Gary Rowett didn’t arrive to the fanfare of any of his predecessors at Birmingham City have this season when he sat down for his (second) first press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
There was no grand introduction before a tracksuited Rowett strolled in at quarter past two to greet around 10 journalists. Rowett was never going to be unveiled, nor should he have been, given that his second stint in charge of Blues is only designed to last eight games.
His understated arrival comes out of respect for Tony Mowbray, whose seat Rowett will keep warm until the summer. It was only right that Rowett opened the press conference by divulging details of his discussions with the man he is replacing on an interim basis.
“It was always in my mind that I wanted to have that conversation,” he said. “I believe Tony was quite integral in that process in terms of suggesting I might be a good candidate for that role.
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“I think that tells you everything you need to know about Tony Mowbray, that is why he is such a popular character and why everybody wants him to get better, back on his feet and back on the touchline. That’s where everyone wants to see him.
“It was important I had the conversation and made sure he was part of that process, what his thoughts were. He gave me his opinion on the team, the players and the situation.
“One really important part for me, sometimes when you’re in this situation and you want to try and be respectful and you want to have half a mind on how Tony has tried to do things, when the conversation started he said ‘You have just got to do it how you see fit, do it as an eight game block and however you want to do it.’ I had a good chat with him and we all wish him well and back to full health as soon as possible.”
The respect between Rowett and Mowbray is clear but their footballing philosophies have differed in the past. For the next eight games Rowett will be calling all the shots to ensure Mowbray returns without a relegation rebuild on his hands.
Rowett added: “I’m an experienced manager in my own right and I’ll stay in contact with Tony, but I don’t think it’s a case of Tony ringing me on a Friday and going through the team with me. It’s more a case of doing what I see fit to do and making independent decisions with my staff and the staff that are already here. My job is very simple: to make sure Tony Mowbray is a Championship manager when he comes back.”
Rowett, now 50 and with a decade of managerial experience in the Championship, has swapped punditry for pressure at the business end of the season. Many wouldn’t have bothered to take on a job which could ultimately result in a relegation being added to their CV, but Rowett’s affinity with Blues - a club he has also played for previously - lured him back.
Birmingham City super stadium latest
Birmingham City have today taken another step towards Tom Wagner and Knighthead's long-term vision at the club by acquiring the 48-acre former Wheels Park at Bordesley Green.
BirminghamLive understands that the club intends to create a multi-sports super stadium on the site. A deal has been agreed as part of the struggling city council's mass sell-off of land to help fund redundancies and equal pay claims. Up to 3,000 jobs will be created, according to council documents.
Blues have been linked to the piece of land - formerly known as Wheels Adventure Park - ever since it was bought back by the council in 2019.
Here's all the latest stories you need to read on this huge story for Blues...
- The next step in the Birmingham City project - read here
- What we know so far - read here
- Leading fans speak out - read here
- Where is Birmingham Wheels? - read here
- How we broke the news - read here
- Our verdict on the seismic news - read here
- Where the stadium could rank against rivals - read here
- St Andrew's through the years - read here
- Time to say goodbye - read here
“It’s nice to be back with something on your weekend. I think that’s why most managers go back into it. Why do I go from a comfy Sky Sports studio or sitting at home watching the rain outside thinking about what I’m going to do with my day, to now sitting there probably getting abused by loads of fans, hopefully not Birmingham ones… It will be great to get out there.
“But it’s not about me enjoying myself, it’s not about me walking out there and the crowd being behind me, it’s about what we can do to help the team win games of football, it’s as simple as that.”
Rowett has plenty of knowledge about this Blues squad and Paul Robinson - one of his two appointed coaches - has been a regular attendee at St Andrew’s in recent months. But there are only two players with whom he has worked previously, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Oliver Burke, and neither are currently available to him.
Jutkiewicz is sidelined with a knee injury and Burke, who was frozen out by Mowbray and Mark Venus, isn’t expected to feature prominently in the run-in, if at all.
Speaking about the player he signed twice for Millwall, Rowett said: “Burkey is out injured at the moment and I don’t expect him to play that much of the season. Sometimes when you walk in it’s nice to see some players that you know, but the players that are available are the players who are going to get us results.”
