Tony Mowbray believes Sunderland have embarked on a similar journey to his former club Blackburn Rovers - and can catch up with them in double quick time. Mowbray took over at Blackburn in February 2017 and, while he could not save them from relegation, he led the Lancashire side out of League One and back to the Championship at the first time of asking, with Rovers going on to clock up second tier finishes of 15th, 11th, 15th, and then eighth under his guidance, and this season they are challenging for promotion.
He took over at Sunderland in August following the Black Cats' promotion to the Championship, and so far things have gone well with the Wearsiders sitting in midtable at the midway point of the season. While Blackburn have a four-year head-start on Sunderland in terms of their transition to a side capable of challenging for promotion to the Premier League, Mowbray believes the Black Cats are capable of making up that ground in 18 months to two years.
"Blackburn is a team that has been growing over the last four or five years from a League One scenario, and they have got better and better each year in my opinion, and here they are competing at the top end of the table," said Mowbray. "It's a good challenge for us, but it is a journey that our club is now on, I think, to be in their position hopefully pretty soon - the next 18 months, two years.
