STORM Doris hit the UK in the week Tony Mowbray took charge of Rovers.

And he was walking into a tough climate of his own when he arrived at Ewood Park with Rovers in the Championship relegation zone with 15 games remaining.

But, having been out of work for six months after leaving Coventry City, Mowbray admits the draw of Rovers was too good an opportunity to turn down.

It was during a coffee with Gary Pallister that he first received contact from Rovers about the possibility of taking on the top job.

He met former Director of Football and Operations Paul Senior and Venky’s advisor Suhail Pasha and won them over with his personality and passion.

Those characteristics have since resonated with the fanbase and Mowbray said of that day a year ago when took charge at Ewood: “The opportunity to manage in the Championship was a fantastic one, the opportunity to manage Blackburn Rovers was a fantastic one.

“That’s why I put my name forward. I’ve done that several times at other periods in my career and heard nothing, sometimes instantly the job is taken, but I put my name forward for this one but with no expectation.

“Yet I managed to sit in front of Paul Senior and Suhail and I don’t know why you get a job, I just try and put across my personality and philosophy, my thoughts on football, talk about my career, what went wrong at one club, why at one club it went so well, and you sell your personality.

“Thankfully for me they saw a fit that they thought was right.

“From my point of view being a football guy, the opportunity to manage Blackburn Rovers.

“It was an amazing opportunity, I didn’t know much about the club, I’d been to the training ground but never been inside, stood at the pitches up the top and watched games.

“My lasting thought was thinking how hard it was to find the training ground, it was in the middle of nowhere in the countryside.

“Yet here I am really enjoying it every day and having the honour of managing this fantastic club with a fantastic history and trying to take it back to a stronger position.”

Mowbray has an eye for detail, but admits the milestone of a year in charge had slipped his mind, perhaps understandable given events on the pitch as Rovers target promotion.

“I haven’t given it much thought to be honest,” Mowbray said of reaching his one year anniversary. “I feel as if the work is enjoyable, we have a really good group of footballers here who work hard every day and it’s about getting the balance right between work and rest. That’s important.

“We have a few players who don’t live on the doorstep, a bit of commuting for a few.

“Depending on what level you manage at, if players are earning extremely well they can afford to live on the doorstep.

“The point I’m trying to make is that managing in League One, it’s a difficult job to keep everyone on board and I do feel this group have bought into it exceptionally well.

“As a manager if you have a group who are working hard for you win, lose or draw then it’s more enjoyable.

“I’ve had times in my career where it’s difficult to keep them all on board, the group here are quite tight despite the disappointment of relegation last season, and they have mentally stayed tough.

“There’s a lot of pressure to bounce back but we have to embrace that, enjoy it and as I say to the players don’t make that a burden, you have to enjoy football and trust your talent and that (promotion) will happen if we can win enough matches.”