Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray returns to Blackburn Rovers for the first time tomorrow - and has admitted that in different circumstances he might have still been in charge at Ewood Park. Mowbray spent five-and-a-half years as Blackburn boss, before leaving in the summer when his contract expired and subsequently succeeding Alex Neil as Sunderland head coach at the end of August.
Mowbray was in no rush to leave Blackburn but as time ticked by into April with no talks taking place over a new deal, he eventually went public with his frustration. That brought an offer to travel to India to speak to Rovers' owners, the Venky family, at the end of the season to discuss a new contract, but by then Mowbray had resolved to leave.
However, Mowbray says if he had been offered a new contract earlier last season he would in all likelihood signed up. "They wanted me to go to India to speak to the owners about a new contract, but I didn't really understand that," said Mowbray.
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"Why would I go? I don't really talk about my contract, it's not my job to go and talk to people about money. Anyway, it felt as though there was something bigger [going on], and the contract was allowed to run out. That's fine.
"I was happy to make the call I did, to go and spend some time through the summer with my family. I'd lived away for five-and-a-half years in an apartment in Blackburn.
"It was an easy call, although if something had been done earlier, and they'd talked about a contract after the turn of the year when the transfer window had shut in January, then it might have been different and I might have still been there, but it wasn't to be. I don't know what their thinking was.
"Right at the death when it became an issue and I said in a press conference that they hadn't even discussed contracts, they then came and said, 'Well, at the end of the season, you can go to India and talk about a contract with the owners'.
"That was almost comical to me, but there you go. Maybe that's the way of things in modern-day football? I'm not sure."
Mowbray took over at Blackburn in February 2017 and, while he was unable to save the club from relegation to League One, he did lead them back to the Championship at the first attempt, winning promotion as champions. And that made for an easier transition than that of Sunderland, who spent four seasons in the third tier before clambering back into the Championship in May via the play-offs.
Under Mowbray, Blackburn looked on course for the play-offs until Spring last season but an injury to star striker Ben Brereton Diaz held them back, and ultimately they fell short. Mowbray said: "It was really important for that football club [Blackburn] to bounce straight back.
"There's no guarantee you can come straight back out of League One. Thankfully, for Blackburn, we got out at the first time of asking, and then just tried to build the club after that.
"We tried to put some assets into the club, tried to recruit well and build without getting carried away, I think that’s what we did. In my final year, we threatened promotion.
"We were second in the league, but Brereton Diaz got injured and missed 12 games and we stopped scoring to win games. We fell away and finished eighth, and then my contract expired and I left and was able to spend some time at home. They're good memories."
Tomorrow Mowbray will be in the away dugout at Ewood Park, and looking to build on Sunderland's weekend win against Wigan. "Blackburn are in the top six and they are more than capable of having a good season," he said.
"Ben Brereton Diaz is really important to them, he scores the majority of their goals and last season he had scored 21 before Christmas, before getting an injury in February which kept him out for 12 matches which were pretty crucial. They've got a good balance, some young, talented, footballers coming through.
"But I think we're a good team, too, with some good players and with the right spirit and camaraderie, we'll give most teams a good game."
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