Tony Mowbray's explosive final West Brom press conference: Transfer secrets, recruitment strategy & Shilen Patel dispute

Tony Mowbray certainly didn’t leave West Bromwich Albion quietly as the now former head coach lifted the lid on many of the club’s issues during his final press conference.

From the likely approach in the summer transfer window to the way in which Albion recruit and the concerns emerging over a lack of alignment in the boardroom, Mowbray hardly left a stone unturned.

The 61-year-old’s last interview with the media lasted exactly 30 minutes as he sought to address a number of key issues at the football club. Mowbray’s sacking wasn’t public knowledge at this stage - and it was unclear whether he knew about it yet - but it became apparent rather quickly that the head coach had lots to get off his chest.

Summer overhaul inevitable with half a dozen transfers expected

Having already confirmed that Grady Diangana will be leaving the Baggies upon the expiry of his contract and hinting that John Swift and Semi Ajayi will be doing the same, Mowbray revealed the club are planning to sign at least half a dozen players in the upcoming window.

Mowbray wasn’t sure of any exact details but reckons there will be a complete squad overhaul to give Albion the best chance of bouncing back next season.

“I think it will be a fresh start because of the number of people who will be leaving,” Mowbray told Birmingham World. “It won’t be the fans having a look and seeing one or two signings, I’m assuming it’s five or six signings potentially – it’s half a team of signings coming into the building, I would think.

“I’m sure there’ll be some conversations about how the team wants to look next season. What’s it going to be built on? Is it going to be built on technique, is it going to be built on power, pace and pressing down? We’ll have to see what it looks like when it happens.”

West Brom must sign players with character

Something that has become abundantly clear towards the end of this season is Albion’s lack of true leaders. The team needed a collective of individuals to step up, take responsibility and lift their teammates on their shoulders in the tough moments to see out a top-six finish.

That hasn’t happened anywhere near enough and Mowbray felt, at least before he was sacked, that more characters needed to be signed in the summer to address that issue.

"I've said to the team so I can say it to you - I felt they lacked a little bit of courage. You need big characters when things are tough and a bit tricky,” Mowbray said.

“I think the summer is huge for this club with the changes that will be coming. Recruitment has to be right. You have to sign players with personality and character and a hunger to get to the top.

“I think that's the key to everything. I think the summer's crucial and I just feel we need to sign some personality, character, confidence who will play the way I believe West Bromwich Albion will play.

“I grew up as a kid watching them play and I managed them for three years 18 years ago – West Bromwich Albion should be trying to dominate games, attack, have flair players and get people out their seats with moments of excitement.”

Mowbray of course won’t be able to oversee the summer transfer business now he’s been relieved of his duties, but that doesn’t mean his thoughts will be - or should be - completely overlooked. The former Sunderland man had a plan and was hoping it would be at least considered.

“That's what my vision is – to recruit talent,” Mowbray added. “People that want to play forward, run forward, create chances and score goals. Everything else defensively is a given. Win headers, tackles, block shots. The stuff that wins football matches is the quality of the players who can do something out of the ordinary.

“Maybe it’s a transitional period, maybe the time is right for this team to change. There are some gaping holes in the squad that need to be replaced in the summer.

“You don’t need a whole team of them, you don’t need 10 of them (characters), you maybe need three or four of them in your team and five or six of them in your squad – those players who are desperate to get better, are desperate to play in the Premier League.

“That’s how I see football: you recruit personality and character just as much as talent. It’s character that gets the job done, I think. But you need to have the talent and quality as well.”

Disconnect between head coach, recruitment team and chairman

One of the most significant nuggets of information that can be taken from Mowbray’s last press conference is the fact that there appears to be a worrying lack of communication between the head coach, the recruitment team and chairman Shilen Patel when it comes to transfers.

Mowbray understands that in modern football it’s rare for clubs to give head coaches much of a say in transfer business, but he still wants to be able to have some sort of influence. It appears he was never going to have that opportunity at West Brom, even if he made it to the summer window, as there’s a clear disconnect between the various parties involved.

“When I was here 18 years ago, I was the manager, I picked the players, I coached the players, I sold the players. That’s how it happened but I don’t do that anymore,” Mowbray reminisced.

“I think the real issue is that the manager should be able, from the resources that he’s been given, to pick the team he wants to pick. So, just because someone costs five million, 10 million or 20 million, if the manager doesn’t want to put him in the team, he should be given the right to pick the team.”

Using Albion’s high-flying local rivals Aston Villa as an example, Mowbray emphasised the importance of cohesion between the boardroom and the dugout. Villa manager Unai Emery and the club’s president of football operations, Monchi, have a great working relationship to ensure the squad’s needs are met at all times. Albion could do with implementing a similar approach, Mowbray feels.

“I watched the Villa game the other day against Newcastle, it looks as if the Villa manager has got his mate in as the sporting director and they are doing the deals they want,” Mowbray suggested. “Emery’s doing the team and he is doing the deals he wants. They’re doing a pretty good job of it.

“Listen, I’m not going to fight the club, I’m not here to fight the club. But I think there has to be an alignment with the coach - how he likes to play and what he wants to do - and the recruitment. And then if they marry really nice, I’ve got loads of good players to try and create this team that plays the brand of football. If we win, then they’re happy because the values of the players are going up.

“It’s difficult if they sign players and I want to play a technical game and dominate the match and yet they’ve just signed a load of big lads who are warriors who can head and fight everybody, yet we have no control. That becomes an issue because then they don’t fit in my team. They might spend X amount of million on a player and I’m not even playing them. It becomes an issue, I think,” Mowbray concluded.

Of course, now Mowbray won’t be at the club for the summer transfer window, West Brom’s recruitment is no longer his problem. His words definitely shouldn’t be ignored, though, as he probably has a point in many instances.

Whether you were Mowbray in or Mowbray out during his last days as Albion boss, there’s no doubting his love for the club. He just wants the Baggies to succeed and his final words couldn’t have accentuated that more.

There’s a lot more to unpack from Mowbray’s last press conference that will be published by Birmingham World in due course. Follow @JournoHaff on X (formerly Twitter) for updates.