There was an excitement about Gary Rowett as he sat down for his final pre-match press conference of the season at Birmingham City’s training ground on Thursday.
Most in his position would be apprehensive given what’s at stake, but Rowett has remained composed in recent weeks when the rest of us have panicked. We can fret over the outcome of Saturday’s do-or-die fixture with Norwich City - and Rowett probably has on the quiet - but it wouldn’t be appropriate for the figurehead of the team to do that in public.
“I feel quite calm about it, I feel excited about the game,” began Rowett, in front of a larger media presence than usual at the Elite Performance and Innovation Centre (EPIC) in Henley-in-Arden.
Anything other than a victory over Norwich will almost certainly see Blues relegated to League One. Even that won’t guarantee Blues play Championship football next season, results elsewhere will still have to go in their favour. Only one thing is a given on Saturday in Rowett’s eyes.
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“At home our fans have a role to play,” he said. “When the place is rocking and full – I think this will be the third full house in four home games – it makes a huge difference. Every club and manager will say the same about their own fans but at St Andrew’s it makes such a huge difference.
“I think that’s the given this weekend. The given is the atmosphere is going to be electric, the given is the fans are going to be there spurring the players on. What we have got to make sure is the team feeds off that and gets the maximum we need from the performance. You can have a plan for all eventualities but one thing we know with a game like this is you are going to have to react pretty quickly within the game, as a player and a manager.”
While Blues know what is required, Rowett will be keeping tabs on events at Home Park, the Stadium of Light and the King Power Stadium. Blues need one of Plymouth Argyle, Sheffield Wednesday or Blackburn Rovers to slip up.
“We have had an eye on results elsewhere in the last three games,” Rowett explained. “We knew at the weekend we had to win the game because Sheffield Wednesday were winning. That’s been the mentality anyway.
“You can’t just go and win a game because another game is a draw. But at that point you can throw the dice with the subs and you can try and be as attacking as you can possibly be. It doesn’t mean you’re going to be attacking, it just means that’s your intention.
“We have been aware of the results in games because objectively you have to be. It doesn’t really shape how you feel about the game it just allows you to make more informed decisions.
“And we will be exactly the same on Saturday. I think we need to know but at the same time, if you’re one-nil up you can’t rely on one of the other teams not scoring a 94th minute winner. You have to be mindful of your own performance and make sure you do your part of the bargain which is very clear for us, it's to win the game. I don’t think a draw is anything we can consider. Even if another team is losing by a certain number of goals, it doesn’t make any difference to us. It’s win the game and do everything we can to win the game.”
Norwich will be Rowett’s 114th and final game in charge of Blues. Rowett returned in late March with an eight-game remit to keep Blues in the Championship after manager Tony Mowbray was forced to step down through illness.
Clarity on the managerial situation will come during the close season and Rowett admits communication with Mowbray hasn’t been frequent since conversations at the beginning of his tenure.
“I shared a couple of text messages with him early on and people at the club have kept in close contact with Tony,” added Rowett. “It’s the same all the way along. We desperately hope he is back to full health quickly because it’s obviously a difficult situation that he is in. Our focus is on trying to win games of football so it is a better situation for him to come back to.”
Whether it’s for Rowett, Mowbray or the 20-odd thousand Bluenoses backing them on Saturday, Blues must keep their side of the bargain. They have to beat Norwich.
