Tony Mowbray: Why I left West Brom!
Jun 18 2009 by Robert Tanner, Birmingham Post
“I’ve got to enjoy going in to work every day, it’s what keeps me driven and that had become a little bit strained so this opportunity is something that I have taken on with a very clear conscience.
“When I talked about players showing loyalty and getting back into the top division, the players’ relationship with me was very strong and we could have pushed on but other relationships weren’t as strong and we found a parting of the ways.
“We had suffered a major disappointment at West Bromwich Albion at the end of a season that, strangely enough, I thoroughly enjoyed, because I felt the team did themselves huge amounts of credit.
“It was a season in which they more than held their own but the points total at the end of the season didn’t reflect that and the positives that came out of it.
“Certain things at the football club I am leaving came to a point where I had a decision in myself to make this summer.
“But as often in life happens, an opportunity arose and the more I explored it the more I knew it was right for me, because Celtic is a huge draw for me, emotionally and professionally as well, of course.
“I am in this game to win and be successful, and progress as a coach, but you can only work within your means.
“Without going into it too deep, the means at West Bromwich Albion in the first year in the Premier League, in a league where teams can spend on one player what is another club’s whole budget for a year, is there and evident to see.
“I was very proud of what we achieved at Albion and the football we played, and the way we went about trying to win football matches.”
Mowbray has signed a one-year rolling contract at Celtic and has taken his management team of Mark Venus and Peter Grant with him.
The compensation package for all three is said to be in excess of £2 million, although reports in Scotland have suggested that Albion have accepted £1.4 million up front for Mowbray, rising to the £2 million asking price depending on Mowbray’s ability to get them through the qualifying stages of the Champions League.
Mowbray’s first match in charge of the Bhoys will be against Aberdeen, now led by former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mark McGhee.
The new Dons boss was one of the men who held talks with the Parkhead hierarchy about the vacancy at Celtic Park before they opted for Mowbray.
