Tony Mowbray was forced out of his Birmingham City job a year ago because of ill health and he was deputised by Gary Rowett
Tony Mowbray will cross swords with Gary Rowett at The Hawthorns this weekend – the man who he recommended to Birmingham City 12 months ago after being forced to step away from his managerial role. Mowbray returned to West Bromwich Albion last month and will welcome Rowett and his Oxford United side on Saturday, a little over a year after his cancer diagnosis.
Mowbray spent practically the entirety of 2024 coping with and, latterly, recovering from bowel cancer, before returning to the managerial hot-seat at Albion which he vacated in 2009. During those months following his enforced St Andrew’s hiatus – which would become permanent last summer – Mowbray advised Blues to re-appoint Rowett, who himself was returning to an old employer.
Blues slipped into League One nevertheless, but Rowett was afforded another crack at Championship football with Oxford, who parted with Des Buckingham before Christmas. Rowett has since steadied the ship but the U’s are winless in their last five matches, having scored just a single goal in that time.
“I suggested Gary to the club, to be honest,” Rowett revealed. “I thought the type of manager I perceived him as, the Millwall team I came up against for Sunderland and Blackburn, I thought the experience he carried, I hoped he’d get them through the difficult period and get enough points to stay in the division.
“Ultimately it wasn’t the case. I like Gary, he’s a good football guy and sadly for the club it wasn’t the case they got enough points. I have known him a long time, I’ve managed against his teams for a long time and that’s why I know it’ll be a difficult game this weekend. We’ll have to be at our best to get a result.”
This has been a key week for Albion, without the worry of a midweek fixture; since the draw with Millwall, Mowbray has been able to work, uninterrupted, with his squad as he continues to roll out his own ideas and slowly inspire a shift in approach from the way in which this side operated under Carlos Corberan.
“We’re trying to create an identity which has been difficult, because we have had a game every three days – I think we had one Saturday to Saturday, but the others have been three-game weeks,” he added. “We don’t get a lot of training done, you’re not able to put it all together with the players.
“We’re learning about the players as we go along, not necessarily what they do on the grass but how they react to different situations – on or off the field. We’re finding out the individuals, it’s been quite interesting, but there comes a time when you need to know what your best team is.
“We have different types of player, which is good – a winger who works hard, up and down, helping his full-back and also the winger who stands out wide, attacks one-v-one.”