Interesting comment from Mogga post match

[Pragmatist]

Carlos played a very large part in stopping us imploding before getting out of the grasp of our previous 'investor', and for that I think we are all, at least as close to all as a fan base can be, grateful.

That said, it was functional, and there was always a nagging doubt we weren't making the most of the attacking talent on hand. It often made for a turgid watch.

There weren't many days like yesterday under Carlos, no matter how shite the opposition, and the reality is if we follow it up with two losses we're no worse off for points than the inevitable run of draws we were on.

You can be thankful for Carlos and also excited about the future at the same time.

Agree, CC was absolutely the right man for the job at the time and we were fantastically fortunate he was available and hungry for it when we needed a firefighter and someone to bring some stability.

The negative to CC was that his improvement came at a cost. He absolutely micromanaged the team and removed much opportunity for expression and freedom, and I can imagine the more experienced heads weren’t overly happy with this approach. 

Also interesting that players seem to play their best football under him in their first season together. Both Grady and Mowatt haven’t come close to their form last year, and Swift and Wallace are both making noises of discontent. 

If you’re a limited but hardworking player, you probably love CC, if you’ve got a bit more flair and natural ability it must become monotonous. 

Let’s hope as has been said, Tony can give these players some freedom to express themselves as  motivated and firing Swift, Grady and Wallace can be real difference makers in this division.

Mostly agree, except for the Mowatt comment.  He was outstanding for the first 10 or so matches this season!

[wba13]

It could just be that's what Mowbray's philosophy is in general, try to get players to fall in love with the game. It doesn't necessarily reflect on CC.

I am elated with yesterday. It was a great performance and a better result, but i'm not going to get carried away in the same way that I didn't get carried away with the performance against Middlesborough. We played a Portsmouth team with a horrendous away record that rested half their first 11. It's good news for us but impossible to judge anything yet. Hopefully we're still happy after 5-10 games.

I keep hearing that Portsmouth rested half there 1st eleven and yes I’m glad they could. Remember the side we put out, wasn’t what a lot are saying is our first eleven, no Bartley,Molumby,Maja,Ajayi and Dike also we rested Grant. I’m sure 3 or 4 of these players were normally in our first eleven. So a mixture of there first eleven and reserves lost 5 1 to a mixture of our first eleven and reserves. We also didn’t have the luxury of resting our players.

[Tom Joad]

Carlos played a very large part in stopping us imploding before getting out of the grasp of our previous 'investor', and for that I think we are all, at least as close to all as a fan base can be, grateful.

That said, it was functional, and there was always a nagging doubt we weren't making the most of the attacking talent on hand. It often made for a turgid watch.

There weren't many days like yesterday under Carlos, no matter how shite the opposition, and the reality is if we follow it up with two losses we're no worse off for points than the inevitable run of draws we were on.

You can be thankful for Carlos and also excited about the future at the same time.

Agree, CC was absolutely the right man for the job at the time and we were fantastically fortunate he was available and hungry for it when we needed a firefighter and someone to bring some stability.

The negative to CC was that his improvement came at a cost. He absolutely micromanaged the team and removed much opportunity for expression and freedom, and I can imagine the more experienced heads weren’t overly happy with this approach. 

Also interesting that players seem to play their best football under him in their first season together. Both Grady and Mowatt haven’t come close to their form last year, and Swift and Wallace are both making noises of discontent. 

If you’re a limited but hardworking player, you probably love CC, if you’ve got a bit more flair and natural ability it must become monotonous. 

Let’s hope as has been said, Tony can give these players some freedom to express themselves as  motivated and firing Swift, Grady and Wallace can be real difference makers in this division.

Mostly agree, except for the Mowatt comment.  He was outstanding for the first 10 or so matches this season!

Aye. Mowatt was 1st name on the teamsheet until he got these niggles.
There is also the boost that being "let off the leash" brings. Like under Clarke after Hodgson. Like West Ham under Bilic post Big Sam. It often doesn't last. Mowbray has been far more pragmatic in recent years. Witness his Blackburn side at Albion, down to 10 men and an unfamiliar keeper. They wasted time, dropped on the floor and generally infuriated everyone but fact is, we didn't get a single shot away and they escaped with a point.  There is more than one way to play but to be any kind of successful you need a blend. There is a time and place for all these tactics but as long as results are good no one normally cares. Had Portsmouth scored in that opening flurry of corners yesterday this bored would have been very different. There was much consternation around me at 3.15 yesterday.  All Tony appears to have encouraged is to get forward quicker and shoot more. Offer a few words of encouragement.  With 2 games this week, travel, (and consequently the players getting 2 days off) he has hardly had them rehearsing free kicks and corners let alone tactical drills. The time to judge will be after around 8 to 10 games.  There will be ups and downs before he gets near to how to achieve any kind of plan with the players he has. Fortunately, for the 1st time in years we are steady both on and off the pitch and have nothing to fear from the other teams. It could be a great season finale but my expectations remain where they were after the August window, 4th to 8th place, anything either way is either a bonus or an underachievement.

[Josh1873]

Some players wouldn't have enjoyed CC's managerial style, plenty would have, and clearly did.

Some players won't enjoy Mowbray's managerial style. Hopefully most will.

There's more than one way to manage a team successfully, both of which Mowbray and CC have done previously, but it's impossible to please and get the best out of every single player. It shouldn't surprise anyone that some players will flourish under Tony, but also, some players will fade away and won't be as good as they were under CC.

[tHEgLASSdOORS]

Some players wouldn't have enjoyed CC's managerial style, other but plenty would have, and clearly did. 

Some players won't enjoy Mowbray's managerial style. Hopefully most will.

There's more than one way to manage a team successfully, both of which Mowbray and CC have done previously, but it's impossible to please and get the best out of every single player. It shouldn't surprise anyone that some players will flourish under Tony, but also, some players will fade away and won't be as good as they were under CC.

ThassitR. Just think we probably have more that fit the Mowbray flourish than did the CC. Maybe Furlong and Grant to drop a bit, plenty to benefit

[CA Baggie]

In one post match interview TM talks about letting players off the leash which maybe hasn’t happened recently. In particular talking about Mikey.

So there’s clearly a point coming out that the flair/technical players felt held back by the regimented style of CC. Mowbray has the easy bit in letting them have more freedom, but he’s got to keep the discipline of the defence in tact.

More than one way to play. But to those that say they prefer a 1-0, nah. 5-1 is better.

I still genuinely believe CC would make a better manager in the bottom of the PL than trying for Champo promotion. And TM is maybe the opposite! But right now we’re in the Champo…

[Pragmatist]

In one post match interview TM talks about letting players off the leash which maybe hasn’t happened recently.  In particular talking about Mikey.

So there’s clearly a point coming out that the flair/technical players felt held back by the regimented style of CC.  Mowbray has the easy bit in letting them have more freedom, but he’s got to keep the discipline of the defence in tact.

More than one way to play.  But to those that say they prefer a 1-0, nah.  5-1 is better.

I still genuinely believe CC would make a better manager in the bottom of the PL than trying for Champo promotion. And TM is maybe the opposite! But right now we’re in the Champo…

Didn’t BTA make a reference to that when he left us for Coventry?

[Squid]

All this talk of "shackles" and "off the leash" is giving me bad memories of the start of the Pardew and Bruce eras.

However, the post-match interview was very reassuring, the first thing Mowbray said was that he was disappointed not to keep a clean sheet and it was a very insightful discussion of football.

I agree with comments up thread that his Blackburn team were very streetwise. I think Mowbray has more facts to his game management then than some realise.

[Lurker#3]

Carlos played a very large part in stopping us imploding before getting out of the grasp of our previous 'investor', and for that I think we are all, at least as close to all as a fan base can be, grateful.

That said, it was functional, and there was always a nagging doubt we weren't making the most of the attacking talent on hand. It often made for a turgid watch.

There weren't many days like yesterday under Carlos, no matter how shite the opposition, and the reality is if we follow it up with two losses we're no worse off for points than the inevitable run of draws we were on.

You can be thankful for Carlos and also excited about the future at the same time.

Agree, CC was absolutely the right man for the job at the time and we were fantastically fortunate he was available and hungry for it when we needed a firefighter and someone to bring some stability.

The negative to CC was that his improvement came at a cost. He absolutely micromanaged the team and removed much opportunity for expression and freedom, and I can imagine the more experienced heads weren’t overly happy with this approach. 

Also interesting that players seem to play their best football under him in their first season together. Both Grady and Mowatt haven’t come close to their form last year, and Swift and Wallace are both making noises of discontent. 

If you’re a limited but hardworking player, you probably love CC, if you’ve got a bit more flair and natural ability it must become monotonous. 

Let’s hope as has been said, Tony can give these players some freedom to express themselves as  motivated and firing Swift, Grady and Wallace can be real difference makers in this division.

Mostly agree, except for the Mowatt comment.  He was outstanding for the first 10 or so matches this season!

Aye. Mowatt was 1st name on the teamsheet until he got these niggles.
There is also the boost that being "let off the leash" brings. Like under Clarke after Hodgson. Like West Ham under Bilic post Big Sam. It often doesn't last. Mowbray has been far more pragmatic in recent years. Witness his Blackburn side at Albion, down to 10 men and an unfamiliar keeper. They wasted time, dropped on the floor and generally infuriated everyone but fact is, we didn't get a single shot away and they escaped with a point.  There is more than one way to play but to be any kind of successful you need a blend. There is a time and place for all these tactics but as long as results are good no one normally cares. Had Portsmouth scored in that opening flurry of corners yesterday this bored would have been very different. There was much consternation around me at 3.15 yesterday.  All Tony appears to have encouraged is to get forward quicker and shoot more. Offer a few words of encouragement.  With 2 games this week, travel, (and consequently the players getting 2 days off) he has hardly had them rehearsing free kicks and corners let alone tactical drills. The time to judge will be after around 8 to 10 games.  There will be ups and downs before he gets near to how to achieve any kind of plan with the players he has. Fortunately, for the 1st time in years we are steady both on and off the pitch and have nothing to fear from the other teams. It could be a great season finale but my expectations remain where they were after the August window, 4th to 8th place, anything either way is either a bonus or an underachievement.

Great post Tom.

[albion_pigeon]

He's a different coach to the one he was when he was here last time.

He was very naive in the prem to stick to his total football philosophy whilst we were getting pumped 6 nil by Chelsea and Arsenal every week.