Tony Mowbray is convinced by Tom Wagner's plan and makes big Birmingham City prediction
Tony Mowbray expects Birmingham City to win promotion and become a force in the Championship next season – but he hopes he won’t have to face his former club.
Mowbray is back in the dugout after being given the medical all-clear to take charge of West Bromwich Albion for the second time in his managerial career. The 61-year-old's Blues tenure only lasted eight games due to a bowel cancer diagnosis.
It was initially hoped that Mowbray would return to lead Blues in pre-season but he took the remainder of 2024 to recover and a parting of ways was announced in May. Chris Davies was appointed Mowbray's successor in early June and has led Blues to the top of League One at the halfway point in the season.
READ MORE: Aston Villa star suspended for Monaco clash as striker walks tightrope
READ MORE: Monaco 'gut punch' ahead of Aston Villa clash as crisis ensues
The odds are that Blues will battle Mowbray's Baggies in the Championship next year and the manager believes his former club will finally punch their weight in the second tier.
"The frustration for everybody is that they find themselves in League One," Mowbray said at his Albion unveiling on Monday. "I can't say, but it didn't feel like we were getting relegated. We'd just beaten Sunderland and Blackburn, we'd beaten Stoke and Hull. We played extremely well at Leicester and should've been two or three up at half-time.
"I felt like the team had grasped what we wanted and that we were moving forward, but they found themselves in League One. The owner has been very true to his word, he's spent some money on a squad which is probably capable of competing in the Championship, at a decent level.
"I know that their aspirations are greater than just competing in the Championship. It looks as though they're competing with Wycombe and Wrexham to get out of that league and I would be hopeful and sure that they will get out of that division. I would imagine that the owner will go again and make them a force.
"I know PSR is a part of modern day football, but it'll be interesting to see how much Birmingham can spend and can they keep pushing forwards. It's the plan and was the plan - that's why I felt at the time, when I went to Birmingham, that it was such a good job for me. Hopefully I could hold the reins of the club who could spend money getting players who were better than the league they were in.
"I'm here now and I'm really looking forward to the challenge. I feel like that if we don't make promotion this year, that they're going to be big games against a team which'll spend money and will be perceived as a big, big club in this league next year. I'm hoping that we're in the Premier League and they have another year trying to catch up."
