As I scanned the Green and White Web this morning looking to read our new managers opening address I was shocked to find that there was nothing to be found. As I dug a bit further I found an interview with Tony from 2008 in which he reveals the basis behind his trademark attacking style.
It was always more than a little counter intuitive that a manager renowned for his no-nonsense style of defending and uncompromising approach could set out his teams to play such beautiful attacking football.
In the original interview, authored just before West Brom's FA Cup semi final with Portsmouth, Tony reveals how an unfair switch from being the linchpin in midfield to being a centre half due to his stature early in his career left him as a 'frustrated' playmaker intent on ensuring that his players express themselves on the pitch, an attribute that will no doubt be music to the ears of the likes of Gary Caldwell and Glenn Loovens.
"Your talent can get suppressed, I think. Because I was a 6ft2in I was put to the back. You are told to get your head on it and clear your lines. You are a defender."
"Up until 15 and 16 I had been scoring plenty of goals. I was a linchpin in midfield, getting the ball and spraying it about, beating people, making things happen. The bigger picture prevailed. I took on responsibility for the team"
"Who knows if that Centre half, ever given the licence, could have operated in central midfield, painting pictures, seeing things round the corner, flicking the ball with his boot, joining in on a one-two?
"In my mind I knew all the moves. I got patterned into destroying and the first ball, getting first contact in the box, heading goal kicks back into the opposition half, hence the tag of frustrated playmaker.
"Its part of the reason I want my players to express themselves really. My centre halves at some time in their lives have probably been the best players on the pitch, at school or for their district. It is trying to bring that out, encouraging them to play and pass" He added.
Tony also revealed that he was a terrible loser who couldn't handle defeat, but the loss of his young wife Bernadette to cancer on New Year's Day in 1995 helped put things in perspective and allowed him more lucidity in defeat.
"Going through an experience like that undoubtedly impacted in on my thinking and my way of life. It has given me a certain perspective. I don't get too uptight for my team. I don't throw teacups fort example." He said.
"It was different in my playing days. I could never socialise after defeats. I would lock myself away. The hurt of losing as a player was much greater before I lost my wife, which happened late in my career."
"As a manager now, defeat can still spoil my weekend. But I have learned to try at look at the bigger picture. Are we moving in the right direction? Is the team playing the way I want them too? Are we entertaining? Over the longer term will we win more games? I don't get too stuck on a bad result"
These comments are undoubtedly going to be well received by the Celtic faithful, who could count on the fingers of one hand the amount of good performances that have been witnessed during the tail end of Martin O' Neill's tenure and throughout the stewardship of Gordon Strachan. Whilst Mowbray distances himself from suggestions that he is an idealist, Mowbray demands that his team play good attractive football.
"I want people to look and think that aesthetically, I like watching West Brom. He says.
"As a coach at Ipswich I would go and watch every Arsenal Champions League game. I would get on the train, go to London and marvel at what they do. All they are doing is passing the ball 10 yards to each other but it is poetry."
Let's hope that he can turn this Arsenal experience into poetry in motion at Celtic!
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt.