Celtic sacked me too soon, says Tony Mowbray

FORMER Celtic manager Tony Mowbray has finally broken his silence on his exit from Parkhead after just eight months in charge.

The Middlesbrough manager revealed his frustration at what he saw as a knee jerk reaction by the Celtic board.

He said: “My time at Celtic, for me, was one of those scenarios that you sometimes have to go through.

“When I got there I was told to totally rip it up and start again and they lost patience with that, which is fine. I’ve no problem with that.

“You have your own vision of what you want to do when going into a club for the first time, but there is no magic wand.

“In this job at Boro, I am hoping there is a bit more patience at this club than there was at my last one.”

Mowbray had enjoyed relative success at Hibernian and then West Bromwich Albion, before taking the reins at Celtic in June 2009. Despite a ‘Manager of the Month’ award, the former Celtic defender saw his side fall ten points behind Rangers in the SPL title race after a 2-1 defeat at home by Hibs.

During the January transfer window in 2010, Mowbray made wholesale changes, selling Barry Robson and Gary Caldwell. A record 4-0 defeat away to St Mirren saw the end of Mowbray’s reign at Parkhead, during which he had recorded a worse win rate than John Barnes, who was sacked midway through his first season in the Parkhead hotseat.

Mowbray added: “If you want the team to play a certain way you need to get the right players in.

“Or in the short-term you work with what you’ve got and try to get the very best out of them, then change it when you can.”

Mowbray has enjoyed relative success at Middlesbrough, leading them to a shock league cup victory over Martin O’Neill’s Sunderland last week.