Hull City boss Liam Rosenior says Sunderland's swashbuckling style makes them the 'epitome of a Tony Mowbray team'. Rosenior was speaking after watching his side snatch a last-gasp equaliser to claim a deserved point in a thrilling 4-4 draw against the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light last night.
Rosenior took over at Hull in November for what is his first permanent job as a head coach, and he says he is a big admirer of the vastly experience Mowbray. And their respective sides served up a terrific game on Wearside, with Hull taking an early lead before Sunderland came from behind to go in front, only for Hull to level and then retake the lead in the second half.
Sunderland came from behind again and looked to have won it until an injury-time penalty earned the Tigers a draw. "There's no right or wrong way to play football - every team has a different way - but Tony is someone who I have looked up to for a long time for the way he coaches his teams," said Rosenior.
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"I thought that Sunderland were the epitome of a Tony Mowbray team because they play with flair, with confidence. It was a basketball match. It must have been a great game to watch.
"We knew Sunderland needed to win the game to really push for the play-offs and I felt we could hurt them in transition which we did, especially in the first half. They hurt us in transition - it was two teams that wanted to win the game."
Hull were the better side in the opening 25 minutes, but Rosenior admitted his side 'shot themselves in the foot' and said that has become a feature of their season. Rosenior was also left complaining about the penalty award which led to Sunderland's third goal, with Jack Clarke going to ground easily after minimal contact with Alfie Jones.
Rosenior said: "For 25 minutes, that's the best performance I have seen from my group in terms of what we want, and then we shoot ourselves in the foot. We had complete control of the game and should have gone 2-0 up because we had an unbelievable chance from about eight yards out and it was a fantastic save, but within 30 seconds the ball was in our net.
"Then we gave another cheap goal away. I think this game encapsulated our season, because we shot ourselves in the foot - and we were on the end of another [bad] refereeing decision.
"We had got an unbelievable third goal and then we were back in control of the game again at that point, until a decision goes against us which has seemed to happen every single time in the last five games. I don't know what we've done but I'll take a look at it because it is frustrating for me as a manager when clear decisions are going against you at vital times in a game."
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