
What’s more is that Mowbray was often without a no.9 at Sunderland and so he was regularly forced to deploy attacking midfielders up front, showing his adaptability as a manager and his ability to deal with a lengthy injury list, which could be vital for a Birmingham City side with plenty of injuries.
With that ‘no fear’ football still likely to be the aim for Blues’ owners, expect Mowbray to continue to don this high press; how he’ll fare compared to Rooney on that front remains to be seen, but Mowbray’s experience and more well-rounded philosophy will surely help Birmingham City become a more sound defensive outfit.
Here’s what a Birmingham City XI under Mowbray might look like, with everyone fit and available…
(4-2-3-1)
Ruddy (GK)
Buchanan
Sanderson
Long
Laird
Bielik
James
Anderson
Stansfield
Bacuna
Jutkiewicz