'Mowbray didn't get best out of the players' - O'Connor

Tony Mowbray has managed eight clubs in his coaching career

Tony Mowbray did not get the best out of the West Brom players at his disposal, according to Martin O'Connor who worked with him during his time in charge of Birmingham City.

Mowbray was sacked by the Baggies on Monday after a run of five defeats from their past six Championship games with the club's play-off hopes increasingly remote with two games of the season remaining.

The 61-year-old was appointed in January following the departure of Carlos Corberan to Valencia.

"Tony is an old-school manager and wants his players to perform on the pitch but I don't think he's got the best out of the players," O'Connor told BBC Radio WM's football phone-in.

"If I'm being brutally honest and knowing the way Tony works, the players he had at West Brom weren't ones he would have recruited so he's worked with players he knows he wouldn't be next season if that was the case."

Albion have slipped from sixth place and three points inside the play-off places at the end of last month to 10th and six points adrift of the top six. They close out the campaign with games at Cardiff City and against Luton Town.

"Sometimes you have to move your philosophy with who you work with and who you've got," added O'Connor, who is loans manager at Birmingham.

"I'm not saying Tony didn't do that but when you look at the players under Carlos Corberan they were different to those under Tony - he likes men and characters and people who will put things on the line and he wasn't getting that."

You can listen to the Football Phone-in with Daz Hale on BBC Radio WM every weeknight 6-7pm.