Tony Mowbray changed my opinion about Birmingham City in the space of seven days

In one of Tony Mowbray’s final interviews as Birmingham City manager, shortly after the 2-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, I found myself disagreeing with him.

I asked him whether he was concerned that Blues were being dragged into a relegation battle. At the time, Blues were only three points above the bottom three and had just failed to score in three consecutive games.

Mowbray answered: “We are going to score goals and we are going to win games. Sixteen games to go, I’ve got no concerns whatsoever.”

He based that opinion around the increased possession and shots Blues were enjoying under him but I didn’t quite share his confidence having watched the team nosedive down the Championship table between October and early February. By the end of the next week I was singing from his hymn sheet.

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That might sound fickle, but Blues played with such quality, verve and skill to record back-to-back wins over Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland – to give themselves a six-point cushion to the relegation places – that we all felt a corner had been turned.

Then, on Monday, February 19, the bubble burst. A club statement which caught us all cold read: “Birmingham City can confirm that manager, Tony Mowbray, requires medical treatment which means he will be temporarily stepping away from the on-site management of the club for a period of approximately six to eight weeks.”

Six to eight weeks proved to be wishful thinking. Blues wilted on Mark Venus’s watch to lose five of six matches. Gary Rowett, to his credit, managed 11 points from the final eight but the damage had already been done.

Mowbray’s temporary departure was one final insurmountable blow to a season which Blues fans of the future will scarcely believe was real.

In an ideal world everyone hoped Mowbray would return to lead Blues in League One. But could we really expect him to move 200 miles away from his wife and three sons? Health scares tend to put these things into perspective.

Mowbray has to do right by himself and his family, which is why all of us should be glad of today’s announcement, even if it is tinged with sadness that his Blues career only spanned eight matches.

The 60-year-old is still popular with fans of all the clubs he managed prior to joining Blues in January. You can add Blues to that list, too.

Who knows how his Blues story would have panned out if that cruel twist of fate hadn’t come. I am almost certain that its opening chapter wouldn’t have ended in relegation.

Let's hope he returns to the touchline one day. You will struggle to meet a man who loves 'footy' – as he calls it – as much as Mowbray.