Tony Mowbray on transfers: 'I like my conversations with the Sunderland owners'

There doesn't appear to be much chance of Tony Mowbray huffing with Sunderland like Alex Neil did.

Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray has offered a glowing endorsement of the club’s transfer model, saying he ‘likes’ what Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman are doing.

The Black Cats have committed to identifying young players and developing it rather than spending big on established names, and as a result the squad looks drastically different to how it did just a year ago.

There is a flip side to that, though, which is fans having to accept that players will be sold and direct investment from the owner more limited than in the Ellis Short and Drumaville days.

It was also the transfer model that appeared to dismay former boss Alex Neil, who quit in September seeking greater control over decisions at Stoke City.

Mowbray, though, has made it clear he is fully behind the Sunderland transfer model, saying: "I am on board with the ownership," Mowbray said.

"To have a plan is good, because I've been at football clubs where there is no plan and the manager is in charge and then when the manager wants to grow the team and says we need to improve this position and this position because we can't get to the top six with these players, you are told 'sorry, there's no money'. All you can then say is 'OK then, don't moan if we stay in midtable and just keep going'.

"But at this football club there is a very definitive plan of trying to grow the club, and if we do that and get it right - so if the young players that came in three months ago become established and become integral to the team - I think that's progress. And then if there's another crop coming underneath, we can keep growing from the bottom up.

"The balance looks alright to me at the moment, this group of young players allied to the Corry Evans and the Danny Batths and Alex Pritchards, are gelling pretty well. If the plan is to grow it incrementally, I'm on board.

"I like my conversations with the owners and with Kristjaan. I'm not stamping my feet, I'm not sitting here getting frustrated and angry because we should be getting promotion.

"I understand that it is probably best for a club that has just come out of League One to grow the team so that when we do get to the Premier League, it's not a case of changing 15 players because they aren't good enough, it's about adding two or three who are real high quality with experience who can help the team get through what would be a difficult season."

"What's really good is that we have got a plan. If we're going to stick to the plan, we shouldn't expect that we're going to be spending millions in January because we are doing OK and we are only a point off this or a point off that.

“The plan is to grow this club, to keep putting talent in the club, to grow the young players and give them the opportunity to play and see where we get to in 18 months or two years.

"As long as the team is moving forward, I'm fine with it. If someone wants to give me £50m and expects promotion in the second half of the season and you have to buy really, really, top players, then that's one way of doing it.”

There have been moments when Sunderland have paid the price for a lack of experience in the team.

Both Corry Evans and Alex Pritchard were rested for the home game defeat to Cardiff last month, with youngsters Dan Neil, Abdoullah Ba and Amad Diallo selected in the central areas instead.

It was, by some distance, Sunderland’s worst performance of the season and only really improved after Evans and Pritchard were sent on from the bench.

Mowbray, though, says such games are simply an essential learning curve for the young players and the defeat just part of the process.

"If we're going to grow it and bring in some really young talent, we are on a journey and we have to take the days like Cardiff City at home on the chin,” he said. “They will happen along the way.

"As long as we can compete in every game and can feel that we are not out of our depth, that's what matters."

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