MOWBRAY IN PRAISE OF A PEP DISCIPLE
Hosts Ivory Coast kick off AFCON and their boss admits they need a fast start as the nation expects
TONY MOWBRAY reckons managerial rival Luke Williams is so good that Pep Guardiola might have stolen one of his tactics.
The new Brum chief (above) paid the ultimate tribute to the man he will see in the opposition dug-out at St Andrew’s today.
Mowbray expects Swansea to try to dominate the ball while he looks to get his reign off to a winning start after taking over from Wayne Rooney.
And he is coming up against
Williams (below), a man who may – or may not – have been ahead of Manchester City’s legendary boss.
Mowbray said: “I got to know Luke when he was at Swindon Town and I was at Coventry City in League One.
“How? I’ve been sat in an office with him, talking football.
“He was one of the first lads I saw who was rotating full-backs inside – before Pep Guardiola, really, unless he’d been watching Pep’s teams on the telly – which, thinking about it, he probably had.
“But he was overloading certain areas of the pitch and teams were thinking, ‘We can’t stop them, they’ve got too many men’.
“And I remember watching Swindon at the time and thinking ‘Wow, he’s bright’ and having a long chat with him after the game. He was a young, thoughtful coach.”
With over 850 matches as a manager under his belt, Mowbray says his Birmingham players will reap the benefit of his experience.
And from the teachings of an NFL legend. No, not Brum shareholder Tom Brady. Try the late coaching guru
Vince Lombardi.
Mowbray said: “I’m hoping I can make an impact upon them very quickly. I’m a strong believer in the repetition of good habits. It puts in a foundation of what you want to do. We want to wrap that in hard work.
“You can’t wave a magic wand. You have to create good habits. It takes time.
“My message is, ‘Be like Vince Lombardi’. He asked why anyone would be late to a meeting. Get there early, show you are prepared. Don’t be two minutes late. Be 15 minutes early.
“We have to get the basics in place. I have certain pillars of what’s acceptable... and what’s not.“
Weekend fixtures: Tonight
Ivory Coast v Guinea-bissau, 8pm