00:00Baggies fans, welcome to ExpressAndStar.com, my name is Jonny Drew, I'm here with Albion
00:12correspondent Lewis Cox at the Albion training ground and we've just had a very, very enjoyable
00:16hour with the new Baggies boss, the new returning Baggies boss, Mr Tony Mowbray, was unveiled
00:22to the press this morning, sat alongside sporting director Andrew Nesta, chatted through a range
00:28of subjects from how he wants Albion to play, from his year and his battle with cancer and
00:32his return to football. Now Coxy, I sort of closed down our blog and thought about the
00:39last sort of hour, because Tony Mowbray did speak for a good solid hour, anything and
00:45everything he talked about in the last hour, he talked about it with unbelievable passion.
00:49You know, he might be a bit older, maybe possibly a bit greyer since he was last in the Albion
00:54dugout, but he's lost none of his passion for football and his excitement for what he
00:58can hopefully deliver at Albion really shone through today amongst a host of other things.
01:04Yeah I mean, to be honest it was unbelievable wasn't it, that hour, it was quite something
01:09to witness. I mean, we're working it, we're asking him the questions and it was a true
01:18privilege to sit in on and to listen to. See you Tom. Talksport Correspondent exits the unveiling.
01:28It was phenomenal to witness. I just sometimes I think, you know, I mean you're a supporter,
01:36but first a professional Johnny. You know, the people that are watching this here, you lifted
01:41these fans into that and allowed them to witness it. I know like I've watched some of the TV clips
01:47on local telly tonight and stuff and on Sky, but really something to witness wasn't it?
01:53Even before you get into the nuts and bolts about the health recovery really, that's the
02:00part of it that hits home isn't it? That's what he's talking about and it stops you in
02:04your tracks and the detail he went into, the honesty he went into about his recovery. About
02:09his year with cancer really, with bowel cancer and the dark days, how bad it got. He was
02:14graphic wasn't he? Honest and graphic and that brings it all back into the most important thing,
02:25is getting better for his family. Now I'm sure his kids had a dad and his wife. However,
02:32I was just going to say, a very close second, but the determination of I'm getting back to,
02:41I think even, or near to his dark days, I will manage again. I'll be getting back to being a
02:48manager and certainly in the last few months when he's been in good recovery, been on the way back
02:54to feeling better and obviously it was only last week, less than a week ago he got the All Clear.
02:58You know, I think we need to remember that. That's pretty phenomenal in itself isn't it?
03:03Less than a week ago. The determination and the passion you talked about and the love for
03:11the game is really incredible. We spoke to a few people afterwards haven't we, about his
03:18predecessor, Carlos Corban, was one of the most mental people for football I've ever met, if not
03:24the most. Tony loves the game as much, if not more, but as characters and professionals and
03:34individuals, I don't think you could get too many different ends of the spectrum in terms of
03:40personality and character and that's going to be a big feature, I think, behind these beeping
03:46electronic gates. Yes, apologies for that, we were trying to find another area to record,
03:50this was the only one unfortunately, so you've got car noise and a beeping. The regular viewers
03:54will know it's usually just me and a phone isn't it, but they'll know the regular stuff.
04:00Coxy, one of the main takeaways, you know, there'll be a host of stuff on the Express
04:03and Star website throughout the day, we would say throughout the week, but there's a game
04:07tomorrow, so we've still got to talk about that at some point in the next day, but he talked a lot
04:15about his battle with cancer and like you said there, a very poignant line about his family and his
04:20children and he spoke, he was asked about being an inspiration and if he can be an inspiration
04:24for anyone else who's battling cancer and I think when you strip it all back and take
04:28football away, football kind of doesn't really matter when you hear these things that he's
04:31talking about, but he also talked about how he sees Albion and how there's a lot that's gone
04:36right with Albion, he was very, very complimentary of Carlos Corban, someone who he said he had
04:40a very good relationship with and chatted with a lot. And we knew that, do you remember
04:44Carlos' quotes from how much he respected Tony going back? He did and he said there's
04:50not a lot that needs changing with Albion, but his one line was this team maybe needs
04:54its tummy tickled a bit and it needs a couple of, unlocking a few people, letting off the
04:58leash and that was probably the main takeaway, you know, he doesn't want to lose Carlos Corban's
05:04defensive solidity, that's the word I'm looking for, easy for you to say. However, he wants
05:11Albion to be more attacking, he wants them to play more front foot football and he wants
05:15Albion to be more, he won't say it, but more like the Tony Mowbray we saw 16 years ago.
05:20It's not going to be as good as that because that was an exceptional team, but he wants
05:23it to be more in terms of those principles, but building on what Carlos has done already.
05:27It'd be some effort in the second half of the season if this squad reached 100 goals
05:31in all competitions, wouldn't it? We'd be seeing a few 6-0s. Look, yeah, you're right,
05:35that was the main footballing takeaway from this presser and I've just put that on social
05:40media was, look, Tony wouldn't have had to have watched all Albion games this season
05:47or last season or whatever to know that the deficiency was in the final third. The goals
05:54against record under the predecessor was phenomenal, the defensive record all in, the structure
06:00and organisation and discipline, that's Carlos Corbijn, isn't it? It got Albion into the
06:05play-offs and that's his strength and credit and fair play to him. The deficiency is clearly
06:11on the other side of the halfway line when it comes to productivity in the final third,
06:17creating chances and scoring goals, clear as day and he wouldn't have had to, as I say,
06:21watch games to find that out. Look at the, he referenced the draw run, didn't he? 11
06:26draws in 13 or 12 in 13, whatever it was, only a month or so ago and yeah, those comments
06:33you mentioned, those quite powerful comments really about, and he referenced individuals
06:38and basically all the attackers in doing so, didn't he, in letting them off their leash.
06:42And when he talked about it, he expressed it with excitement of what they can do. Yeah,
06:46he was raving about Grady, wasn't he? And yeah, I mean, I'm speaking to one or two people
06:53who actually know Tony well and look, his reputation of developing players, developing
06:58young players, what can that do for Tom Fellows? Look how far Tom Fellows has come in 12 months,
07:05his assist record, where could he go? What more could Tony unlock? But actually, Mikey
07:11Johnson I think, and Tony will know more than us about Mikey Johnson, not from Celtic, obviously
07:16Tony's got a strong connection with Celtic, hasn't he? And he'll know all about Mikey
07:19and what he could do for that player is something I really do. Yeah, but he raved and waxed
07:25lyrical about Grady, didn't he? He's, you know, where has he been this season until
07:30last couple of weeks? And then, I don't want to give too much away, but unprompted at the
07:34end of the presser, you're kind of thinking, I saw you say on the live blog, it looked
07:38like the unveiling was being wrapped up. All of a sudden, unprompted, no one asked, gives
07:43his honest opinion on Jed Wallace and John Swift. And you'll be able to read what he
07:48said sort of soon and what honesty, but what sort of clear understanding of it. Look, he
07:55said, Jed Wallace, one of the best wings in the division for many a year, but what's going
08:00on? He's started three games this season. John Swift, what a player at Reading, double
08:04figures for goals most of the season. What the hell's happening here? You know, what
08:07was he saying? Are they unhappy? You know, what's going on? And I think, reading between
08:12the lines, conversations he's had with them already and he's going to have, well, hopefully
08:18be able to unlock these players for at least the rest of the season. But the balance is,
08:25how do you get a fit and firing and the best out of Jed Wallace while you're doing likewise
08:29with Tom Fellows? And look, that's a conundrum, but if they're all fit and firing, then I'll
08:33be playing well, creating more and scoring more goals and winning more games. But the
08:39clear message, clearly, and supporters will like to hear this, he even referenced getting
08:43them off their seats more. Let's not forget Andrew Nesta sitting next to him was also
08:48on the same note. So clearly, and this is nothing new, we knew this, but the board's
08:53thinking in this appointment, in this project, is that we want to be more entertaining. We
08:59want to score more, create more, get more of a good atmosphere and vibe going around
09:03the place. And it feels like, I'm not expecting Tony Mowbray's Albion to start winning 4-5-0
09:09every week, but a clear change in style is on the agenda and it's going to be happening soon.
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