The Birmingham boss worked alongside the 30-year-old at Burton Albion.
Birmingham’s manager Gary Rowett
Gary Rowett has explained why as much as he would like to, he would never try to bring John Mousinho to Birmingham City with him, The Sun reports.
Rowett was the Burton Albion manager who signed the journeyman midfielder when the club were in League Two in 2014. However, they would not spend long working together as Rowett took the job at St Andrew’s just a matter of months after Mousinho had moved to the Pirelli Stadium.
Burton Albion’s John Mousinho celebrates at full time
However, the Brewers managed to continue their journey following the boss’ departure with first Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and then, Nigel Clough guiding them to back-to-back promotions which has left them in the same division as the Blues this season.
And ahead of the two sides’ meeting tonight, Rowett has explained how he wanted to hand Mousinho the same route to the Championship that he took, but ultimately decided against it out of loyalty to Burton.
“He made a big difference just in the way he changed the culture of that team at the time,” he said, as reported by The Sun.
Burton Albion’s John Mousinho celebrates after winning the Sky Bet Football League Two
“And it was interesting because when I left Burton, we could have probably took him with us, I might have discreetly put something in his contract, so I could nick him out, but I couldn’t do it to the club.
“I said to the chairman ‘I can’t do it to you, I won’t. If it had been any other club, I’d have done it but I can’t do it to you’.”
While Birmingham are currently flying high in the table, Rowett may be regretting not adding Mousinho to his ranks at some stage.
The 30-year-old has demonstrated that he can make an impact at this level, having contributed three assists so far. And while a positive result for his own team will surely be on his mind tonight, the opportunity to prove something to his former boss may help him take his performance to that next level.
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