Tony Mowbray has explained the thinking behind Blackburn's decision to let Corry Evans leave for Sunderland - and why he is delighted they have been reunited on Wearside. Northern Ireland international midfielder Evans spent eight years at Ewood Park before leaving the Lancashire club when his contract ran out in the summer of 2021 and signing for the Black Cats on a free.
Mowbray was in charge at Blackburn at the time, and he has give the background to Evans' departure. "There was no bad feeling when Corry left," said Mowbray.
"It was basically a situation where he was running out of contract and we had to decide whether to offer him a contract at a level that would improve on his current contract. We had John Buckley [coming through], for instance, who was a young lad and was probably on a third of what he [Evans] was on, and he needed the encouragement to play.
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"If Corry wasn't going to play enough minutes, as he didn't that season [2020-21] basically because he fractured his eye-socket and his skull and then broke his toe in his first game back, then it was an easy transition. His contract was running down, he wanted to play football - he's an international footballer - and a decision was made to encourage the young players at the club by giving them opportunities to play.
"And for a senior international player like Corry, the salary level we might have had to get to, we let him go and explore the market which is what he did and he came to Sunderland."
Mowbray also revealed that the style he developed at Blackburn did not get the best out of Evans, in marked contrast to Sunderland's style of play which suits the 32-year-old down to the ground. He said: "I've been hugely impressed with his composure on the ball.
"At Blackburn we tried to develop a ball retention team, and in the year before Corry left we had Lewis Holtby who had been at Tottenham and came from the Bundesliga, we had Stewart Downing who played for this club and for Middlesbrough for a long time, so real high-quality individuals with the football. Generally, even before Corry had those injuries, he didn't really fit into the balance of this ball retention, moving it around midfield, dominating possession, trying to feed the strikers with [Ben] Brereton off one side and [Sam] Gallagher on the other.
"He didn't really fit into the way we were playing and, allied to the injuries, the decision was made. It's fantastic to see him now at this football club being a very, very crucial part of the team and balancing a different type of football team and a different midfield, and being an integral cog in that team."
Evans had a difficult start to his time at Sunderland in the early part of last season, but he went on to be a key man as the club secured promotion via the play-offs and his knowhow in the middle of the park this term has been crucial as the Black Cats have made the step up to the Championship. Mowbray said: "We get on very well as we've always done, and I'm delighted that he is here.
"He brings experience, he brings knowledge, he understands my mentality and he's almost like a voice in the dressing room who understands how I work. It's all positive. Corry has been amazing."
So important has the skipper become that Mowbray says he has acted to protect him at times when Sunderland have had games in quick succession. He said: "I do concern myself at times about Corry playing three games in a week and how difficult that is, and that's why sometimes I rotate him out after an hour or 70 minutes, and I think he understands that's because we have another game in three days' time.
"If you're going to impact a game, it's best that you don't play 97 minutes right to the death and flog yourself, it's best to be fresh."
Sunderland will have to manage without Evans this weekend for the home game against Wigan Athletic after he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in Saturday's defeat at Swansea City, meaning he must serve a one-match ban. But he will be available next Tuesday evening when both he and Mowbray return to Ewood Park in Sunderland colours.
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