Tony Mowbray: Why I left West Brom!

Jun 18 2009 by Robert Tanner, Birmingham Post

It was a day when the stark reality of relegation and the departure of popular manager Tony Mowbray was driven home for West Bromwich Albion fans.

On the day the new fixtures were released, which left Albion fans contemplating treks to Scunthorpe United and Barnsley instead of trips to Old Trafford and Anfield, former boss Mowbray was also being unveiled as the new manager of Celtic.

In the space of a month Albion have gone from a Premier League club with a highly-rated manager at the helm to a Championship side which must now begin another search for their latest leader.

Albion chairman Jeremy Peace was busy yesterday identifying the man who can take over from Mowbray and lead out his side on the opening day of the season at home to Newcastle United.

Meanwhile, Mowbray was at Celtic Park, brandishing a green and white scarf and talking about his reasons for walking away from The Hawthorns and heading back to Scotland, and he said his decaying relationship with Peace was a factor.

“Without getting too deeply in to it, I think relationships are very crucial in the hierarchy of football clubs and there were one or two problems at West Bromwich Albion as the season went on,” he said.