Tony Mowbray has been here before as he attempts to get West Bromwich Albion up to the Premier League, with his first stint in charge of the Baggies culminating in promotion glory.
Indeed, Mowbray would steer the West Midlands outfit to the Championship title come the end of the 2007/08 campaign, with hope now that history repeats itself, albeit this time around likely via the playoffs.
The Hawthorns has seen many other promotions up to the top flight away from just Mowbray working his magic, however. The last time it happened was back in 2020, with an unbelievable Baggies star tearing the second tier to shreds.
Matheus Pereira’s arrival on loan from Sporting CP before the 2019/20 season kicked off did take many by surprise, with the Brazilian entering the English game as an exciting unknown entity.
He would immediately take the Championship by storm with his set of audacious tricks and flicks with many a goal and assist also coming his way to justify the entertaining showboating.
Across the 2019/20 season in the second tier, Pereira would go on to score eight times and assist a remarkable haul of 20 strikes, before then taking to the Premier League like a duck to water as a permanent member of the Baggies team.
He closed his sensational time with the club by amassing 11 top-flight goals from 33 clashes the following campaign, before then moving out to Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal to bring his whirlwind time in England to a halt.
Mowbray might well have his own version of Pereira in his ranks right now, with the ace in question also once a stunning loanee at the promotion-chasers, until he sealed a permanent switch at the start of this campaign.
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Mowbray’s very own Pereira at West Brom
Away from already possessing the likes of Tom Fellows and Alex Mowatt at his disposal who are top talents for the tricky division, the ex-Sunderland boss also has Mikey Johnston to hand as yet another slick performer in the midfield.
Like Pereira, Johnston would arrive like a bolt from the blue initially on loan, with the now former Celtic man desperate to prove those wrong back at the Glasgow giants last campaign.
He did just that when turning on the style in the demanding second tier, with a stunning seven goals and two assists next to his name from 20 games resulting in the Baggies splashing the cash on the Republic of Ireland international to stay permanently rooted in the Midlands.
The £2.5m buy is already strutting his stuff during the early days of the Mowbray regime, with two of his seven goal contributions for the season in the league coming under the popular 61-year-old’s guidance, meaning he could be the spark – much like Pereira was – that sees West Brom finally jump back up to the Premier League.
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Johnston vs Pereira – the last 365 days |
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|---|---|---|
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Stat (per 90 mins) |
||
|
Total shots |
2.35 |
2.14 |
|
Shot-creating actions |
4.77 |
5.04 |
|
Progressive passes |
4.37 |
7.14 |
|
Progressive carries |
5.64 |
2.84 |
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Successful take-ons |
3.00 |
1.21 |
|
Touches in attacking penalty area |
3.80 |
2.42 |
|
Progressive passes received |
7.30 |
5.58 |
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Stats by FBref |
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The similarities don’t end there, with FBref singling out the pair as similar players with regard to their play styles across the last year.
Both Johnston and Pereira have clearly excelled as gung-ho attackers for their teams, but Johnston amazingly betters Pereira in many of their respective numbers, which includes more progressive carries and more take-ons being successfully completed by the Irishman.
Having already been lauded as “special” by previous Baggies head coach Carlos Corberan, Johnston will hope he can continue to show off his electric best under Mowbray, with it all pointing in the direction of another promotion if everything slots into place.
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