Championship Pulse Check: Blackburn Rovers – how are they getting on without Tony Mowbray?

Blackburn Rovers. 7th P10 W5 D0 L5 Pts 15

After Tony Mowbray’s departure from Ewood Park in the summer, Blackburn made a bit of a left-field appointment with former Sunderland target and ex mag Jon Dahl Tomasson taking the reins. We caught up with Rovers Chat to find out how the season’s gone so far.

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What’s gone well for you so far this season?

Five wins on the board at this stage is more than we expected, and we’ve deserved the full three points in all five of our victories.

Rovers have shown the quality in the side in these fixtures, and we’ve shown that Jon Dahl Tomasson’s plan for the future has the legs to be successful.

15 points from 10 games is nothing to grumble about for a side under a new manager, so we’ll take the start as a positive.

Photo by Rhianna Chadwick/PA Images via Getty Images

And what’s not gone so well?

The five losses - it’s been a strange old season!

We’ve deserved to lose all five games that we have lost in my eyes, and the amount of goals we’ve conceded in those matches has worried me.

We’ve also had our usual defensive injuries but now we seem to have enough players to cover it, so hopefully this won’t continue to be a recurring theme.

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Who’s been your standout player so far?

For me, I have to go for the Welsh Wizard, Ryan Hedges.

He arrived in January from Aberdeen after we’d been interested for quite a while, and Mowbray finally got his man.

However, he didn’t get the chance until late on in the season to make an impression, and therefore he didn’t show his best form.

This season, we’ve seen the reason he was signed. He’s scored once, assisted three times and has been very influential in our victories.

I hope he gets the chance to go to the World Cup with Wales.

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Who’s not quite been at the races?

I don’t actually think there has been any standout players for this. Players have struggled more collectively in matches, rather than not impressing individually.

You’ll hear a few fans answer this question with Harry Pickering, although I feel he hasn’t been too bad, even if he hasn’t pulled up any trees.

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How’s the general feeling regarding your manager?

I’d say barring maybe one or two fans, everyone is enjoying life under Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Life under the previous manager had gone stale and we needed someone with an obvious plan and an infectious personality, and we’ve got both of that with Jon.

Yes, it’s frustrating with the inconsistency of winning and then losing, but we all trust in the process and we’re prepared to give him time.

I believe we’ll get where we want to be, but it might take a little while.

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Where did you think you’d finish before the season started, and has that changed?

My expectations are around the same, although we might finish a little higher than were I expected in the summer.

I backed us to finish around 15th in the league, and I feel as long as we keep the key players fit, we can push for a top half finish which would be a real success in our first season.

We all know what the Championship is like, with not too many points between 10th and 18th so who knows?

Photo by Andrew Kearns - CameraSport via Getty Images

And finally, what’s your impression of Sunderland been so far?

I’ve been impressed, but the managerial situation is of course the first thing that comes to mind, especially with Tony Mowbray taking the reins.

The three teams you have lost to are sides full of quality as well, so it’s clear that you’re at a good enough level to compete.

I’ve a feeling you could be in the mix this season.