Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray has said if he was offered a new contract earlier in the season he would have been more inclined to extend his stay at Ewood Park.
The seasoned manager’s current contract expires in June and he will depart Blackburn Rovers after five years at Ewood Park.
Mowbray’s decision comes after frustrations arose over the lack of contact from the club’s owners over a potential new deal.
Blackburn Rovers missed out on the play-offs last season by six points despite flirting with the automatic promotion spots earlier in the campaign. Losing Chilean sensation and talisman Ben Brereton Diaz in March was a big blow, but their form was on a downward trajectory for some time before then.
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However, Mowbray has now said he did not feel his future as Blackburn Rovers boss should have depended on whether Rovers were to gain a play-off place. Speaking to Lancs Live, he said:
“With total respect to the executives at the football club, I felt they were just waiting to see what was going to happen.
“Can we get in the playoffs, can we not?
“I felt as if if we don’t, does that makes me a bad manager? I’m not good enough, so I don’t get a new contract? If we do get in, I’m a good manager, and I get a contract.
“That’s not how to do it. You have to like the person, you have to believe in the person and trust them to lead your club or you don’t. The fact nothing was done, the answer was right in front of me. That’s why the decision has been made and I wish them well and move on.”
Did Mowbray deserve a new deal?
Questions have been asked about Mowbray’s ability to take the club beyond their current position having failed to capitalise on a strong first half of the season.
Rovers are blessed with one of the best academies outside the Premier League, with the likes of John Buckley, Ryan Nyambe and Lewis Travis becoming regular members of the first-team in recent campaigns.
Arguably, the former Celtic manager has had his chance to take the youthful side to the next level but never quite delivered. There is no doubt that Mowbray is a capable manager in the Championship, but it seems now that the owners want a fresh face to lead Rovers’ exciting prospects back to the Premier League after ten years away.
