Tony Mowbray was a first-team coach under George Burley at Ipswich Town. (Image: NQ)
The now 62-year-old enjoyed a five year spell with Town as a player between 1995 and 2000, scoring the Blues’ first goal in the play-off final win over Barnsley at Wembley in the last game of his career.
Mowbray subsequently joined George Burley’s staff as a first-team coach, before becoming the caretaker-manager of Town following the Scot’s departure in October 2002.
He stayed at the club under Joe Royle, until taking his first job in management at Scottish side Hibernian in the summer of 2004.
The former centre-back has taken charge of two of the other sides he played for in Celtic and Middlesbrough.
Tony Mowbray, pictured when he was the Middlesbrough manager. (Image: PA)
Mowbray has been linked to and talked about taking the role as Town manager through the years but it never came to pass.
“I never had any conversations around it,” Mowbray said. “I think football management’s all about timing isn’t it? If you’re in a job and you’re doing all right and then Ipswich job comes up, but no, I never had an inquiry of taking me out of a club to come.
“I feel sometimes if you’re out of work and a manager job comes available, then maybe I might have come at some stage and had an interview or a chat, but the timing never really worked for me.”
MORE: ‘It’s been a tough few years’ – Mowbray on cancer diagnosis and management return
He continued: “There was a romantic side of me a few years back that thought that what a great job Ipswich would be, but yet obviously Kieran McKenna’s gone in and done an amazing job over the last few years.
“It’s great to see them once again back in the Premier League!”
Tony Mowbray, pictured as caretaker manager at Ipswich Town. (Image: NQ)
Mowbray, who is recovering from bowel cancer, reflected on his caretaker spell at Town.
“I don’t feel as if I ever really managed Ipswich, I just took the team for four games, but it was an amazing experience,” he recalled.
“It gave me the confidence to know that I had a voice because if you’re going to be a football manager and you’re sitting in front of 20 players in a dressing room, you don’t know whether you can do it until you’re in the moment.
“What it showed me is that I can talk to a group players from when they needed picking up, shouting at, talking to, cajoling, some sympathy or whatever it might be.
“The truth is, I found that my personality is generally empathetic to footballers because I want them all to work hard, love the game and to want to get better every day.
Tony Mowbray has managed multiple clubs in the EFL. (Image: PA)
“When I see them not running, not working, shaking their head, putting their hands on their hips, sulking, they can then find a different side of me. But that doesn’t mean the next day I don’t put my arm around them and love them again.
“But then they decide which route they want to take. They want to take the route, that they know the manager, the coach wants to go down, hard work, honesty, integrity, graft for the team. You’re just one of 11 out on that pitch. Or do they want to be selfish and sulky? And if they do, generally they’re not at the club very long, however talented they are. But again, every manager does it differently.
“Every manager’s got their own way of doing it and what them four games at Ipswich told me was that I can use my own emotion and be myself in the dressing room when you need it to do the job.”
Look out for our exclusive podcast with Mowbray, which will be released at 6am this Sunday